Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose resigns over money scandal Thursday Dec 19,2013

Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose announced his resignation Thursday Dec 19,2013 for taking money from a hospital operator mired in allegations of election law violations involving a Diet member.

Inose said he decided to step down to prevent the scandal from disrupting Tokyo’s preparations to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, which he had played an instrumental role in landing.

“I really feel sorry for Tokyo’s citizens and the national public,” Inose said in apology as he bowed deeply for several seconds

Note
After serving as vice governor from June 2007, Naoki Inose was elected to the top job last December with a record 4.3 million votes. He succeeded Shintaro Ishihara, who quit in the middle of his fourth term to run for the Lower House

Naoki Inose reiterated that the ¥50 million that came from the scandal-hit Tokushukai hospital group last year before the December election was for personal use and not for his campaign. Inose returned the money in late September, after it was reported that the group was being probed in connection with the Lower House campaign of Takeshi Tokuda