As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet office, Japanese Lower House member Keiichi Ishii of Komeito, the administration’s coalition party was appointed as a new infrastructure minister on October 7. At the press conference later on the day, Minister Ishii expressed his enthusiasm to serve the nation particularly in disaster reconstruction of the northern Japan, safety and security of the land, disaster prevention and measures against aging infrastructure. He emphasized that it is necessary to maintain the level of the government spending for public works so that the construction industry can protect the long-term employment. Minister Ishii, who was first elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1993, had served the construction ministry for eleven years as a technical officer. (2015/10/09)