Yasutoshi Nishimura was retained as the economy, trade and industry minister, a post that oversees nuclear power plants in the country, after playing a key role in the start of the discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Nishimura, 60, also took charge of Japan's fight against the novel coronavirus as a member of the Cabinet under the premierships of Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe.
The seven-term House of Representatives member from Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction, once led by the late Abe. He continues to aspire to become prime minister, even after his failed bid in the LPD presidential race of 2009, when the party was not in power.
