Nishinomiya Mayor to apologize to reporter for abusive remark

January 5, 2018

Kobe- Nishinomiya Mayor Takeshi Imamura said Friday he will apologize to a reporter of The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, for saying "I'll kill you."

"I lost control and lashed out," Imamura, 45, told a press conference in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

"I would like to offer my apology," he said, adding that he does not plan to resign from his post.

According to the mayor of the western Japan city, he made the remark when the reporter in question asked for comment following his New Year address on Thursday indicating he would not run in the mayoral election in April.

"I lost my temper because I thought the reporter should have made an apology before asking me a question," Imamura said.

"In late December, the reporter came to my home (for newsgathering), and I protested against his entry into private property," he explained.

Stressing that the reporter "lacked common sense" for coming to his private residence, Imamura said he told the newspaper publisher that "if an apology is made (by the Yomiuri side), I will apologize for using the abusive language."

A public relations official at the daily's Osaka headquarters said that the reporter conducted newsgathering in an appropriate, fair manner and that the mayor's trespassing accusation is groundless.

"The mayor's false statement unjustifiably maligns the reputation of The Yomiuri Shimbun and its reporters," the official also said. Jiji Press