Because of the election announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, the new Cabinet he formed last summer to boost his falling support rate will do no work, since it was launched during the summer vacation and Abe dissolved the Diet as soon as it opened on Thursday.

What this means is that Toshimitsu Motegi, the economic revitalization minister who was also appointed to the newest Cabinet portfolio, minister for human resources development, may never carry out any tasks in that latter role, which will disappoint a lot of journalists who are still scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what the ministry does. The English name is more straightforward sounding than the Japanese one, which is hitozukuri kakumei tantō daijin, directly translated as Minister in Charge of the Revolution for Creating People, a phrase that sounds part Bolshevik, part sci-fi.

As a number of media have pointed out, Abe's second administration, despite its fondness for glib slogans such as "Make women shine" and "100 million working actively together," has shown little interest in boosting social welfare programs. But this new ministry, as well as Abe's campaign pledge to use revenues from the consumption tax for education and better day care, would seem to be reversing this policy.