Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he was considering lodging a protest the same day with the Financial Times newspaper for printing comments attributed to him that he claims he never made.
Takenaka said that a report Thursday in the British daily over his "confidence" about surviving a Cabinet reshuffle anticipated after the Sept. 20 presidential election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was incorrect.
Takenaka said that the prime minister has the final say on Cabinet personnel issues and that he is not in a position to comment on them.
"I gave the same answer to a foreign newspaper during an interview," he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "I would like (the paper) to publish correct reports."
When asked if he thought he would survive a Cabinet reshuffle, Takenaka was quoted by the Financial Times as saying, "I am confident and comfortable."
The report came at a sensitive time for Takenaka, with some influential LDP lawmakers demanding his immediate ouster over what they have termed his mismanagement of the economy.