Lawmaker Resigns Amid Financial Allegations

Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka tendered her resignation from Japan’s House of Representatives in a surprise announcement two weeks after she gave testimony resulting from allegations of misuse of public money. The leader of the House, the lower chamber of parliament, must approve the decision before Tanaka’s resignation becomes formal.

She went before parliament last month and denied wrongdoing, and she has not been charged.

Tanaka stepped down from her Cabinet post Jan. 30 after an embarrassing battle with senior bureaucrats in the Foreign Ministry over her efforts to rid the ministry of corruption.