Yuko Obuchi, the 40-year-old daughter of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, was Wednesday appointed as the first female trade and industry minister, one of five women Prime Minister Shinzo Abe named to his new Cabinet.
As minister of economy, trade and industry, Obuchi may face strong opposition from other women as she oversees the government's unpopular policy of restarting nuclear reactors shuttered after the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima disaster. She won her father's seat at the age of 26 when he died in office after less than two years as prime minister.
Obuchi said in an interview with Bloomberg last week at her Tokyo office that she felt she must carry on the work to which he had devoted his life.