Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's quick decision to effectively remove the industry minister from his post on Friday comes in an effort to minimize the impact on the handling of his administration.
Only a little more than one month after Abe's Cabinet reshuffle, the resignation of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Isshu Sugawara exposed a danger of appointing those who remain on the waiting list to become Cabinet members.
Sugawara's resignation also will likely cast a shadow over Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who is said to be a supporter of Sugawara.
At the Prime Minister's Office just before 8:30 a.m. on Friday, while Cabinet members who had finished their regular meeting headed downstairs, only Sugawara walked upstairs, with a meek look on his face.
"The important Diet deliberation time had to be used for my own problems," Sugawara is quoted as saying. The industry minister, who was escorted into the prime minister's executive office by Suga, tendered his resignation to Abe.
About 10 minutes later, House of Representatives member Hiroshi Kajiyama appeared at the Prime Minister's Office after being summoned by telephone. Abe asked Kajiyama to assume the industry minister post.
In the afternoon, a ceremony to certify Kajiyama was held in the presence of the Emperor, who had just finished the Kyoen-no-Gi banquet.
Over such a prompt move on the arrangement, speculation -- such as that top government officials had worked out the scenario the previous night -- has been spreading in the Nagatacho political nerve center, a Liberal Democratic Party executive said.
A fatal blow
The prime minister moved quickly to settle the issue on concerns that if suspicions over Sugawara were left unresolved, this could stymie Diet deliberations and affect not only the debate on a new Japan-U.S. trade agreement but also the debate on revising the Constitution.
Sugawara's alleged involvement in a scandal was first reported in the Oct. 10 issue of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine, saying he gifted melons and other things to local voters. Initially, the government and the ruling parties were optimistic about the report, with a senior LDP member saying, "It was just a rehash of an old story."
But on Wednesday, the situation dramatically changed. Shukan Bunshun reported in its online edition a new allegation that Sugawara's state-paid secretary handed out condolence money on Oct. 17 in his local constituency.
"It's different from a story in the past. Now we wouldn't deal with a thing about last week," a former Cabinet minister said. Voices calling for Sugawara's resignation began to emerge within the government and ruling parties.
"Can we secure the date for the certification ceremony after the Kyoen-no-Gi banquet?" a high-ranking government official was quoted as asking. He started working on the appointment of Sugawara's successor behind the scenes Thursday evening.
"As a politician, I want to provide a clear explanation," Sugawara said on his blog late Thursday night, expressing his intention to explain the allegation. However, he then submitted his resignation on Friday morning. "Gradually, I had come to a conclusion to resign," he reportedly told his aides.
Close aide to Suga
Sugawara, a close aide to Suga, is believed to have been backed by the chief Cabinet minister when he first joined the Cabinet as industry minister. Should Suga continue to protect Sugawara, who is under a cloud of a series of suspicions, he will inevitably be the target of criticism.
When Sugawara told Suga he would resign during a private discussion before the Cabinet meeting, Suga did not dissuade him from doing so, but just listened without saying anything, sources said.
"I accepted his resignation and will promptly appoint his successor. I'm sorry," Abe reportedly told Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of LDP coalition partner Komeito, over the phone after receiving Sugawara's resignation.
Yamaguchi is said to have told Abe, "Let's rebuild ourselves and do our best." But the government could suffer costly setbacks over the Cabinet reshuffle, which was ridiculed as "eliminating a backlog."
"This issue has made it more difficult to make progress for the ruling and opposition parties discussing the matter of constitutional revision," an LDP mid-ranking official said.
Yomiuri Shimbun photos
1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe answers a question from a reporter at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
2. Former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Isshu Sugawara, center, talks to reporters after submitting his resignation letter on Friday.
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