TOKYO: Japan’s Shinzo Abe on Wednesday appointed new foreign and defense ministers and promoted a popular rising political star, in a cabinet reshuffle that fuelled speculation over the prime minister’s successor.

The spectacular appointment as Environment minister of the telegenic Shinjiro Koizumi, the 38-year-old son of much-loved former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, set tongues wagging in Tokyo political classes as the Abe era draws to a close.

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