The ministers of Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet resigned on Monday in a move to prepare for a minor reshuffle, the second one following a January reshuffle since the Japanese prime minister launched the cabinet last September.

Noda collected the resignations from his Cabinet members on Monday morning. He reportedly plans to replace five out of 18 cabinet ministers, as a move to win support from the biggest opposition party for his plan to raise sales tax rate.

The minor cabinet reshuffle comes a day after Noda failed to win over former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, who remains strongly opposed to Noda's signature policy goal. Noda hopes to persuade the opposition Liberal Democratic Party to negotiate over the tax bills, by removing the ministers, who are seen as under-performing.

Noda is scheduled to hold a press conference at around 1:25 p.m. Monday, in which he is expected to announce the newly appointed cabinet ministers and explain to the public why he decided to carry out the reshuffle.

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