JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI appointed conservative nationalists to key positions in his Cabinet yesterday in a reshuffle that marks the beginning of an 11-month contest to succeed him.

Shinzo Abe, who leads opinion polls as the most popular choice to take over as the Prime Minister of Japan, is Mr Koizumi’s new Chief Cabinet Secretary while his rival, Taro Aso, becomes Foreign Minister. Both are on the right of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and have infuriated Japan’s Asian neighbours by consistently visiting and praying at the nationalist Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo.

The appointment of Mr Aso was criticised by the man he replaced, Nobutaka Machimura, the outgoing Foreign Minister. “If the Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary and the Foreign Minister all turn up to visit Yasukuni, I fear that it would lead to a quite serious situation,” he said in his valedictory press conference.

“If the Foreign Minister goes there, I fear that it will disrupt Japan’s talks with South Korea and China.”

But the significance of this reshuffle lies in how it frames the contest to succeed Mr Koizumi as president of the LDP, and therefore as prime minister. Another potential leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, kept his job as Finance Minister, but Yasuo Fukuda, the most liberal among the contenders, was not appointed to the Cabinet.

Mr Koizumi is easily the most popular politician in Japan, and with local and national elections due in 2007 even his many enemies within the LDP would be happy for him to stay on because of his talent for getting them reelected.

Party rules say that he must step down next September and, although these have been stretched for prime ministers in the past, Mr Koizumi insists that he does not want to extend his term of office. He has declined to name an heir publicly, but his successor will need to show a commitment to furthering the Prime Minister’s structural and economic reforms as well as a popular touch and a vote-getting flair.

Yesterday Mr Aso did not attempt to hide his eagerness for the job. Asked if he had an eye on the leadership, he replied: “I would say so.” He added: “I have never thought of myself as a Koizumi successor.” But he knows very well that he is the front-runner by a wide margin.

Mr Abe, 51, is the grandson of a prime minister and the son of a foreign minister. He is said to be especially popular among women voters, although this may say less about his charms than about the low standards of physical good looks in Japanese political life. He came to prominence as a supporter of the families of young Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the past he has come close to supporting sanctions against North Korea, although yesterday he held back from advocating that hardline view. “We will have to continue dealing with the country through dialogue and pressure,” he said.

MrFukuda, another contender, appears to have been left out in the cold, although this may yet work to his advantage in the long run. Taking over from a prime minister as dynamic and popular as Mr Koizumi will be a difficult task. In such a situation, a reliable old timer like Mr Fukuda might find himself well positioned on the outside.

Mr Koizumi retained Heizo Takenaka, his longest-serving Cabinet minister, although he moved him from the economic portfolio to the job of Internal Affairs and Communications Minister.

He has also appointed, for the first time, a minister responsible for dealing with Japan’s ageing population: Kuniko Inoguchi, a woman academic first elected to parliament only seven weeks ago.

THE LEADING CONTENDERS

Yasuo Fukuda, 69
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary. No current post. Son of a prime minister

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