Japan PM to reshuffle Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda plans to reshuffle his cabinet Friday, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Fukuda plans to ask cabinet members to resign en masse at a cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon "amid the recent surge in commodity prices and Japan's aging society", the agency said.

The prime minister's office has scheduled a press conference for Friday evening at which he is expected to discuss the changes.

The changes are meant to increase the cabinet's sluggish approval rating -- major media organizations reported poll results this month showing the cabinet's approval rating at less than 30 percent, Kyodo reported.

The changes come about six weeks after Japan's opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a motion of no-confidence in Fukuda.

It was the first time a chamber of parliament has passed such a censure in the country's post-war history, but the motion was non-binding and largely symbolic. No-confidence motions only count in Japan when approved by the lower house, which is currently controlled by Fukuda's political party.

Even so, analysts say the no-confidence motion was a stinging rebuke for a prime minister whose popularity plummeted after his government introduced a medical plan in April for people over age 75. It raises premiums and deducts health-care expenses from pension payments.

The government has said the plan is unavoidable in a country with one of the world's largest aging populations. Opposition parties have criticized it for its effect on one of the most vulnerable segments of society.

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