MOF request to sexual harassment victim sparks new controversy

April 17, 2018

Tokyo- The Ministry of Finance has caused a fresh controversy by asking the victim of an alleged sexual harassment by Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda to cooperate with an investigation into the allegation.

In a statement released Monday, the ministry said the top finance bureaucrat has flatly denied the alleged sexual harassment. It also made the request to female reporters covering the ministry, given a magazine report that the alleged victim was a female journalist.

The Shukan Shincho weekly has released online what it claims is voice recording of Fukuda's sexually explicit conversation with the female journalist.

"We can do nothing without a report from the victim," Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters Tuesday.

But Mizuho Fukushima, deputy leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, on Monday criticized the ministry's request as the "wrong way" to respond. She argued that the ministry made the request in the belief that the victim would not come forward.

"I feel a sense of discomfort" with the MOF request, internal affairs minister Seiko Noda told a press conference Tuesday. "Generally speaking, I think it's impossible (for a victim) to speak to someone on the offender's side."

The ministry has commissioned a law firm that has an advisory contract with it to investigate the alleged sexual harassment, according to Aso.

The ministry said it will ensure that no disadvantage is experienced by female reporters cooperating with the investigation.

"A complaint by a reporter, if the ministry is informed of it, could have negative implications for her news-gathering activity," said lawyer Nobuo Gohara, a former public prosecutor.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to find out the truth behind the sexual harassment issue and many other scandals involving the government. Jiji Press