Abe sees a need to rebuild his administration promptly in the face of plunging cabinet approval ratings due partly to a scandal involving the Kake Educational Institution, headed by a personal friend of the prime minister, according to the sources.

Through the personnel reshuffle, Abe intends to highlight key policy themes including a "revolution" in human resources development, as he put it at a press conference on Monday.

Abe plans to carry out the cabinet and party leadership shakeup following a series of key events in his diplomatic schedule.

He is slated to visit Europe from early to mid-July, including Germany, where he will attend a Group of 20 summit. Later in the month, a Japan-China-South Korea summit may take place in Tokyo.

The timing of the reshuffle is also expected to depend partly on the results of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on July 2.

Abe is widely believed to retain key members of the cabinet and the LDP executive team, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, also finance minister, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, as well as LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura and Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai. (Jiji Press)