Japan's ex-trade minister quizzed by lawmakers

Former Japanese trade minister Isshu Sugawara continued to be grilled as lawmakers demanded accountability and a poll showed 48 percent of voters wanted him to quit as a member of the House of Representatives as well.

The poll was conducted by Kyodo News over the weekend.

On Friday, after being in the trade post for just little more than a month, Sugawara resigned because of scandals over "condolence money", expensive melons and other gifts allegedly offered to election supporters, making him the ninth minister to step down from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet since Abe returned to power in 2012.