Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced he is resigning after less than a year in office.

For this week, this is the most pressing news from Japan. It's interesting to see the way in which political figures in Japan respond to pressures over policy and scandal. According to the article, his resignation was over mounting unpopularity for his support of naval deployment to Afghanistan, scandals involving his cabinet, and his political party doing poorly in the most recent elections. A related article cites possible political deals, ill health, and political mutiny - and any combination thereof. Whatever the cause, there will probably be a lot of turmoil in the Japanese political system for a little while as they figure things out.