TOKYO: Japan's transport minister resigned from his post on Sunday after just four days in the job over a series of contentious remarks, a blow to brand new Prime Minister Taro Aso as he considers calling a snap election. Transport Minister Nariaki Nakayama, the first to resign from Aso's cabinet, had come under fire on Saturday for calling Japan's biggest teachers union a "cancer" in the education system.
It was the latest in a series of gaffes by Nakayama, one of several outspoken allies whom Aso had tapped as ministers. "We cannot say that this is not damaging," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference after Aso accepted Nakayama's resignation.
"We must show the people how hard the Aso government is working, and try to win back the public's confidence. That is all that we can do," he added. Aso, an outspoken nationalist who favours spending and tax cuts to boost Japan's faltering economy, took office on Wednesday to replace Yasuo Fukuda, the second Japanese premier to quit abruptly in a year after seeing their popularity slump.
"Aso, who had just launched his new cabinet, has suffered an early blow," the Nikkei business daily said in an editorial. "Prime Minister Aso's responsibility for the appointment will be sharply questioned," the paper said, noting Nakayama, a former education minister, had a history of controversial remarks.
Aso, who himself has a reputation for offending with off-the-cuff comments, is widely expected to call an early general election to try to break a policy deadlock due to a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can delay laws.
Support for Aso's cabinet fell short of 50 percent in several media polls published on Friday, lower than Fukuda enjoyed when he first took the job and casting doubt on Aso's ability to lead his party, which has ruled Japan for most of the past half-century, to an election win.
Opinion polls show that while Aso, 68, is more popular than main opposition Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, his Liberal Democratic Party has only a small lead among voters when they are asked for whom they will cast their ballots. Nakayama's fate was sealed on Saturday after he called the Japan Teachers Union "a cancer for Japan's education system" and vowed to destroy the left-leaning group.
Nakayama, 65, had already gotten off to a rocky start when he had to apologise and withdraw comments made in interviews with media including a remark that Japan was "ethnically homogeneous".
That statement drew protests from Japan's Ainu indigenous people, who have long suffered discrimination. Opposition parties called for Nakayama to resign, and Kawamura on Friday warned ministers to watch what they said.
Nakayama was a staunch advocate of revising Japan's basic law on education to put more emphasis on teaching patriotism and traditional values. The reforms, opposed by the Japan Teachers' Union, were enacted in 2006. He also heads a group of LDP lawmakers that declared the 1937 Nanjing Massacre a fabrication.
China says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then the capital, while an Allied tribunal put the death toll at about 142,000.
Source:Japan minister quits in blow to brand new PM- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times
It was the latest in a series of gaffes by Nakayama, one of several outspoken allies whom Aso had tapped as ministers. "We cannot say that this is not damaging," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference after Aso accepted Nakayama's resignation.
"We must show the people how hard the Aso government is working, and try to win back the public's confidence. That is all that we can do," he added. Aso, an outspoken nationalist who favours spending and tax cuts to boost Japan's faltering economy, took office on Wednesday to replace Yasuo Fukuda, the second Japanese premier to quit abruptly in a year after seeing their popularity slump.
"Aso, who had just launched his new cabinet, has suffered an early blow," the Nikkei business daily said in an editorial. "Prime Minister Aso's responsibility for the appointment will be sharply questioned," the paper said, noting Nakayama, a former education minister, had a history of controversial remarks.
Aso, who himself has a reputation for offending with off-the-cuff comments, is widely expected to call an early general election to try to break a policy deadlock due to a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can delay laws.
Support for Aso's cabinet fell short of 50 percent in several media polls published on Friday, lower than Fukuda enjoyed when he first took the job and casting doubt on Aso's ability to lead his party, which has ruled Japan for most of the past half-century, to an election win.
Opinion polls show that while Aso, 68, is more popular than main opposition Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, his Liberal Democratic Party has only a small lead among voters when they are asked for whom they will cast their ballots. Nakayama's fate was sealed on Saturday after he called the Japan Teachers Union "a cancer for Japan's education system" and vowed to destroy the left-leaning group.
Nakayama, 65, had already gotten off to a rocky start when he had to apologise and withdraw comments made in interviews with media including a remark that Japan was "ethnically homogeneous".
That statement drew protests from Japan's Ainu indigenous people, who have long suffered discrimination. Opposition parties called for Nakayama to resign, and Kawamura on Friday warned ministers to watch what they said.
Nakayama was a staunch advocate of revising Japan's basic law on education to put more emphasis on teaching patriotism and traditional values. The reforms, opposed by the Japan Teachers' Union, were enacted in 2006. He also heads a group of LDP lawmakers that declared the 1937 Nanjing Massacre a fabrication.
China says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then the capital, while an Allied tribunal put the death toll at about 142,000.
Source:Japan minister quits in blow to brand new PM- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times