Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara announced his resignation Sunday to take responsibility for illegally accepting donations from a foreign national, further damaging the already shaky Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
His resignation was approved at a Cabinet meeting Monday morning, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan named Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Adano to temporarily double as foreign minister.
Maehara, who assumed his post in September, is the first member of the reshuffled Cabinet to step down. He was viewed as one of the top candidates for leading the ruling Democratic Party of Japan should Kan resign. Kan revamped his Cabinet in January.