Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Tuesday two of his top bureaucrats will step down in a personnel reshuffle apparently linked to the outbreak of mad cow disease.
Hideaki Kumazawa, an administrative vice minister, will resign Jan. 8 and Takemi Nagamura, head of the Livestock Industry Department, will retire the same day, Takebe said.
While Takebe acknowledged the responsibility of the entire ministry for the outbreak, he did not step down himself.