Japan’s next prime minister, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Yukio Hatoyama, plans to appoint Hirofumi Hirano as his chief cabinet secretary.

The chief cabinet secretary position is similar to the position of chief of staff in the US.

Parliament is all but certain to pick Hatoyama as prime minister in the special session scheduled for Sept. 16, after the DPJ’s landslide victory in the Lower House elections last month.

Hirano, 60, first became a Lower House member in 1996 and is one of what DPJ politicians call “the three major right-hand men of Hatoyama.” Since Hatoyama became DPJ president in May, Hirano has served as chief of the DPJ executive secretariat.

(via The Wall Street Journal)