Safety regulators in both the United States and Japan are investigating breaking problems with the Prius cars, Japan's top-selling car last year and an icon of green design that has lifted the public image of Toyota.
The world's biggest automaker had already told its car dealers about the braking recall decision, the Yomiuri newspaper said.
Toyota was expected to announce the recall early next week after it consults the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, the newspaper said.
Toyota had considered voluntarily fixing the cars but had chosen a recall to restore public trust, the newspaper said.
Since its launch last May, Toyota has sold over 300,000 of the newest version of the Prius worldwide, including around 200,000 in Japan, 103,200 in the United States and 29,000 in Europe.
Episodes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles have been linked to up to 19 crash deaths in the United States over the past decade.
Toyota's president apologized on Friday for safety problems.
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize from the bottom of my heart for causing many of our customers concern after the recalls across several models in several regions," Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder, told a news conference in Nagoya.
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