Japan’s New Prime Minister Vows Gradual Nuclear Phaseout/Sink or swim time as new Japan PM picks novice cabinet-2/9/11

Japan’s New Prime Minister Vows Gradual Nuclear Phaseout/Japan Premier Offers Olive Branch With Cabinet Picks

By HIROKO TABUCHI

Published: September 2, 2011



TOKYO — Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, promised on Friday to keep Japan on its path of phasing out nuclear power, saying it was “unrealistic” to build any new reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis or extend those at the end of their life spans.




In his first speech to the nation as prime minister, Mr. Noda, Japan’s former finance minister and a fiscal conservative, also said Japan would seek to rebuild its tattered finances even as it funds reconstruction in the wake of the country’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in March.

“Speeding up the recovery and reconstruction process is our biggest mission. We must also work to bring the nuclear crisis to an end as swiftly as possible,” Mr. Noda said. “But our finances are also on the brink,” he said. “We must strike a balance between economic growth and fiscal discipline.”

The government would seek to cut wasteful spending in other areas to squeeze out extra funds, Mr. Noda said, but could also introduce time-limited tax cuts to meet any shortfalls.

Mr. Noda, Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years, on Friday officially succeeded Naoto Kan, who was criticized for his handling of the response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. Some subsequent bold policy moves — like shutting down another nuclear power plant thought to be vulnerable to tsunamis — were not enough to reverse a sharp slide in Mr. Kan’s popularity ratings.

The new prime minister inherits a government that has largely lost the confidence of the Japanese people.

In his inaugural address on Friday, Mr. Noda said he was committed to phasing out nuclear power, a path set by Mr. Kan. But Mr. Noda also stressed that reducing Japan’s dependence on nuclear power would be a gradual process, and that reactors that have fallen idle over safety fears since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant would be restarted, albeit after stringent checks and gaining the understanding of local communities.

“To build new reactors is unrealistic, and we will decommission reactors at the end of their life spans,” he said. “But it is also impossible to immediately reduce our dependence to zero,” he said, adding that a stable energy supply was “the lifeblood” of the Japanese economy.

He also warned that high costs and a strong yen were forcing manufacturing from Japan’s shores, and he promised policies — including intervention in global currency markets — to curb the rise in the yen. Small- and medium-sized businesses were especially in need of government support, he said, appealing to an important base of his political supporters.

Defusing potential flare-ups with Japan’s Asian neighbors, Mr. Noda said he would not visit a contentious Tokyo war shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals. Visits by past prime ministers have angered neighbors like China and South Korea, where many still harbor bitter memories over Japan’s colonial rule in the region.

Mr. Noda, a former finance minister and a surprise choice by the ruling Democratic Party as prime minister, has promised a nose-to-the-grindstone approach to policymaking rather than grand appeals to public sentiment. In an emotional speech before the party vote on Monday that elevated him to the top spot, he compared himself to a hardworking loach, a bottom-feeding yet resilient fish.

Mr. Noda’s remarks came as he picked a cabinet of fresh faces on Friday to help him guide a country struggling in the wake of its recent natural and nuclear disasters and chronic economic slump.

Jun Azumi, a 49-year-old former journalist, was named finance minister, taking over a crucial portfolio as Mr. Noda seeks to balance reconstruction needs with reining in Japan’s debt, now more than twice the size of its $5 trillion economy. The new foreign minister, Koichiro Gemba, 47, is the son of a sake brewer who worked on redrafting Japan’s energy policy as national policy minister in the previous administration.

Both are relatively young and have little experience in their respective fields. The new cabinet included few big names, perhaps in keeping with Mr. Noda’s low-key style of leadership. Two women made the 18-member lineup: Revitalization Minister Renho, who uses only one name, and the health, labor and welfare minister, Yoko Komiyama.

Yoshio Hachiro, 64, a left-leaning veteran lawmaker and a known proponent of alternative energy, will take over another crucial portfolio as economy, trade and industry minister, with oversight of the nuclear industry. The ministry has been severely criticized for its ties to industry, which many critics said prevented it from properly regulating the troubled sector.

In announcing the new cabinet lineup, Mr. Noda’s new right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, revived the metaphor of the hardworking fish.

“They will work like loaches mired in mud and sweating to get the job done,” Mr. Fujimura told reporters at the prime minister’s residence.