Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's newly launched cabinet on Monday was jolted by resignations of two female ministers over their political funds scandal, with the prime minister seeing the appointments of the two resigning officials as his responsibilities.

Earlier in the day, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi submitted her resignation letter to Abe at his official residence and get a nod from the prime minister to quit from her post that she took early in September.

Obuchi's resignation marked the first resignation of a cabinet minister at the Abe's administration since the prime minister returned to power late December in 2012.

The minister's political fund reports were found contained large shortage of about tens of millions yen for theater outing related to her cabinet appointee's activities and money irregularly used to a design office and clothing shop run by her relatives.

Spotlight was immediately put on Justice Minister Midori Matsushima after Obuchi's quit as a senior official of the Japan' s major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors on Friday against Matsushima for the alleged election law violation.

Matsushima filed resignation letter to Abe at noon and it was accepted by the prime minister, local reports said, adding Abe will pick up two new ministers within the day.

Matsushima distributed fans to large numbers of people on various occasions, according to DPJ Deputy Secretary General Takeshi Shina, and documents submitted by Matsushima to the Diet showed that 21,980 fans were created at a cost of about 1.74 million yen (about 16,202 US dollars) between 2012 and 2014.

Abe ushered in five female ministers, including Obuchi and Matsushima, during his cabinet reshuffle in early September in efforts to make his cabinet as a test field to walk his words on " womenomics" that aims at promoting women's status and involvement in the society and workplace.

Abe said after the ministers' resignations that he is responsible for appointing the two resigning ministers, both of them took the post early in September during Abe's first cabinet reshuffle since he returned to power in December 2012

Speaking at a press conference at the Trade Ministry after the resignation, Obuchi, daughter of a former prime minister, said that she failed to properly oversee her support groups and suspicions over her financial reports remains.

Obuchi, who declined to resign from a Diet member and was seen as a rising candidate for future prime minister, said that probe over her fund scandal will be continued and outside experts will check her past financial reports.

Japanese business leaders have already expressed concern about the political instability brought by the resignations, particularly the one by trade chief Obuchi, with local press quoting an executive of a major trading house as reporting that " the impact will be significant because the scandal involved the female minister who had drawn the most attention."

Japan's opposition parties are seemingly ready to question Abe over the appointments, according to local reports.

The trade minister "is a very important post, and the prime minister carries a heavy responsibility over that appointment," said Yuichiro Hata, secretary general for DPJ in the upper house of the Diet.

People's Life Party's Secretary General Katsumasa Suzuki also criticized Abe and was quoted by Kyodo as reporting that Abe "has created a variety of problems by moving too fast to have more female ministers."

Ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Sadakazu Tanigaki admitted that Obuchi's quit will have some damage "as she was a symbol of women's empowerment."

The appointments of the female ministers were questioned especially after the rest three of them, namely Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission Eriko Yamatani and Haruko Arimura, minister in charge of promoting women's active participation, on Saturday visited notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, a move would further jeopardize Japan's relations with its neighboring China and South Korea.

A latest poll released Sunday said that the support rate for Abe's cabinet plunged over 6 percent to 48.1 percent from the previous one conducted immediately after the cabinet reshuffle in early September, while the disapproval rate for the cabinet surged from 29 percent to 40.2 percent.

The poll also showed that the support rate for Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has slipped to 36.9 percent from 42 percent last month.