World

Hasta La Vista, Nakamura

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 8, 1999 / 7:34 AM EST / CBS

Japan's justice minister stepped down Monday amid a political storm over his handling of Arnold Schwarzenegger's entry into the country without a passport.

Shozaburo Nakamura, 64, offered his resignation to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, apologizing for sparking strident protests by opposition lawmakers that paralyzed Parliament last week.

"I am sorry my words and actions hindered the workings of Parliament," Nakamura was quoted as saying by Kyodo News service.

The resignation was the second to hit Obuchi's government since he took office last summer. But the prime minister's rising popularity ratings indicated his government was not in danger of falling.

Upper house lawmaker Takao Jinnouchi, 65, was sworn in late Monday as Nakamura's replacement.

"I deeply recognize the importance of my job during these harsh times for Japan and other nations and will try my best for our country's prosperity and development," Jinnouchi said in a statement.

The Schwarzenegger controversy centers on allegations that Nakamura, a fan of the former weightlifter, took home ministry documents that permitted the actor to enter Japan last October without a passport.

The documents should have been filed with the ministry, but critics say Nakamura kept them as a souvenir. Nakamura reportedly said an aide simply neglected to file the paperwork properly.

Nakamura gave Schwarzenegger permission to enter the country through an airport in Osaka, in western Japan, on Oct. 27, though he did not have his passport. The star said later it was stolen just before he left the United States.

Asked at the time about helping the star of such films as "Terminator," Nakamura was quoted by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper as telling a news conference: "If I hadn't said yes, I would have been killed by my wife and daughter, who are his fans."

Schwarzenegger, who has appeared in Japanese television commercials for instant noodles, beer and cable TV, was in Japan to attend an opening ceremony for a Universal Studios theme park.

Opposition parties welcomed the minister's resignation and called on the Obuchi administration to take responsibility for the controversy.

Nakamura was "unqualified" to be justice minister, said Tsutomu Hata, a former prime minister and secretary general of the opposition Democratic Party.

"This calls into question the validity of Obuchi's power itself," Hata was quoted by Kyodo as saying.

The paperwork dispute added to Nakamura's declining popularity. In January, he was criticized after suggesting in a widely reported speech to members of his ministry that Japan should revise its U.S.-written constitution to allow it more military freedom.

Nakamura also reportedly criticized U.S. economic policy in the speech, comparing it to attacking an adversary with "atomic bombs and missiles when another country looks to be winning."

The comment was seen as a possible irritant to already-tense U.S.-Japan trade relations.

The first official under Obuchi to resign was the head of Japan's Defense Agency, Fukushiro Nukaga, who stepped down in November amid a scandal over procurement contracts for military equipment.