Prime Minister Naoto Kan officially announced Friday he will resign after 15 turbulent months in office during which the nation experienced its greatest postwar disaster and one of the world's worst nuclear crises.
Kan's resignation both as prime minister and as president of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan came the same day the Diet passed two key bills he had set as a precondition for his exit.
The DPJ plans to hold an election Monday to pick a new president, who would be subsequently installed as prime minister possibly as early as Tuesday.