Lawmaker To Resign After Hostess Bar Visit
A lawmaker of Japan's junior coalition party has tendered his resignation from the Diet following a report that he visited a Tokyo hostess bar late at night while the capital was under a state of emergency.
Lower House lawmaker, Toyama Kiyohiko of Komeito, submitted his resignation to the chamber's speaker on Monday.
A magazine had reported that Toyama visited the bar in central Tokyo with acquaintances last month. He admitted that the report was true and apologized.
Last week, it also came to light that his political fund management group covered the cost of visits to hostess bars in 2019.
Toyama said the fund report had been corrected, and stepped down from the post of the party's deputy secretary general.
Tokyo and other parts of Japan have been under a state of emergency since early January due to the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants and bars are being asked to close by 8 p.m.