Rocky start for new Japanese premier as minister quits over nuclear gaffe

JAPANESE Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s new government suffered a blow yesterday after just eight days in office when the trade minister resigned over gaffes on the sensitive topic of radiation from the tsunami-hit Fukushima plant.

The resignation of Yoshio Hachiro, who handled the energy portfolio, will give opposition parties ammunition for attack as Noda strives to end the radiation crisis at the Fukushima plant while tackling a plethora of challenges from rebuilding after the March earthquake and tsunami to curbing huge public debt.

Hachiro submitted his resignation to Noda after reports that he joked with a reporter about radiation from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

It was his second remark seen as offensive to victims of the worst nuclear accident in 25 years. Japanese media said Hachiro had attempted to rub up against a reporter, saying: “I’ll give you radiation” after visiting the Fukushima plant on Thursday.

Hachiro had already been rebuked by Noda and apologised on Friday for calling the deserted area near the plant a “town of death”, a comment seen as offensive to disaster victims.

Hachiro apologised a few hours later. “I sincerely regret the remark that was misleading. I take it back and deeply apologise,” he said. “I only wanted to show my commitment to decontaminate the area and take other steps so that residents can return to the area.”

He said he did not mean deaths specifically, but was trying to describe the emptiness of the town because he felt strongly about trying to make the area livable again.

Opposition leaders quickly jumped on Hachiro’s remark, threatening to nail him at Parliament, probably creating a rocky start for Noda, who delivers his first policy speech on Tuesday.

“The words that hurt the feelings of the evacuees were unforgivable,” said Tadamori Oshima, a senior opposition politician.

Noda, who took over as Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years after predecessor Naoto Kan resigned, will face harsh questioning over his appointment of Hachiro and other novice ministers in a session of parliament expected to begin this week.

Defence Minister Yasuo Ichikawa has already come under attack for calling himself an “amateur” in security matters.

Noda, who won a bruising battle to become head of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, has emphasized the need to restore fractured party unity in his appointments, raising concerns that he had done so at the expense of expertise.

“There was already great mistrust of his personnel appointments,” said one independent commentator, Atsuo Ito.

Noda’s quick decision to sacrifice Hachiro would probably help dampen public criticism, but a drop in his voter support could make it harder to obtain help from opposition parties to pass bills in the divided parliament, where they control the upper house and can block legislation, Ito added.