By NATSUNO OTAHARA/ Staff Writer
September 7, 2023 at 19:09 JST
The Tokyo metropolitan government building in the capital’s Shinjuku Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A 55-year-old civil servant in Tokyo was suspended from his duties Sept. 6 over repeated incidents of sexual harassment against female colleagues.
According to his employer, the metropolitan government, the man holds a senior position in the general affairs bureau.
He told women he worked with that he “loved them,” “liked their faces” and made unwanted and inappropriate advances at office parties held in March and April.
The cases came to light after the women complained about his behavior, according to the bureau.
An official said the man was not aware that his actions were viewed by the women as a form of harassment.
Previously, he held a key position in the policy planning office and accompanied the governor, Yuriko Koike, on her business trip overseas.
The metropolitan government also announced the same day that nine officials had been reprimanded for misconduct.
Details of some of the misdemeanors were made public.
A 25-year-old employee in the social welfare bureau had her pay cut 10 percent for a month after going out with strangers for money in a paid dating practice known as “papa katsu.”
It emerged that she received a total of around 220,000 yen ($1,400) from men she met through a dating app between November 2021 and April of the following year.
The employee said she simply found it interesting to eat and talk with people from other professions, according to the metropolitan government.
Earning income in this manner violates the law prohibiting civil servants from certain kinds of second jobs.
A 42-year-old taxation bureau official was suspended for six months for accepting more than 1 million yen ($6,700) for 126 hours he hadn’t actually worked.
The official has already returned the overpaid salary. His supervisor at the time of the incident was cautioned for mismanagement.
Another official from the urban development bureau, 45, was removed from work for three months after he stole a bicycle and rode it while drunk.
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