TOKYO — Japan’s justice minister resigned on Tuesday after an uproar over his past ties to members of organized crime, putting further pressure on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call national elections.

The minister, Keishu Tanaka, appointed three weeks ago in a cabinet reshuffle, resigned for health reasons, the government’s top spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, said at a news conference on Tuesday. But the resignation came after days of haranguing from opposition lawmakers over a magazine report that said he had associated with a Japanese organized-crime syndicate.

Mr. Tanaka acknowledged that he had helped with the wedding of an organized-crime member three decades ago and that he had attended a party hosted by a mobster boss. But he initially refused to resign, saying he had been unaware of their mob connections at the time.