Japan's Abe picks ruling party gadfly Kono for reform post
By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Most of the politicians preparing to join Japan's cabinet came to the premier's office in shiny black luxury sedans, but lawmaker Taro Kono pulled up in a silvery Toyota Vitz hatchback, a fitting symbol of his reputation as a political maverick. Better known for criticizing the government than toeing the party line, Kono, 52, was tapped by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as minister for administrative reform and National Public Safety Commission chief, in a cabinet shake-up announced on Wednesday. The son of former chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono, who authored a landmark 1993 apology to "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, the younger Kono is known for harsh criticism of Japan's utilities. One of his targets has been Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) [9501.T], operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant devastated by the March 2011 tsunami. In contrast to the government stance of maintaining nuclear power as a core source of energy, Kono has said he wants Japan to commit to phasing out nuclear power, by shutting down reactors when they reach 40 years of service. Kono, a fluent English speaker educated at Georgetown University in Washington, has also criticised the government's resistance to opening the door to immigrants as a way to address a shortage of workers as Japan's population ages and shrinks. Kono's opportunities to speak out, however, may dwindle once he is in the cabinet. "He's sort of a black sheep on nuclear power and immigration, but on other issues, he's pretty conservative," said Koichi Nakano, a Sophia University professor. "He's more of a principled, neo-liberal reformer." Kono, who headed a ruling party panel to find ways to balance Japan's debt-laden budget, has called for cuts in nursing and medical costs for the fast-ageing population and reductions in welfare support. He has also said Japan needs to look beyond its plan to balance the primary budget, excluding new bond sales and debt servicing, by the fiscal year that ends in March 2021. "We need to avoid bankruptcy," he told a news conference this year. "My recommendation is that we can’t focus just on primary balance, we need to look at the government debt and the entire budget. If we fail this time, I don’t think we can do this. The 'B word' will get bigger and bigger." (Reporting by Linda Sieg; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
