Photo/Illutration Shoko Arai expresses her intention to continue her political activities after being ousted from the Kusatsu town assembly in Gunma Prefecture in a recall election on Dec. 6. (Hiroyuki Yaginuma)

KUSATSU, Gunma Prefecture--An assemblywoman here who accused the town mayor of sexual assault lost her seat after more than 90 percent of voters called for her dismissal in a Dec. 6 recall election.

According to the town government, 2,542 ballots supported the recall of Shoko Arai, 51, while 208 opposed the move. Voter turnout was 53.66 percent.

The famed onsen hot spring resort town with a population of around 6,200 turned into a battlefield between one woman and a male-dominated political system after Arai accused Kusatsu Mayor Nobutada Kuroiwa of sexually assaulting her in an e-book released in November 2019.

After the outcome of the vote emerged, Arai said the recall was “unjust and unreasonable,” implying she was victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by powerful town politicians.

“There is no reason for dismissing me,” she said. “A recall spearheaded by influential figures in the town, such as the mayor and assembly members, runs counter to the philosophy of the recall system.”

She said she plans to continue with her political activities.

Kuroiwa, 73, who has denied the sexual assault allegations, hailed the results of the poll as a “decisive victory.”

“It is a clear manifestation of residents’ will,” he said. “The dignity of the town was protected with the vote.”

The town assembly chairman said residents effectively ruled that Arai’s allegations were false.

Arai, an independent, was first elected to the town assembly in 2011. She was serving her second four-year term and was the only woman in the assembly.

The battle started after Arai said the mayor groped her on Jan. 8, 2015, when she met with him alone at his office for an hour from 10 a.m.

But Kuroiwa described her accusation as “baseless and cut out of whole cloth.”

He said during town assembly sessions and on other occasions that they were not alone at the meeting. “The door of the mayor’s office was open and a deputy mayor was also present,” he said.

Kuroiwa has filed a complaint with police, accusing Arai of libel.

After the ebook was released, Arai was expelled from the assembly in December 2019. A majority of assembly members voted in favor of her expulsion on grounds she “hurt the dignity of the assembly” with her “scandalous” remarks.

She immediately turned to the Gunma prefectural government over the legitimacy of the expulsion.

In August, the prefectural government ruled that the expulsion breached the Local Autonomy Law and the town’s own rules. Her remarks during assembly sessions were made merely in response to questions from her colleagues, the prefecture ruled.

Her assembly seat was restored.

Upset by the prefectural government’s decision, Takashi Kuroiwa, chairman of the assembly, and some assembly members started a move for a recall election to remove her from office.

They collected 3,180 valid signatures of eligible voters, or about 60 percent of the total, to hold the recall election on Arai’s dismissal.

A welfare worker, 64, said she voted to oppose Arai’s dismissal.

“If an individual loses their job after accusing somebody of sexual assault, people in other workplaces will also find it difficult to raise their voices in fear of being fired,” the woman said. “Besides, such a one-sided recall election led by local leaders should not have been held.”