Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Masataka Okano will be named as the country’s next top security adviser, replacing Takeo Akiba.

The decision was formally approved in a Cabinet meeting on Friday, and will come into effect on Jan. 20, the same day that US President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next commander-in-chief of Japan’s most important ally.

Under the administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Okano, a 60-year-old career diplomat with experience in both Washington and Beijing and a former chief of the Foreign Ministry’s Russia division, served as an aid to the deputy chief cabinet secretary and vice minister for foreign affairs, playing a central role in Japan’s diplomatic initiatives.