Japan's foreign minister resigns

Japan's foreign minister has announced his resignation in a televised news conference over donations he received from a foreign resident in violation of the country's laws.

Seiji Maehara, who had been seen as a likely successor to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said on Sunday he was stepping down after admitting he received several hundred dollars from a restaurant owner of Korean ethnicity.

"I apologise to the Japanese people for stepping down after only six months and provoking distrust over a problem with my political funding, although I have sought to pursue a clean style of politics," said Maehara, 48.

The resignation is another blow to the embattled administration of Kan, whose public approval rating has fallen below 20 per cent.

Kan is fighting to keep his own job and avoid calling a snap election that his fractious Democratic Party (DPJ) could well lose. He is also struggling to enact budget bills in a divided parliament.

Maehara had admitted on Friday accepting donations from the restaurant owner who lives in Japan, but said he had done so unknowingly.