Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida has approved his Minister for Justice’s resignation following an offhand remark he made about approving capital punishment.
The Minister, Yasuhiro Hanashi, told reporters he had submitted his resignation to Mr Kishida two days after he commented at a party meeting that his low-profile job only made the news when he approved death penalties.
The remark quickly sparked criticism from the Opposition as well as within Mr Kishida’s governing party.
At least two other members of the Prime Minister’s scandal-prone Cabinet are facing allegations of accounting irregularities.
“I carelessly used the term death penalty as an example which has made people and Ministry officials feel uncomfortable,” Mr Hanashi (pictured) said.
“I decided to resign to express my apology to the people and my determination to restart my political career,” he said.
“I apologise and retract my remark that created an impression that I was taking my responsibility lightly.”
Mr Hanashi initially said he would not resign however, media reports later revealed he had made similar remarks at other meetings over the past three months.
Japan has faced international criticism for continuing to use capital punishment.
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Former Minister for Agriculture, Ken Saito has been named as Mr Hanashi’s replacement.
Mr Hanashi is the second Minister to be dismissed since the Prime Minister shuffled his Cabinet in August in a failed attempt to turn around his Government’s plunging popularity.
Last month, Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned as Minister for Economy after facing criticism for failing to explain his links to the controversial South Korean-based Unification Church, whose members are popularly known as Moonies.
Tokyo, 14 November 2022
