Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appoints Tomomi Inada as defence minister

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday reshuffled his cabinet, appointing Tomomi Inada of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party the new Defence Minister.

Abe's spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Inada will replace General Nakatani as the defence minister, Xinhua news agency reported.

Abe also opted to retain almost half the members of the cabinet. The prime minister shuffled the cabinet for a third time since he took office in 2012.