JAPAN

Senior Trade Bureaucrats Shuffled: The Ministry of Trade and Industry raised eyebrows in Tokyo by announcing a wholesale shake-up of its senior bureaucrats to take effect this Friday, just 12 days before the Group of Seven summit, according to the Yomiuri newspaper. Top trade negotiator Noboru Hatakeyama, the international vice minister, will be replaced by Sozaburo Okamatsu, now director general of international trade policy and the top overall bureaucrat. Vice Minister Yuji Tanahashi will be replaced by industrial policy director general Hideaki Kumano. While the change of command is routine, the Foreign and Finance ministries delayed their changeovers until after the summit to be sure that things go smoothly.