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                <p>TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan is set to promote Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto to foreign minister to succeed Seiji Maehara, who resigned over a donation scandal, reports have said.</p>
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Matsumoto will take up the post formally after a swearing-in ceremony at the imperial palace later Wednesday, the Yomiuri and other dailies said.</p>
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Matsumoto, a former banker, is the great great grandson of Hirofumi Ito, Japan's first prime minister in the late 19th century.</p>
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The 51-year-old's father, Juro Matsumoto, was a senior member of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which was ousted from power by the Democratic Party of Japan in 2009.</p>
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Maehara, tipped as a successor to Kan, stepped down for illegally accepting about $3,000 from a woman of Korean background.</p>
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Under Japanese law, politicians are banned from taking money from foreign nationals. Maehara's departure has dealt a blow to the centre-left government and spelt a headache for Japan given a busy diplomatic calendar.</p>
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Group of Eight foreign ministers are meeting in Paris next week and Japan plans to host the foreign ministers of China and South Korea in Tokyo this month.</p>
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