Tsuyoshi Takagi, the Cabinet minister for rebuilding from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, said Monday he will not step down over a political money scandal.
At a news conference, Takagi, 59, said his current responsibility is to "fulfill the heavy duties of reconstruction minister," and denied allegations that his political funds have been misused in violation of the election law.
He has been under fire since being named to the Cabinet in October. It is alleged that the local Liberal Democratic Party chapter in Fukui Prefecture and a political fund management body led by Takagi illegally gave condolence money at funerals in his electoral district.