Japan's new prime minister picked close allies Friday for key positions in his Cabinet as he tries to steer his troubled nation through disaster recovery, a nuclear crisis and a lengthy economic slump.

Yoshihiko Noda, a surprise choice for prime minister when he took control of the ruling party this week, is bringing along some fresh faces to the Cabinet, including 47-year-old Koichiro Gemba as foreign minister and 49-year-old Jun Azumi as finance minister.

Both are relatively young in a Japanese political world normally dominated by elder statesmen, and both are closely allied with Noda.

"They will work like loaches mired in mud and sweating to get the job done," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, another Noda ally, said when announcing the lineup. Loaches, a type of bottom-feeding, eel-like fish, have become a bit of an odd buzzword after Noda described himself as one in what has largely been interpreted as a self-deprecating remark.

In comments shortly after his full Cabinet was approved by the emperor, Noda struck a confident tone, saying he would do his utmost to improve disaster relief efforts and bring the nuclear crisis in Fukushima under control.

"We need to speed up and revitalize our restoration efforts," he said. "Without the rebirth of Fukushima, there is no rebirth of Japan."

He also said he and his Cabinet would work to jump-start an economy battered by the surging yen. A strong yen hurts Japan's top exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. by reducing the value of their overseas businesses.

Noda, who was finance minister in the previous Cabinet, said more needed to be done to prop up the U.S. dollar, acknowledging that he was worried about a hollowing out of the Japanese economy if companies move their operations abroad because of the high yen.

He noted that Japanese companies should take advantage of a strong yen by buying up foreign businesses.

Noda, Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, is keeping around some ministers from the previous Cabinet. He's retaining Goshi Hosono as the minister in charge of dealing with the nuclear crisis and Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano, who ran against Noda for the party leadership and is considered well connected with veteran legislators.

Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University, said the picks were balanced enough that he felt optimistic the Cabinet would last at least a year - a solid achievement given the records of recent prime ministers.

"The neo-liberal reformists who tend to be young and in their 40s are placed in eye-catching ministries," Nakano said of several new ministers, including Azumi and Gemba. "Those youthful, new leaders of Japan are placed in high visibility positions."

In a nod to his key rival and party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, Noda appointed lawmakers close to Ozawa as the defense minister and the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission.

Ozawa still has significant clout in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and backed another candidate for the leadership post.

Azusa Kato, an economist at BNP Paribas in Tokyo, was more optimistic, said Noda could prove to be an improvement over his predecessor, Naoto Kan, whose popularity had plunged in recent months.

"Before, we had absolutely no hopes at all for any action. And so maybe things are getting better," Kato said.

---

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama