Japan’s justice minister, who was appointed just 18 days ago, is set to resign, media said on Friday, 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 the 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.
But a senior Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) official said: “Tanaka should resign and I said so to the Prime Minister,” while another official close to the premier said “we can’t protect Tanaka any more”, the Yomiuri said.
The yakuza are not illegal in Japan, but, like Italy’s Mafia or China’s triads, are involved in a range of illicit activities including drug dealing, prostitution, loan sharking and construction corruption.