TOKYO -- Prime Minister Fumio Kishida carefully assembled his cabinet, taking pains to reflect the wishes of rival factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that propelled him to the top job.
But inevitably some were left unsatisfied, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is the de facto leader of the LDP's largest faction.
Observers believe Kishida's choices have been largely influenced by three party heavyweights -- Abe, LDP Vice President Taro Aso and LDP Secretary-General Akira Amari. But the reality is more complicated.
"Honestly, I'm not happy," Abe apparently told his aides after the cabinet picks were finalized.
Not only did his faction lose seats in the new cabinet, but protege Koichi Hagiuda was passed over for both party secretary-general and chief cabinet secretary -- two of the most high-profile posts.
Abe did his best to promote Hagiuda. "Can he do a bit more?" Abe asked chief cabinet secretary pick Hirokazu Matsuno late last week, imploring him to speak with Kishida.
Hagiuda was ultimately appointed minister of economy, trade and industry, an upgrade from his previous post of education, culture, sports, science and technology. But many of the appointments Abe had expected failed to come through.
Ahead of the selection process, Abe had told Kishida to pick key party and cabinet officials on his own. "Appointments tend to go awry when you seek advice from other people," the former prime minister had said.
But the final roster featured many individuals backed by Amari, who himself was appointed LDP secretary-general. This fueled the dissatisfaction in the Abe camp, which concluded that Kishida "did not talk to us but consulted Mr. Amari."
Kishida had his own ideas. "I've always said I will reform the LDP," he said after learning of opposition to him choosing Tatsuo Fukuda as General Council chairman.
One of Kishida's key pledges during the LDP leadership race was to give more responsibility to junior party members. Fukuda, a Hosoda faction member in his third term in the lower house, was a leader of an intraparty group pushing for reform.
Kishida also appointed former rival Sanae Takaichi, who technically belongs to no faction but had Abe's full support in the LDP vote, to the post of party policy chief. Kishida believes he has done more than enough for the Hosoda faction by choosing his chief cabinet secretary, as well as two out of three key LDP appointments, from its de facto members.
In fact, some within the Kishida's own faction feel that the new prime minister has conceded too much.
Kishida did not have Abe's support in the first round of voting in the latest LDP election. He opted not to run in the 2018 election to make way for Abe's third term. And when he did run in 2020, Abe supported then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga instead.
"We don't owe the Hosoda faction this much," a faction member said. "We've given in too far."
In contrast, an official from the LDP's third-largest Takeshita faction said it "couldn't have expected a better outcome" after scoring four cabinet seats.
On Sept. 27, two days before the election, acting leader and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced that most faction members would be voting for Kishida. Motegi and Kishida had been in close communication since the campaign and discussed potential appointments in advance by phone.
Kishida made a point of coordinating with faction leaders on appointments based on his own bitter experience after the 2020 race, when Suga tapped two Kishida faction members -- Takuya Hira and Yoko Kamikawa -- without consulting him first. "They must dislike me so much," Kishida had said at the time. Still, the decision to coordinate with Hosoda faction chairman Hiroyuki Hosoda likely contributed to the rift between Kishida and Abe.
Meanwhile, the Aso faction, to which Amari belongs, has been the subject of envy. In the final days of the campaign, Kishida had decided that only Amari would do for the secretary-general post.
Two of Amari's recommendations -- Aso faction member Daishiro Yamagiwa and Takayuki Kobayashi of the Nikai faction -- were tapped for the cabinet, the former as economic and fiscal policy minister and the latter taking the new economic security portfolio. Both lawmakers hold leading positions in an LDP task force on the "creation of a new international order," chaired by Amari.
While the cabinet roles Yamagiwa and Kobayashi were chosen for were not exactly what Amari had intended, other factions see his fingerprints on the picks.
The Aso faction also proposed the relegation of faction member Taro Kono, a rival to Kishida in the leadership race, to the role of LDP communications chief -- a demanding job that would keep the erstwhile vaccination point man out of the spotlight.
Aso personally told Kono to accept the post, even as some Kono aides complained about the decision. Kono himself responded that he would do whatever was asked of him.
On Thursday, the day after the LDP presidential election, Aso met with Kishida at a Tokyo hotel and conveyed his intention to quit as finance minister and deputy prime minister.
"I've constantly served beside the prime minister for nearly nine straight years," Aso said. "It's better go forward with a new image."
But Kishida urged Aso to stay on as vice president of the LDP, citing the criticisms that the party is being overshadowed by the cabinet.
"I want the party to have a greater presence," Kishida said.
With Amari tapped to serve as secretary-general, two members of the Aso faction have won senior positions in the LDP. This lineup may force a subtle shift in the balance of power between the cabinet and the party.
There is a bit of distance between Abe, who supported Takaichi in the lead-up to the LDP race, and certain members of the Hosoda faction. Though some believe that the personnel choices are conspicuously tinged with ties to Abe, such observations do not tell the full picture.
Aso, Amari and Abe have long formed the backbone of LDP governments. But there appears to be some divergence between Abe and the other two, which could alter the power dynamic.