Minor Cabinet reshuffle in works

Public Safety Commission Chairman Hiroshi Nakai may take over the job of disaster management from Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara in a minor reshuffle of Cabinet assignments for the one-month-old government, sources said.

The change is aimed at relieving Maehara of some of his workload, which includes dealing with Diet debate over a bill that would enable Japan to inspect ships suspected of carrying banned cargo to and from North Korea, they said.

Maehara is expected to spend days fielding questions at upcoming Diet sessions because the Democratic Party of Japan has banned bureaucrats from responding to questions in parliamentary discussions.

A fierce battle over the bill is expected because the Liberal Democratic Party plans to submit its own version of a cargo inspection bill, the sources said.

Maehara is also state minister in charge of Okinawa and affairs pertaining to the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido. Nakai is concurrently serving as minister for dealing with North Korea's abductions of Japanese.