Newly re-elected Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan named BanriKaieda state minister for space development as part of a Sept. 17 Cabinet reshuffle.
The 61-year-old Kaieda, who also becomes finance minister in the reshuffle, replaces 48-year-old Seiji Maehara, Japan’s newly appointed foreign minister, who had overseen the nation’s space program as transportation and tourism minister.
The Cabinet changes follow a Sept. 14 leadership contest in which Kan secured another term as the head of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
