In another blow to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, tarnished farm minister Tadamori Oshima stepped down Monday.
He apologized for "causing trouble" to the Diet and farm ministry officials over a series of alleged financial scandals involving his former secretaries.
Oshima is the first Cabinet minister to resign over a cash scandal since Koizumi took office in 2001. He submitted a letter of resignation to Koizumi in the afternoon; the prime minister immediately accepted it.