Economy minister Yoshio Hachiro submitted a letter of resignation to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 10 after being heavily criticized for joking about radiation contamination.
Economy minister Yoshio Hachiro submitted a letter of resignation to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 10 after being heavily criticized for joking about radiation contamination.
Noda, who met Hachiro at the Lower House members' dormitory in Tokyo's Akasaka district, accepted the resignation.
Earlier in the day, it appeared that Hachiro would try to remain at the post, which he assumed only eight days ago. "I will do my best to settle the nuclear crisis as early as possible," he told reporters.
But calls for his resignation intensified from the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and even within the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. Opposition parties were threatening to delay Diet proceedings by submitting a censure motion against Hachiro in the Upper House, where the opposition camp holds a majority.
After Hachiro toured Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 8 and returned to the Lower House members' dormitory at 11:20 p.m., five or six reporters approached him for a comment.
Still wearing his emergency work clothes, Hachiro jokingly told one of the reporters, "I will put radioactive materials (on you)," while rubbing his sleeve.
He then gave his impressions of his trip to the prefecture that is home to the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Hours before he resigned, Hachiro told reporters in Tokyo that he didn't remember pretending to "contaminate" a reporter with radiation.
"I remember that most of my talks with the reporters at that time were serious ones," he said.
But he added, "If I created unpleasantness and distrust to the people and those in Fukushima Prefecture, I want to apologize from my heart."
Hachiro was also criticized for describing municipalities in and around the Fukushima nuclear plant as "dead towns" after a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 9. He later retracted the remark and apologized.
As minister of economy, trade and industry, Hachiro was in charge of nuclear energy policies and compensation issues concerning the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Shigeru Ishiba, chairman of the LDP's Policy Research Council, insisted that Hachiro step down.
"Before we say that the remark is problematic for an economy minister or a politician, we must say that it is problematic for a human being," Ishiba said. "He should resign. Unless he does so, the prime minister must fire him. If he remains as economy minister, Diet deliberations will not make progress."
Seiji Maehara, chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee, told reporters on Sept. 10: "If the contents of the remark are true, it is an extremely serious issue. He (Hachiro) should clearly explain what his intentions were."
A DPJ executive went further.
"The anger of the local communities (in Fukushima Prefecture) has yet to subside. He should resign as early as possible," the executive said.