In Japan, two female ministers quit, dealing a blow to Abe and womenomics

TOKYO Two female Japanese cabinet ministers, appointed last month as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abes plan to let women shine, resigned their posts Monday amid allegations of financial impropriety.

Their departures undermine Abes efforts to lead by example when it comes to promoting working women, and they cast a dark cloud over his administration at a difficult time. The prime ministers Abenomics plan to revive the economy looks to be fizzling out, and he must decide in the next few months whether to press ahead with a hugely unpopular rise in the consumption tax.

I apologize to all citizens for what happened, Abe told reporters outside his office Monday afternoon as Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima resigned within hours of each other.

Abe swiftly appointed Yoichi Miyazawa, a former official in the powerful Finance Ministry, as the new trade and industry minister. He appointed another woman as justice minister, turning to Yoko Kamikawa, who previously served as minister for gender equality and once worked for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is now ambassador to China.

I hurried on the selection of the replacements, as difficult tasks are piling up and we must proceed with the economy as a top priority, Abe said.

The resignations mark Abes biggest setback since he returned to the premiership almost two years ago.

The fact that Abe was putting so much emphasis on women makes it even harder for him, said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo.

The first minister to fall on Monday was Obuchi, a 40-year-old mother of two young children and daughter of a former prime minister, who was widely touted as potentially Japans first female prime minister. Abe last month promoted her to lead the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), making her one of five women in the newly reshuffled cabinet.

With Japans labor force aging and shrinking, Abe has presented women, who often stop working once they get married, as critical to hoisting Japan out of its decades of economic stagnation. He has made a policy dubbed womenomics a key part of his strategy to revive Japans economy through structural reforms.

But the shine quickly came off Obuchis star.

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In Japan, two female ministers quit, dealing a blow to Abe and womenomics