TOKYO, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday reshuffled his Cabinet for a third time since he retook office in 2012 and opted to retain almost half of his Cabinet members in their current posts.

His top spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, announced that among the new lineup, Tomomi Inada, the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, will take on the defense minister portfolio replacing Gen Nakatani.