Japan's Farm Minister Hit by Scandal

The statement came just days after Abe reshuffled his Cabinet following a humiliating upper house electoral loss in July, blamed on a spate of scandals within his government. Two more political fund scandals involving Abe's ruling party lawmakers also emerged Saturday.

Agriculture Minister Takehiko Endo acknowledged that the agriculture cooperative in his home state of Yamagata, which he has headed for 25 years, collected $9,930 in government payments by overstating weather damage done to the 1999 grape harvest.

"It was a serious misconduct," Endo told reporters after Japanese media reported the scandal earlier in the day.

Endo resigned as head of the local farming group, but refused to step down as the agriculture minister. On Sunday, he faced harsh resignation demands from opposition leaders.

"Mr. Endo should resign, or we'll nail him at Parliament and file a censure motion," said Socialist Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima during political debate on public television NHK.

Abe has urged his agriculture minister to provide a fuller explanation, saying Saturday: "If questions remain, they must be explained."

Endo said he didn't tell Abe about the issue when he was offered the post. "I didn't think the case would cause trouble," he said.

He is the third agricultural minister to be embroiled in money scandals since May.

Former Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi resigned last month to take responsibility for the election defeat following an accounting scandal in his office. His predecessor, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, killed himself in May amid allegations he misused public money.

Two other money scandals emerged Saturday, both involving members of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko Sakamoto, a political appointee, acknowledged her support group faked political funds report in 2004 and 2005 to enter fictitious lecture costs, and deputy-chief Cabinet Secretary Mitsuhide Iwaki said he mistakenly reported fundraising ticket sales as political donations.