Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retained close allies in key posts in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, playing it safe as he refocuses on the economy after enacting divisive security legislation that dented his popularity.

Nine of the 19 cabinet members kept their portfolios, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Finance Minister Taro Aso and Economics Minister Akira Amari.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also stayed on, said Suga, who announced the new line-up at the prime minister’s office.

Abe’s attempt to boost his ratings with a broad cabinet makeover, including five women, backfired in September 2014 when two ministers quickly resigned over scandals. This time, as expected, he opted for stability as he refocuses on the economy after the unpopular security legislation passed.

Abe also promoted Katsunobu Kato, a deputy chief cabinet secretary, to a new post in charge of his latest goal to build a “Society in Which All 100 Million People Can be Active”.

The slogan, Abe aides say, is meant to show that all Japanese will be included in economic growth. However, some have said it echoes wartime propaganda.

Most of the politicians preparing to join Japan’s cabinet came to the premier’s office in shiny black luxury sedans, but lawmaker Taro Kono pulled up in a silvery Toyota Vitz hatchback, a fitting symbol of his reputation as a political maverick.

Better known for criticising the government than toeing the party line, Kono, 52, was tapped by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as minister for administrative reform and National Public Safety Commission chief, in a cabinet shake-up announced on Wednesday.

The son of former chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono, who authored a landmark 1993 apology to “comfort women” forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, the younger Kono is known for harsh criticism of Japan’s utilities.

One of his targets has been Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant devastated by the March 2011 tsunami.

In contrast to the government stance of maintaining nuclear power as a core source of energy, Kono has said he wants Japan to commit to phasing out nuclear power, by shutting down reactors when they reach 40 years of service.

Meanwhile, a former wrestler and a television anchorwoman also joined Japan’s cabinet on Wednesday.

Abe promoted his Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, 59, to a newly created portfolio charged with encouraging greater workforce participation.

Kato, a former finance ministry bureaucrat and a father of four daughters, is also tasked with tackling the declining birth rate and female empowerment — a key element of the so-called “Abenomics” reforms unleashed more than two years ago.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced the new line-up after Abe collected letters of resignation from ministers at a noon meeting.

Abe has repeatedly said women are a key part of his flagship bid to kick-start the world’s number three economy and he has pushed for them to fill more senior roles in politics and business.

Yet the premier appointed only three female lawmakers as ministers, down from five appointed in the shake-up in September last year, two of whom are new.

Tamayo Marukawa, a 44-year-old former television anchorwoman, was appointed environment minister while 50-year-old Aiko Shimajiri was given the portfolio in charge of Okinawa and the northern territories.

The expected reduction in female cabinet members comes less than two weeks after Abe vowed to push initiatives for women’s empowerment at a United Nations meeting in New York.

Hiroshi Hase, a colourful 54-year-old professional wrestler-turned-politician, was given the education portfolio.

His predecessor, Hakubun Shimomura, had offered to resign last month over his involvement in abandoned plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics main stadium after the venue’s eye-watering $2.0 billion (Dh7.34 billion) price tag sparked a public backlash.

Abe asked him to stay on until the reshuffle.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, a 54-year-old Upper House lawmaker who in 2012 lost the race for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership post against Abe, was replaced as agriculture minister by Hiroshi Moriyama, after serving less than a year in the post.