Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata has offered to resign from the Diet after failing to authenticate e-mail he claimed proved shady financial links between Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie and a son of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe.
DPJ leader Seiji Maehara said Thursday, however, that nothing has changed the DPJ's determination to continue pursuing the allegations, as he strongly suspects shady money was in fact provided to close aides to Takebe.
DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama met with Nagata in the afternoon. According to the party's No. 2 man, Nagata said he would leave the matter of his proposed resignation up to him. Nagata was elected from the party's proportional representation roster.