Yasuhiro Hanashi, Japan’s justice minister has resigned his position after facing criticism for reportedly saying his “low-profile” position only generates media coverage when he approves the death penalty.
Hanashi’s resignation comes barely a month after Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned as economy minister after facing criticism for failing to explain his links to the Unification Church.
It is believed that Hanashi’s resignation serves a further blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, which is already facing plummeting approval ratings.
According to reports, Hanashi said at a party with lawmakers earlier that his job was “a low-profile position that only makes headlines on the midday news after giving the stamp of approval for the death penalty in the morning”.
It is imperative to note that Japan is one of the few developed countries to retain the death penalty, and public support for capital punishment remains high despite international criticism.
While announcing his resignation, Hanashi, who has been in the post since August, and has not overseen any executions, said “I carelessly used the term death penalty as an example”, which had made people and ministry officials “feel uncomfortable”.
“I decided to resign to express my apology to the people and my determination to restart my political career.”
“I apologise and retract my remark that faced media reports that created an impression that I was taking my responsibility lightly”.
Reacting, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said “I take my own responsibility for appointing him in the first place seriously. By tackling challenges ahead, I would like to fulfil my duties”.
Kishida said he appointed former Agriculture Minister Ken Saito, a Harvard-educated former trade ministry bureaucrat, as Hanashi’s replacement.
It should be noted that the government’s low approval ratings are partly due to controversy over politicians’ ties to the Unification Church.
The sect has been in the spotlight since reports emerged that the man accused of killing former prime minister Shinzo Abe resented the organisation over donations his mother made that bankrupted the family.
The church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has denied wrongdoing.
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