The newly appointed Japanese defense minister, Tomomi Inada, is a close conservative ally of Shinzo Abe. The 57-year-old was formerly policy chief of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is seen by Abe as a possible successor.

Newly appointed Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada (R, Front) and other cabinet ministers leave after a photo session at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, capital of Japan, on Aug. 3, 2016. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, retained almost half of his ministers in their current positions although controversially appointed Tomomi Inada, the former head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, to take on the defense minister portfolio replacing Gen Nakatani. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

Inada is known to share Abe's views on Japan's 20th-Century history and has made a lot of controversial remarks.

She was the lawyer for the plaintiff in a suit against the media concerning the Nanjing Massacre. Inada herself denies the slaughter in which up to 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese troops during World War Two.

The right-wing politician also denies Japan's responsibilities for waging the war and has questioned the legal basis of the Tokyo Tribunal.