Japan's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba attends at a news conference at the Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's official residence in Tokyo, Sept 2, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Energy middle road

As in his cabinet appointments and economic priorities, Noda also sought to tread the middle ground on energy policy.

He said he understood the public's safety concerns and admitted it would be hard to build new reactors as planned under a 2010 national energy policy but said he wanted to restart off-line reactors once safety checks were cleared.

Stressing that the alliance with Washington was the core of Tokyo's diplomacy, Noda added: "I'll do my utmost to build up friendly ties with not only China but with other neighbours such as South Korea and Russia."

There were no standout appointments in Noda's cabinet, which - like his earlier picks for party posts - included a mix of lawmakers from various feuding factions. That led some to wonder whether Noda was not putting too much stress on party unity over expertise.

"I don't think this line-up is one that can pull up its socks and respond to the public's hopes," said Katsuhiko Nakamura, executive director at think tank Asian Forum Japan.