Prime Minister Naoto Kan accepted responsibility Wednesday for last week appointing Ryu Matsumoto as reconstruction minister, only to see him resign Tuesday after disparaging the disaster zone he was tasked to mend, but vowed to stay on as leader until his conditions for leaving are met.

Kan's determination to stay in power is expected to further fuel the opposition camp's outrage as well as boost calls by members in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan who want him to resign immediately, this time because of Matsumoto's short-lived stint.

Matsumoto quit after making remarks that angered survivors of the March 11 quake-tsunami calamity. "It is I who appointed (Matsumoto), so as a result, I think I bear responsibility," Kan said during a Lower House Budget Committee session after Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, slammed Matsumoto's controversial remarks and subsequent resignation.