Senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction urged Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka on Thursday to quit next month.
"Mr. Takenaka must at least be replaced within December," Akihiko Kumashiro, chief secretary of the party's special committee on financial reconstruction, told a general meeting of the faction headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
Kumashiro said Takenaka is trying to precipitate the collapse of major banks by implementing tough accounting rules and other measures.
The faction, widely perceived as resistant to the reforms pledged by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, did not move to create a consensus endorsing Kumashiro's demands.
But several senior members, including former LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka, voiced support for his position.