(MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency)
TOKYO, Shawwal 29, 1437, August 03, 2016, SPA -- A woman who has downplayed Japan's wartime actions and is known for far-right views was named defense minister in a Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday, a move that could unsettle Tokyo's relations with Asian neighbors with bitter memories of its World War II-era atrocities, according to AP.
Tomomi Inada, a former reform minister who most recently was policy chief in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, replaced Gen Nakatani as defense minister. She is the second female to fill the post.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe changed more than half of the 19-member Cabinet in a bid to support his economic and security policies, as well as push for revising Japan's postwar pacifist constitution.
While keeping the economy as the top priority, Abe said he would do his "utmost to achieve a (constitutional) revision during my term," which ends in September 2018.
--SPA
22:22 LOCAL TIME 19:22 GMT
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