Japan's new justice minister said to resign

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese media say the country's new justice minister has resigned due to health issues and allegations that he took questionable political contributions and attended a gangster's wedding.

The reports said Keishu Tanaka submitted his resignation Tuesday after only three weeks in office. He had been hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat and other health problems. He had also been at the center of allegations that he had accepted questionable political funds and was a go-between in the wedding of an organized crime figure 30 years ago.

The resignation is seen as another blow to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration. Noda has approval ratings of about 20 percent in polls and is being pushed hard to call elections that analysts say his party could lose.