The Asahi Shimbun has a profile on Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary in the Abe administration, Yoshihide Suga, that makes for interesting weekend reading. One of Suga’s key roles within Abe’s team is keeping the expressions of nationalistic sentiment under control (at least, one can’t help thinking, until after the July upper house elections, where Abe hopes to win a majority so he can press forward with his constitutional change goals).
- Suga and finance minister Taro Aso are Abe’s two key ‘lieutenants’, they work together to maintain rapport
- Suga has veto power over senior officials proposed by bureaucrats
- Suga is a non-drinker
POWER BROKERS: Yoshihide Suga, the man behind Abe’s political comeback
