After nearly two weeks of resisting calls to quit after a recording surfaced of his boasting of preventing towns led by political opponents in his constituency from receiving road construction funds, Agriculture Minister Yana Kazuo resigned on Wednesday, 14 October less than a month after his appointment by Takaichi Sanae.
While Takaichi could take a political hit for standing behind Yana as long as she did, his resignation now avoids a more significant blow to her standing and prevents the scandal from derailing parliamentary deliberations.
However, the media and opposition parties will continue to look for signs that the prime minister and her allies are taking a heavy-handed approach to political opposition at odds with democratic norms.
