Tomomi Inada was once considered on track to be Japan’s first female prime minister.
The woman once seen as on track to becoming Japan’s first female prime minister has resigned as defence minister.
Tomomi Inada, a close ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, stepped down over an alleged cover-up of documents on a controversial peacekeeping deployment.
She was seen as an Abe protégé, sharing his staunchly nationalist views.
Her resignation comes as the prime minister sees a sharp plunge in public support over alleged cronyism.
The 58-year-old Mrs Inada had already been widely expected to be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle next week that the prime minister hopes will help rebuild his ratings.
The row over the South Sudan peacekeeping mission erupted in December when the defence ministry said peacekeepers’ logs for July, when the security situation there was worsening, had been discarded.
But two months later officials said they had found the data on a computer, leading to allegations that the logs had been withheld on purpose.
Peacekeeping missions are controversial in Japan, which has a pacifist constitution.
