Ruling and opposition parties submitted a resolution to the Diet on Wednesday, pressing a lawmaker to decide quickly whether to resign over remarks he made about waging war with Russia to regain control of disputed islands.
The resolution against opposition lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama came after the government verified that the remarks were made and that his behavior was problematic when he participated in a visa-free exchange program between Japan and Russia in May.
On a visit to one of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, the 35-year-old lawmaker — who had been drinking heavily — asked the leader of a group of former Japanese residents, "Do you think there is any alternative to war (to recover the islands)?"