Sharjah24 – AFP: Japan's prime minister reshuffled his cabinet Wednesday after a slump in approval ratings, replacing the brother of assassinated ex-leader Shinzo Abe as defence minister.

Fumio Kishida led his ruling party to victory in an upper house election last month, days after Abe was shot dead by a man resentful of the Unification Church.

Since then, as the public scrutinises the church's ties with Japanese politicians and Kishida's handling of the economy, approval ratings for the government have tumbled.

They fell 13 percentage points in three weeks to 46 percent, according to a poll published Monday by public broadcaster NHK, while another survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily showed a drop of eight points from July to 57 percent.

Political veteran Yasukazu Hamada was named defence minister -- a key role given Kishida's pledge to ramp up the defence budget to counter growing threats from China and North Korea.

Hamada, who previously served as defence minister from 2008-9, replaced Abe's brother Nobuo Kishi, whose ailing health has prompted concern.

Kishi also recently vowed to "thoroughly review" his links to the Unification Church, after acknowledging that church members had served as campaign volunteers.

The public is also split over Kishida's decision to hold a state funeral for Abe, Japan's longest serving prime minister whose nationalistic stance was divisive.

Top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno read out a list of new cabinet members including Katsunobu Kato, who served as health minister under Abe and returns to head the ministry.