Hashimoto said that she had a phone conversation with Mori, who announced his plans to resign over the scandal, the Kyodo news agency reported.
“The Organizing Committee will call the Board of Directors and the Executive Board: multiple opinions will be heard, and official procedures will be respected … The whole government will make efforts to restore confidence,” Hashimoto said, quoted by Kyodo.
Mori, the 83-year-old former prime minister, kicked up controversy earlier this month after he remarked that having women participate caused meetings to drag on because women "talk too much." Amid public outcry, the official offered an apology for his remarks but with a wave of outrage underway, on Thursday, Kyodo reported that Mori would step down on Friday.