The shock move may spell the end of the political career of the controversial lawmaker, who was sacked from her post as the nation's first female foreign minister earlier this year.

Her resignation, which public broadcaster NHK said had been accepted by the speaker of parliament, follows allegations -- repeatedly denied by Tanaka -- that the self-styled reformer misused public funds intended to pay an aide's salary.

In June the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suspended Tanaka's party membership for two years, a harsh punishment akin to expulsion, for failing to cooperate in a probe of allegations that she had misused the government money.

Tanaka's support played a key role in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's stunning rise to power last year, but she became a thorn in his side as a cabinet minister.

Koizumi sacked Tanaka in January to end her high-profile and disruptive battle with Foreign Ministry officials and Muneo Suzuki, an LDP powerbroker who backed them.

But the move backfired on Koizumi, triggering a plunge in his popularity ratings from which he has only recently begun to recover.

Humiliating Fall

It was a humiliating fall for Tanaka, daughter of late ruling party kingmaker and populist politician Kakuei Tanaka and known for her sharp attacks on the machine politics and pork-barrel policies honed to a fine art by her father.

Her tenure at Japan's Foreign Ministry was marred by bitter conflict with bureaucrats over her attempts to clean up the ministry after a series of scandals.

But her widespread popularity among ordinary voters, who admired her plain-spoken style, prompted Koizumi to keep her on for months despite the squabbles.

Tanaka also tangled with Koizumi's close aide, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, as well as with top officials in her battle for control of personnel and policy at her ministry.

It was not until her highly publicized battle with Suzuki delayed passage of an extra budget that the prime minister decided to let her go. Suzuki himself was soon embroiled in a scandal that led to his arrest in June for alleged bribe-taking.

(China Daily August 10, 2002)