Four Japanese ministers submitted their resignations today, Thursday, following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's announcement of his determination to firmly tackle a wide-ranging financial fraud scandal within the ruling party.

Hirokazu Matsuno, the government's secretary-general and spokesperson – who is considered Kishida's right-hand man, according to the official Japanese Kyodo News Agency – said, "I have submitted my resignation to the prime minister," explaining that he resigned due to the suspicions surrounding him in this case.

He explained that the ministers of economy, trade and industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, interior Jonji Suzuki, and agriculture Ichiro Miyashita also resigned, along with five deputy ministers and other officials.

For his part, Nishimura said, "The public's distrust of me is related to political funds, which leads to distrust of the government. Since there is an ongoing investigation, I believed that I should put things right."

It is noted that the four ministers who resigned all belong to the ruling party that has been shaken in recent days by a financial corruption scandal.

Local media had earlier reported that the public prosecutor's office is investigating financial frauds carried out by dozens of members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.