Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces a serious problem: How to restore confidence in Japanese diplomacy, which has been eroded by Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's inept conduct in the first 100 days of his administration.
Since taking up her post, Tanaka has had a series of run-ins with top Foreign Ministry bureaucrats. This has delayed personnel changes at the ministry and caused chaos in Japanese diplomacy. Tanaka made inconsistent remarks regarding U.S. missile defense, openly opposed Koizumi's plan to pay his respects at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead on Aug. 15 -- the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II -- and challenged his authority regarding the reshuffle of top Foreign Ministry bureaucrats. Tanaka's conduct exposed Cabinet disunity and damaged confidence in Japanese diplomacy.
Confusion in diplomacy came to a head in early August after Koizumi decided to replace four recent vice foreign ministers, including ambassador to the United States Shunji Yanai, holding them responsible for a series of corruption scandals at the ministry. Although Koizumi decided to appoint Deputy Foreign Minister Ryozo Kato, who was regarded as the top candidate for the vice minister's post, as Yanai's replacement, Tanaka insisted on retaining Yanai in the ambassador's post and appointing Kato as vice minister. Defying Koizumi's decision, Tanaka assembled all ministry officials Aug. 2 and announced her intention. Some ministry officials said Tanaka's act was an open rebellion. Earlier, Tanaka had expressed strong opposition to Koizumi's plan to visit Yasukuni Shrine, which also memorializes Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals.