Kishida to pick ex-defense chief Yasukazu Hamada for defense portfolio

Former Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada will return to the job and Yasutoshi Nishimura, who was in charge of the government’s COVID-19 response, will serve as industry minister in a revamped Cabinet, senior administration sources said Tuesday.

Sanae Takaichi, the policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party who shared a hawkish stance with slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will become economic security minister while Taro Kono, currently the party’s PR chief, will serve as digitalization minister, the sources said.