The repercussions continued Friday after independent Upper House lawmaker Taro Yamamoto the previous evening handed an apparently politically inspired letter to Emperor Akihito.
Many lawmakers criticized the rookie politician, a former actor, and some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party even called for him to quit the Diet.
Yamamoto, a well-known antinuclear activist, handed his letter to the Emperor when he attended a biannual garden party in Tokyo on Thursday. The letter apparently touched on the radioactive fallout from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and the situation surrounding the workers dealing with the calamity.