Tokyo (Japan): Japanese Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara on Friday announced his resignation from the post after being accused of violating an election campaign law.

Sugawara, who assumed the post just a month ago, came under pressure on Thursday after a weekly magazine reported that one of his secretaries offered "incense money," a monetary condolence gift at a funeral, under Sugawara's name to the family of a deceased supporter in his district in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, reported the Japan Times.