The chairman of the Lower House Steering Committee has resigned following a magazine report accusing him of buying sex, the chamber said Tuesday.
Genichiro Sata of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party handed his resignation letter to Lower House Speaker Bunmei Ibuki, who accepted it, Monday.
According to the article in the Shukan Shincho last week, Sata, 60, paid a 20-year-old university student for sexual favors several times since January.
Sata is no stranger to scandal, having resigned as administrative reform minister in 2006 over falsified money reports involving a political group he heads.