TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stocked his new cabinet and ruling party leadership with political heavyweights vying for his post, bringing into sharp relief the rivalry expected to play out over the next two years until a new leader is selected.
Some speculate that Abe deliberately assembled his team to let potential successors compete against each other. With Shinjiro Koizumi, the popular son of a former prime minister, also joining the cabinet, Japan's political circles are suddenly immersed in a guessing game of who will emerge victorious.
