October 15, 2026

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday she has offered ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Arata Takebe the post of farm minister to succeed Kazuo Yana, who stepped down a day earlier in what was effectively a dismissal over a string of scandals, Kyodo News reported.

Takebe will be joining the cabinet for the first time.

The 56-year-old is a sixth-term House of Representatives lawmaker for a constituency on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

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https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202610/15/WS6ad0811ce4b06d4aa0562fb6.html