Woman in new Cabinet

Press, 2 November 1984, Page 6

Woman in new Cabinet

NZPA-AP Tokyo Shigeru Ishimoto, aged 71, a veteran nurse and a fourtimes member of the House of Councillors, was appointed Japan’s first woman Minister in 22 years yesterday as Prime Minister, Mr Yasuhiro Nakasone, reshuffled his Cabinet. Miss Ishimoto was named Director-General of the Environment Agency. A native of Ishikawa prefecture on the Japan sea coast, she served on World War II battlefields as an Army nurse and later worked at the national cancer centre hospital. She was first elected to the Upper House of Parlia-

ment in 1965 as a member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, and was returned to office four times, each time as a representative at large. An expert on health and labour problems, she has chaired the Japan Nurses’ Association, an Upper House committee on social and labour affairs, and was Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare.

The last woman Cabinet minister was Tsuruyo Kondo, who served as Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency in 1962-1963 under the second Cabinet of the late Prime Minister, Mr Hayato Ikeda.

Mr Nakasone, was selected yesterday by Parliamentary members of the Liberal Democratic Party as their leader and Prime Minister until 1986.

His first move was to get rid of 14 members of his' old 21-man Cabinet. Mr Nakasone pledged to make the utmost effort to reform Government administration and cut back the huge public debt brought on by heavy Government spend-

ing. Political analysts said Mr Nakasone’s reshuffle had carefully preserved the old balance between the party’s rival factions.

Despite pledges to diminish the influence of the

disgraced former Prime, Minister, Kakuei Tanaka,’ the new Cabinet contained six Tanaka followers. Mr Tanaka, convicted a year ago of taking a twomillion dollar bribe from Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, remains the most powerful figure in Japanese politics and Mr Nakasone still finds his support indispensable. Ministers who “were kept on from Mr Nakasone’s previous Cabinets include the Foreign Minister, Mr Shintaro Abe, and the Finance Minister, Mr Noboru Takeshita. Both are regarded as having aspirations to succeed Mr Nakasone.