Kazuyoshi Kaneko MLIT Minister: Doves 1: Hawks 0

Whatever else the new Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kazuyoshi Kaneko, the replacement for the teachers union-hating Nariaki Nakayama, does, one thing he won’t do is offend Western liberals. A member of the LDP Subcommittee on the Korean Peninsula Issue built around ultra-dove Taku Yamazaki, the milquetoast Mr. Kaneko ‘s political wanderings have taken him from being a close associate of another notable dove Koichi Kato to subbing for Makoto Koga, bane of Class A War criminals and head of the eponymous Koga faction. Mr. Kaneko is also a member of the Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians’ League, all in all a very neighborly resume.