Land minister Nobuteru Ishihara on Tuesday backtracked from an earlier statement that indicated Haruho Fujii, former chief of Japan Highway Public Corp., had threatened to fight his pending dismissal by disclosing sensitive information.
During a TV interview last month, Ishihara said Fujii had warned him about the shady disposal of state-owned land during a meeting on Oct. 5. The implication of the alleged warning was that some powerful Liberal Democratic Party politicians could end up in hot water were the information to be made public.
Ishihara tried to persuade Fujii to resign during this meeting. Fujii subsequently turned down Ishihara's request and was later fired.