(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121023-japan-tanaka-420a.photoblog600.jpg)Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters, fileJapan's Justice Minister Keishu Tanaka arrives at the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo in this October 1, 2012 file photograph. By ReutersTOKYO - Japan's justice minister quit on Tuesday because of ill health, a cabinet official said, after calls for his resignation over past ties to an organized crime syndicate. The announcement dealt another blow to unpopular Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
Keishu Tanaka, 74, only became justice minister in a cabinet reshuffle on Oct. 1, and his resignation is the second by a minister since Noda took office in September 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference that Tanaka stepped down for health reasons. The resignation came a day after Tanaka left a Tokyo hospital where he had checked in on Friday with chest pains, irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure.
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