TOKYO – New Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, a first-time Cabinet appointee, is well-versed in security policy having served as parliamentary secretary at the predecessor of the Defense Ministry and as a senior vice foreign minister.

Iwaya, 61, faces daunting tasks of getting the understanding of local residents in areas where the two land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system batteries are planned to be installed, and where Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force’s Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will be deployed.

The former member of the Oita prefectural assembly also helped build consensus in the Liberal Democratic Party on legislation to authorize the opening of casino resorts in Japan as the head of an intraparty study group.

Iwaya, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, is currently serving his eighth term.