Hosoda Eyes Suit against Magazine over Harassment Reports

Tokyo, May 26 (Jiji Press)--Hiroyuki Hosoda, speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament, said in a statement Thursday that he is considering filing a lawsuit against Shukan Bunshun over the weekly magazine's reports about his alleged acts of sexual harassment.

In the statement, Hosoda said that he lodged a strong protest with Shukan Bunshun on Monday over its report that is "completely untrue" and that he would strongly protest another article of the magazine published Thursday that is making similar allegations.

The Lower House speaker said he plans to discuss with his lawyers the possibility of taking the case to court after the end of the ongoing parliamentary session, currently set for June 15.

Last week, Shukan Bunshun published an article saying that Hosoda asked a female reporter about her private life and made a phone call to the reporter late at night to ask her to come over to his place. In this week's edition, the magazine reported that Hosoda offered to share important information with multiple female reporters if they slept next to him, and that he often touched the body of a female staff member at the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to which Hosoda used to belong.

Opposition parties are demanding Hosoda give explanations about the allegations in parliament.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]