Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet on Aug 3, the third time since taking office in 2012, but most senior Cabinet figures including Finance Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida retain their posts.

Among the notable changes is the appointment of Tomomi Inada, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, as the defense minister. She replaces Gen Nakatani. The promotion of the 57-year-old hard-line conservative Inada known for her hawkish views on Japan's history and Constitution reflects Abe's political ambitions.

The reshuffle came after the LDP-led coalition, along with opposition parties that favor amending the pacifist Constitution, secured a more than two-thirds majority in the upper house last month. Theoretically, this "supermajority" increases the possibility of the constitutional amendment that Abe has long craved for.