The Abe government suffered a potential blow Friday as Ichiro Komatsu, director general of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, the government's legal team, resigned for health reasons.
The Cabinet Legislation Bureau screens state-sponsored bills and ordinances and has a very strong influence on how the Constitution is interpreted by the government.
Komatsu, the first unilaterally appointed chief of the bureau, decided to step down because he has abdominal cancer. He feared it would hamper his ability to handle what is expected to be a heavy workload in the run-up to the Diet session this fall, the administration said.