Yasuo Fukuda, one of the important ministers in Junichiro Koizumi’s Japanese government, has resigned after admitting he failed to pay into the national pension scheme. This report from Jonathan Head:

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The cause of his departure is even more worrying for the government because he's not alone in having failed to make payments into the national pension scheme. At least six other ministers have admitted to similar lapses, although the scandal has also caught out a number of opposition politicians.

The revelations are acutely embarrassing at a time when the government is struggling to persuade the general public to keep up their contributions to the pension scheme. Many Japanese fear the scheme will be unable to pay them their full benefits when they retire because of the shrinking proportion of young people in the population.

The fact that so many politicians have not kept up their contributions will make it all the more difficult for them to push through the reforms necessary to keep the pension scheme afloat.

Jonathan Head, BBC News, Tokyo

Listen to the words

a blow
something which will cause damage

ally
business or political friend

principal
main, most important

lapses
careless mistakes

the scandal
the embarrassing and damaging situation

revelations
things which were secret but which have now been told

to keep up
to continue regularly

contributions
here, payments which have to be made

shrinking
getting smaller

to keep the pension scheme afloat
to stop the pension scheme from collapsing

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