Foreign Minister’s Resignation Compounds Japanese Leadership Vacuum

Bruce Klingner / March 08, 2011

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara was forced to resign on March 6 following the disclosure that he had received donations from a foreigner, a violation of Japanese election law. He admitted that he had received approximately $3,000 over a six-year period.

Maehara’s resignation was surprising not only for its abruptness but also due to the meager sums and apparently innocent intentions of the donor. Maehara received the money from an elderly Korean who has resided in Japan for decades and knew Maehara since he was in eighth grade.

Maehara is the Democratic Party of Japan’s (DPJ) most serious thinker on foreign policy.  His departure is all the more startling since there were growing expectations that he would replace Naoto Kan as prime minister, (more…)