Gang links topple minister
October 23, 2012
A spokesman for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said Tanaka, 74, had resigned because of ill-health. He had had hospital checks for chest pains on Friday.
Tanaka's departure follows media reports that 30 years ago he helped organize the wedding of a senior member of a yakuza crime group and attended a party hosted by a gang leader.
Tanaka, whose ministry oversees the work of the courts, had apologized after disclosures by a tabloid magazine but had previously insisted that he would not step down.
Tanaka had only been brought into the cabinet at the start of the month as part of a reshuffle aimed at shoring up Noda's coalition government which has only a slim majority.
Parliament stalled
Policy-making by Noda's administration in parliament has been stalled by the opposition Liberal Democrats. At stake is a budgetary expenditure bill awaiting passage that would contain stimulus measures for the world's third-biggest economy.
In August, Noda promised to hold an election "soon" in exchange for opposition support on a plan to double sales tax as a means to plug Japan's vast debt hole, but the measure had remain unpopular among the public.
In September last year, Noda's factionally-divided DPJ lost trade minister Yoshio Hachiro over comments he made about radiation after a visit to the Fukushima region, the scene of last year's earthquake-triggered nuclear disaster.
ipj/rg (dpa, AFP, Reuters)