Japanese Economy Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa plans to step down on growing calls from the opposition to resign due to his insufficient explanations about his ties to the controversial Unification Church, public broadcaster NHK said on Monday.
His resignation would be a blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as revelations about connections between nearly half of the lawmakers at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the church came under the spotlight following the July assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
