The key members of Japan's new Cabinet appointed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama:
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NAOTO KAN: Minister of National Strategic Bureau. A former student activist and patent attorney-turned lawmaker, Kan, 62, is best known for his highly applauded achievement as health minister in 1996 in revealing a government cover up of HIV-tainted blood products that caused thousands of hemophilia patients to contract AIDS.
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KATSUYA OKADA: Foreign Minister. A party insider with no experience as Cabinet minister, Okada, 56, is said to have strong contacts in Asia and the U.S and is an admirer of President Barack Obama. He is a former bureaucrat in the trade ministry and briefly attended Harvard University before entering politics at age 36. Okada is an expert of environmental issues and an avid collector of frog figurines.
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TOSHIMI KITAZAWA: Defense Minister. An upper house lawmaker and relatively unknown, Kitazawa, 71, was a Liberal Democratic assemblyman in his hometown of Nagano, in central Japan, before his advance to the upper house as a Democrat in 1998. He has served key party policy-making posts in defense, transport and land development. He supports Japan's pacifist constitution and opposed the country's 2004-2006 troop dispatch to Iraq in support of the U.S.
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HIROHISA FUJII: Finance Minister. A veteran lawmaker and an expert in finance and fiscal policy, Fujii, 77, is a former bureaucrat in the powerful Finance Ministry and worked as secretary for two former prime ministers before being elected to parliament in 1977. He served as finance minister for the two Cabinets under a 1993-1994 coalition government.
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MASAYUKI NAOSHIMA: Economy, Trade and Industry Minister. A former union official at Toyota Motor Corp., Naoshima, 63, started his political career as an upper house lawmaker of a now defunct left-leaning small party. Having served various party policy groups in economy, budget and finance, he is a strong advocate of cutting wasteful government spending.
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HIROFUMI HIRANO: Chief Cabinet Secretary. A close aide to Hatoyama, Hirano, 60, studied science and engineering at Tokyo's Chuo University before landing a job at Panasonic, where he served as a labor union executive. He has served several key party posts since joining the Democrats in 1998, including public affairs chief. Hirano is an avid runner.
Source: AP News
