Shigeru Ishiba elected as the 102nd Prime Minister of Japan
On October 1, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba was successfully elected as the 102nd Prime Minister of Japan in the Prime Minister’s nomination election in the provisional parliament, and is about to form a new cabinet. This change symbolizes the end of Kishida Fumio's cabinet. Prime Minister Kishida has formally proposed the cabinet's general terminology at the cabinet meeting in the morning. After completing the relevant procedures, Shigeru Ishiba is expected to officially announce the establishment of the Ishiba Cabinet tonight and announce its basic policies for future governance.
Source: NHK Prime Minister Kishida issued a statement resigning from the cabinet
The election of Shigeru Ishiba symbolizes a reshuffle of forces within the Liberal Democratic Party, especially in terms of policies on digitalization and emerging technology industries. His coming to power is seen as an opportunity to accelerate change. In this cabinet formation, the personnel layout of Ishiba's cabinet has attracted much attention from the outside world, especially his emphasis on digital policies. Shigeru Ishiba has chosen Rep. Taira Shoaki, an important promoter of digital policies in the Liberal Democratic Party, and is expected to serve as the "digital minister" responsible for future digital transformation and technology policies.
Appoint crypto-friendly officials to accelerate digitalization
Representative Taira Shoaki has long been committed to promoting Japan’s digital policy, especially in the cryptocurrency and Web3 industries. He holds a leadership role in the Liberal Democratic Party's Web3 Task Force (PT) and has published a number of policy documents in the past few years to promote the development of cryptocurrency and decentralized technology in Japan. In April this year, the Web3 group of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Rep. Taira released the latest white paper, emphasizing that Japan should become a global technology center in the Web3 era and target digital assets, DAOs, self-regulatory decentralized organizations, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), etc. Technology proposes a number of specific development measures.
Image source: ひらいたくや In April this year, the Liberal Democratic Party Web3 group led by Representative Taira Masaaki (middle) released the latest white paper
The white paper also covers a number of topics of critical importance to cryptocurrency enthusiasts and businesses, such as proposing to change the declaration of profits and losses from cryptocurrency transactions to a separate taxation system and recommending that exchanges between cryptocurrencies not be taxed. These reforms are expected to effectively lower the threshold for companies to hold and use cryptocurrencies, thereby promoting the development of the crypto industry. Rep. Taira Shoaki also emphasized at this year’s large encryption conference WebX 2024 that these tax reforms are the result of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Web3 group’s ongoing consultation efforts within the party.
In addition to his contributions to the cryptocurrency industry, Taira Masaki has also served as deputy minister of the Cabinet Office, economic and industrial affairs officer, etc., and has served as the chairperson of several working groups related to AI progress. His in-depth understanding of the digital industry has made his appointment to the cabinet seen as a sign of the cabinet's emphasis on digital transformation and technology policies. It is generally believed that the appointment of Councilor Ping will help promote more innovative digital policies.
Source: NHK Representative Taira Masaaki, who will soon serve as a "Digital Minister"
The future outlook of the Ishiba Cabinet
Other candidates for Ishiba's new cabinet have also been roughly determined. There are 13 people who join the cabinet for the first time, two people will be appointed again, and four people who have experience in the cabinet will join the cabinet again. It is worth noting that there are only two female cabinet ministers, Toshiko Abe and Junko Mihara, a decrease of three from the previous term. The average age of the new cabinet is 63.55 years old, with the eldest being 75-year-old Minister of Regional Development Yoshitaka Ito and the youngest being 51-year-old Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Shimono Fukuoka.
Source: NHK After Shigeru Ishiba became Prime Minister of Japan, other candidates for the new cabinet were revealed
Shigeru Ishiba will hold a press conference tonight to elaborate on the basic policies for future government operations. The new cabinet will face many challenges, including how to sustain economic growth, promote digital reform, and respond to changes in the international situation.
In particular, adjustments to cryptocurrency-related policies will have a profound impact on Japan's economic growth and international competitiveness. The industry generally expects that, under the leadership of digital industry experts such as Taira Masaki, Japan can achieve breakthroughs in emerging technology industries such as Web3 and cryptocurrency.
