Matsumoto Lasted 8 Days as Minister of Recovery and Reconstruction

Ryu Matsumoto, of Type-B blood and "Taurus", resigned on July 5.

Eight days as the Minister of Recovery and Reconstruction, all he did was to insult the governors of Iwate and Miyagi.

Thanks to Tohoku Broadcasting Co. who wasn't intimidated by this Minister's words and broadcast the news segment and thanks to the Internet users who spread the news video, he's gone. For now.

From Bloomberg (7/4/2011):

Japan’s disaster reconstruction minister quit a week into his job after publicly scolding the governor of a tsunami-devastated region, in the latest blow to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s administration.

Ryu Matsumoto told reporters today in Tokyo that he had submitted his resignation to Kan, adding that he also quit as disaster prevention minister.

In a July 3 meeting with Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai, Matsumoto rebuked him for arriving late, then told him that unless there was a consensus in the prefecture regarding a rebuilding plan, “we won’t do anything.” Matsumoto then told the assembled press not to report the conversation. Video of the meeting has been posted on the Internet.

Opposition lawmakers called on Matsumoto, 60, to quit and criticized Kan’s judgment in appointing him to the newly created post. Kan is already under pressure from both the opposition and his own Democratic Party of Japan to step down over his handling of the March earthquake and tsunami that caused the biggest nuclear disaster in 25 years.

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