Hiroaki Nagasawa, a senior vice minister in the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a Komeito party member, resigned Tuesday from the House of Councillors after letting an acquaintance stay at a housing complex for lawmakers.
An Upper House member since 2010, Nagasawa left the party the same day and is expected to resign as a senior vice minister of the Reconstruction Agency shortly. Komeito governs in coalition with the larger Liberal Democratic Party.
Nagasawa, 59, admitted to Komeito Secretary-General Yoshihisa Inoue that he had "clearly broken the rules and (acted) indiscreetly" by giving his female acquaintance a key to the complex, party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said earlier Tuesday.