In a show of defiance against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's policies, in particular a plan to raise the consumption tax, nine Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers submitted their resignations Wednesday to protest Noda's leadership.
Akira Uchiyama, a close aide to DPJ kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, and Yasunori Saito from Miyagi, one of the prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 disasters, were among those to resign after the party formally proposed a two-stage tax hike.
The Noda administration "has broken each and every public commitment and the manifesto and we have lost face," Uchiyama told reporters after handing in his resignation. "We didn't want to be called liars so we had no choice but to leave the party."