Nariaki Nakayama of the Liberal Democratic Party resigned because of gaffes he made in front of the press only five days after being appointed transport minister in the Cabinet Prime Minister Taro Aso formed in late September.
Nakayama retracted his remarks, except for the hostile ones he made toward the Japan Teachers' Union (Nikkyoso). In fact, he escalated his attacks on the union, going as far as calling it "a cancer."
Nakayama, a former education minister in Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet, is not alone in his views, which are shared by many conservatives.