TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sacked his internal affairs minister on Sunday over funding irregularities, in a blow to his scandal-prone Cabinet that has already lost two ministers in one month.
Internal Affairs Minister Minoru Terada has been under fire over several accounting and funding irregularities. In one, he acknowledged that one of his support groups submitted accounting records carrying a dead person’s signature.
“I apologize for the series of resignations,” Kishida said. “I’m aware of my heavy responsibility for their appointment.” He told reporters that he will announce Terada’s replacement on Monday.
Terada showed up at the Prime Minister’s Office and told reporters that he had submitted his resignation Kishida, though he did not say he was asked to do so.