Takaichi Set to Prioritize Continuity in First Cabinet Reshuffle

PM Sanae Takaichi is planning her first Cabinet and LDP leadership reshuffle for around September 16-18, 2026, timed to conclude before her attendance at the UN General Assembly later that month. Reporting indicates she intends to retain the government's core team as she enters the second year of her premiership: Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama (fiscal policy continuity and consumption-tax cut implementation), Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (US and China relations), Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (security negotiations and US defense coordination), Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa (having secured a 15%-capped tariff deal with Washington), and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara. The continuity-first approach is widely read as an effort to steady Japan-US relations under pressure from the Trump administration while Takaichi positions herself for the 2027 LDP leadership contest.