Japanese minister who abused journalist and citizens sacks

Baku. 26 April. REPORT.AZ/ Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepted resignation of reconstruction minister Masahiro Imamura due to his controversial comments about the disaster.

Report informs referring to RIA Novosti, minister himself told reporters about his resignation after a visit to the office of prime minister.

The scandal broke out when Imamura stated that the damage from the devastating tsunami of 2011 is estimated at 25 trillion yen (about 227 billion US dollars), and added that "it was rather good" that the north-east of the country was hit, as an earthquake near Tokyo would have caused huge financial damage.

Despite the fact that he immediately apologized for his words, calling them inappropriate, the opposition perceived them as a disdain for the residents of the affected prefectures. The Prime Minister was also forced to apologize for the statements of Imamura.

Another impartial incident occurred three weeks ago, when Imamura stated that “voluntary evacuees” from areas around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant should bear “self-responsibility for their own decisions”. 

In addition, he demanded the journalist who asked this question to “shut up and never come to another news conference”.