Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2018 April 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Koike denounces ex-Education Minister for criticizing sexual harassment victim

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on April 23 at a press conference in the Diet building said that it is unacceptable for a former Education Minister to describe a female reporter’s act of recording a top bureaucrat’s sexual harassment remarks as “a criminal act”.

Former Education Minister and Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives Shimomura Hakubun on the previous day at a lecture meeting in Tokyo touched on Finance Ministry Administrative Vice Minister Fukuda’s alleged act of uttering erotic remarks to a female reporter. Shimomura noted that the female journalist, who works at TV Asahi, recorded Fukuda’s remarks and that a weekly magazine reported the allegation based on that audio data. He said, “In my view, the administrative vice minister was tricked by the woman. I think it is a criminal act in a sense.”

Facing public criticism, Shimomura retracted his statement and apologized.

At the press conference, Koike pointed out that what Shimomura said is really outrageous as he treated the victim as if she were a lawbreaker and that the JCP will work to hold Shimomura responsible for his utterance.

Koike also referred to the fact that LDP lawmaker Nagao Takashi came under fire after posting a tweet ridiculing female lawmakers who lodged a protest against the Finance Ministry over the sexual harassment allegation. Koike stressed, “These incidents reveal some abnormalities of the LDP. The party’s outdated way of thinking has growingly diverged from the one currently held by the general public.”

Past related article:
> JCP Koike demands dismissal of financial ministry's top bureaucrat over sexual harassment allegations [April 14 & 17, 2018]