Aomori Gov. Morio Kimura is increasingly under pressure to step down over allegations that he had an extramarital affair with a local woman who had sought the governor's counsel on tax matters.
On Wednesday, 39 members of the 51-seat Aomori Prefectural Assembly submitted a nonbinding motion urging Kimura to resign, saying the governor has "failed to give a convincing explanation" over the allegation and "bears a grave responsibility for causing turmoil in the prefecture's administration."
Those backing the motion consist of 28 members of the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest force in the assembly, and nine members of a conservative group from the opposition camp.
In its Feb. 6 edition, the weekly newsmagazine Shukan Shincho reported that Kimura, 65, had an affair with a woman in Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture, from 2001 to 2002 after he received a letter from her complaining of her dire economic circumstances.