Tokyo: A Cabinet reshuffle in Japan is expected soon, and is likely to include the removal of a defense minister who outraged the public with gaffes about a rape by US servicemen.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters on Sunday that a change in his Cabinet was coming soon.
The opposition has been demanding that Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa be fired after he made a series of gaffes, including a remark that he did not know details about the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen on the southwestern island of Okinawa. The incident sparked one of the biggest anti-US protests in Japan and raised concerns over America's military presence there.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 11:32