Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was to replace several of his ministers Friday, to meet the opposition's conditions for talks on raising taxes, dpa cited news reports as saying. Naoki Tanaka, currently the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's administration committee, was to replace Defence Minister Yasuao Ichikawa, Kyodo News agency reported, quoting party members. Ichikawa has been criticized for incompetence by the opposition, which controls the upper house. He has publicly claimed to be a layman in matters of defence policy. Noda was to replace another four ministers Friday as he tries to gain the necessary opposition support to pass a series of tax and social reform bills, including a controversial plan to raise the consumer tax to 8 per cent by 2014, from its current 5 per cent.
