Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii's resignation Wednesday is a cause of serious concern for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet, experts said, noting discord with ruling party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa may have influenced the veteran lawmaker's decision to exit.
"In reality, this is about Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General (Ichiro) Ozawa," said Masaru Takagi, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, pointing out that Fujii and Ozawa — regarded as the most powerful man in the ruling coalition — had been on bad terms recently.
Takagi said that rather than health concerns, the discord between Fujii and the Cabinet's so-called shadow shogun was the main factor that prompted Fujii to resign.