Fukushima native replaces disaster minister after quake gaffe

Japan's disaster reconstruction minister Masahiro Imamura resigned Wednesday, a day after saying it was "a good thing" the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan rather than the Tokyo area.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe picked Masayoshi Yoshino, a House of Representatives member from Fukushima Prefecture and the chairman of a special lower house committee on disaster reconstruction, to replace Imamura."I severely troubled and hurt people in (northeastern Japan)," Imamura told reporters at Abe's office after submitting his resignation, which the prime minister accepted immedi…READ FULL ARTICLE