TOKYO: A former governor in Japan accused of sexual harassment allegedly sent more than 1,000 inappropriate text messages to staff, according to an investigation seen by AFP on Wednesday (Jan 7).
Tatsuji Sugimoto (pic), 63, resigned last month, part way into his second term as governor of Fukui prefecture in central Japan after allegations of serial sexual harassment emerged from a whistleblower system.
In emails with some 6,000 officials and face-to-face interviews with 14 of them, lawyers found that "the number of text messages that corroborate sexual harassment is more than 1,000", the report said.
They included messages like "I won't say anything about a physical relationship" and "Do you like sexual things?", the report added.
There were also several cases of alleged physical contact such as touching a thigh or buttocks, it said, although Sugimoto denied this to the lawyers.
"It appears that Mr. Sugimoto engaged in so-called groping, and it cannot be ruled out that his conduct may constitute the criminal offence of non-consensual indecent acts," the report said.
Even after apologising to victims, Sugimoto in some cases resumed sending messages, which "may also constitute an illegal act" that violates the so-called anti-stalking act, it said.
"Even taking into account Mr. Sugimoto's expression of his remorse and apologies toward the victim... and that he resigned from the governorship, we must still conclude that Mr. Sugimoto bears grave responsibility," the report said.
Japan ranked at 118th among 148 nations in the World Economic Forum's gender gap index in 2025.
The global #MeToo movement failed to gain much ground in Japan although there have been a handful of high-profile cases in recent years.
These include Shiori Ito, whose Oscar-nominated documentary "Black Box Diaries" about her alleged rape by a TV reporter finally began screening in Japan last month. - AFP
