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, as quoted by Kyodo.

Mori, the 83-year-old former prime minister, kicked up controversy earlier this month after he remarked that having women participate in meetings dragged on because they "talk too much."

Amid the public outcry, the official offered condolences over his remarks but the wave of the outrage is underway, and, on Thursday, Kyodo reported that Mori was going to step down on Friday.