Tokyo, Sep 25 (IANS): Japanese education and sports minister Hakubun Shimomura, a close conservative ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has tendered his resignation, according to reports.
Shimomura expressed his intention to quit at a post-cabinet meeting news conference on Friday as he will take responsibility for missteps that forced the scrapping of plans for a new national stadium as the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Xinhua news agency reported.
The plan was scrapped as the estimated cost ballooned to over $2 billion, nearly twice the original figure.
In a further embarrassing blow, Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers this month scrapped the Games logo over accusations of plagiarism, maintaining that it was not copied but agreeing too many doubts had been raised for it to be usable.