Japan's Minister for Reconstruction¹ Ryu Matsumoto has announced his resignation after just a week in the job.

日本重建部长松本龙上任仅一周就提出辞职。

Mr Matsumoto offered his apologies at a Tokyo press conference on Tuesday

He had been widely criticised for making insensitive（不敏感的） remarks to governors of areas badly affected² by March's deadly earthquake and tsunami³.

He had said the government would not help them financially unless they came up with good rebuilding proposals.

The resignation will increase pressure on Prime Minister Naoto Kan's already unpopular government.

The appointment of Mr Matsumoto to the newly created post of disaster reconstruction minister was seen as an effort to deflect⁴ further criticism of Mr Kan's administration.

Last month, Mr Kan survived a no-confidence motion brought by MPs critical of his handling of the reconstruction process following the quake, tsunami and ensuing（接着发生的） nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Mr Kan, who is just over a year into his post, vowed⁵ to step down soon, but only once several key bills on disaster recovery and renewable energy are passed.

The prime minister is trying to persuade MPs to back the release of an extra $25bn (£15.5bn) of reconstruction funds, and will not have wanted attention to be diverted by his minister's comments, says the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo.

Berated⁶ for lateness

A moist-eyed Mr Matsumoto announced his resignation at a Tokyo press conference early on Tuesday, but gave no reason for his departure.

"I would like to offer my apologies for offending the people in the disaster-hit areas. I thought I was emotionally close to the disaster victims, but I lacked sufficient words and my comments were too harsh.

"I have many things I would like to say... but I will be gone from now."

The 60-year-old made the offending remarks to regional governors during his first tour of the tsunami-hit prefectures（县，辖区） of Iwate and Miyagi on Sunday.

Mr Matsumoto berated Miyagi prefecture governor Yoshihiro Murai for keeping him waiting. He then told journalists filming the exchange that it should not be broadcast, saying their networks would suffer if it was.

In a meeting with Iwate governor Takuya Tasso, Mr Matsumoto warned the government "will help areas that offer ideas, but will not help those without ideas. I want you to work with that kind of resolve".

His comments were aired on television, and the footage received thousands of hits on YouTube and other video-sharing websites, prompting a public outcry and calls for his resignation.

Mr Matsumoto said he would continue to help with reconstruction efforts as "a foot soldier". He urged the governing and opposition⁷ parties to join together to tackle the rebuilding.

The 11 March quake and tsunami levelled homes, businesses and towns along Japan's north-eastern coast, leaving more than 20,000 people dead or missing in the country's worst disaster since World War II.