Japan cabinet resigns ahead of reshuffle

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's cabinet resigned en masse on Monday, heralding a reshuffle by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as he looks to move past a damaging row with China and boost his flagging popularity.

"Today in the special cabinet meeting the Prime Minister told us he will conduct a cabinet reshuffle," chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura told reporters. "The resignations of all cabinet ministers were collected."

The reshuffle had been widely trailed in Japanese media, and comes as the Prime Minister's poll numbers remain dreary after a costly battle over legislation to double sales tax.

It also comes as Tokyo is embroiled in a row with Beijing over the sovereignty of a group of islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China.