TOKYO: Japan’s justice minister, who was appointed just 18 days ago, is set to resign, media said yesterday, after he admitted having had links with organised crime.
Keishu Tanaka was brought into the cabinet less than three weeks ago as part of a reshuffle aimed at shoring up Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s shaky administration. But he was forced to admit a yakuza connection after a tabloid magazine revealed he had once acted as matchmaker for a senior mobster.
Tanaka, whose ministry oversees the work of courts, apologised and has thus far insisted he would not be stepping down, including at a parliamentary session where he was grilled on the links.
“I won’t resign. The relationship with a crime syndicate is an age-old story,” Tanaka said late Thursday, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
A footage showed him getting mobbed by reporters, with the minister again saying he would not resign. Afp
