WORLD BRIEFING / JAPAN
A Japanese junior minister resigned today after a magazine reported that he had used a free train pass issued to lawmakers for a trip to meet his mistress, the government’s top spokesman said.
The resignation of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshitada Konoike could be a blow to Prime Minister Taro Aso ahead of an upcoming election, even as the main opposition party searches for a new leader as a result of a funding scandal.
Konoike, 68, is one of three deputies to Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.
A report in the Shukan Shincho tabloid showed pictures of the politician playing golf and walking with an unidentified woman in late April.
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