FACTBOX: Five facts on Japan's new defense minister

(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has selected national security adviser Yuriko Koike, 54, to become Japan's first female defense minister after her predecessor quit the post over remarks that appeared to accept the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of two Japanese cities.

Here are five facts on Koike.

* Born on July 15, 1952, Koike studied at Cairo University before working as an Arabic translator and teacher. After shifting to a career in television, she shot to fame as an anchorwoman for a popular business news program. She also speaks fluent English.

* She was elected to the lower house of the national parliament in 1992 and joined the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 2002 after hopping around several smaller parties.

* Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed her environment minister in 2003. She launched a "cool biz" campaign encouraging workers to take off ties and jackets during the summer to cut back on air-conditioner use and help fight global warming.

* In 2005, Koike was tapped to run in a lower house election against a fellow ruling party lawmaker who opposed Koizumi's pet project of privatizing the postal system. One of several candidates dubbed "assassins" to fend off anti-reformers, she won the election by a landslide.

* Incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Koike as national security adviser in September 2006. Koike, who has described herself as being the counterpart for White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, said last November that controversial debate among politicians at the time over whether Japan should consider having nuclear weapons was futile. She also said it was clear that possessing nuclear arsenal would be "meaningless."

Sources: Reuters, Yuriko Koike's Web site (www.yuriko.or.jp/)