Prime Minister Naoto Kan is preparing to reshuffle his Cabinet and the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's executive lineup Friday, DPJ sources said Wednesday.
Kan hopes to have the Diet convene an ordinary session on Jan. 24, but it remains uncertain if the opposition camp, which outnumbers the DPJ-led bloc in the Upper House, will accept the plan.
The focus of the Cabinet reshuffle is on Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, who has played a key role in coordinating major policy issues since Kan became prime minister in June. He and transport minister Sumio Mabuchi were dealt nonbinding censure motions in the opposition-controlled Upper House last year, and the opposition has threatened to boycott Diet deliberations on the budget if the two are still in the administration.