Tottori Gov. Yoshihiro Katayama on Friday retracted his proposal to boycott Toshiba Corp. products to protest the way the company's chairman is running a government panel.
Katayama proposed Monday boycotting the products to protest what he called "the undemocratic way" Toshiba Chairman Taizo Nishimuro, head of the Council for Decentralization Reform, is running the council.
The governor charged that the council intends to take financial resources away from local governments, making them unable to carry out their work.
But on Friday, Katayama said relations with Toshiba will return to normal.
He said he expects his protest to cause Nishimuro to rectify the way he heads the council.
"Now that this has become such a large matter, I think Mr. Nishimuro will run the government council fairly," Katayama said.
He said Thursday he would "wait and see for the time being" on whether to promote the boycott.
The panel's report, presented last week to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, recommends cutting national subsidies to local governments, reviewing how tax grants are allocated to them and transferring tax collection authority to prefectural governments.
