Photo/Illutration Shoko Arai, a former councilwoman in Kusatsu town, northwest of Tokyo, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 18, 2020. (AP Photo)

MAEBASHI--A former town assembly member has retracted part of her sexual assault allegations against the mayor of Kusatsu, a popular hot spring tourist resort in Gunma Prefecture.

Mayor Nobutada Kuroiwa, who has denied the allegations, filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for defamation of character against Shoko Arai and two others. Oral arguments were heard at Maebashi District Court on Nov. 15.

Arai, 54, is a former member of the Kusatsu town assembly who accused Kuroiwa in 2019 of sexually harassing and assaulting her in his office in 2015. An e-book recounting her claims also said Arai had sex with the mayor.

After the court session, a lawyer for Arai met with reporters and said while some of the client’s allegations were false, they planned to continue arguing in court that Kuroiwa groped Arai’s breast and thighs.

The lawyer said Arai and Kuroiwa never had sex.

In court on Nov. 1, Arai also testified that she did not have a sexual relationship with the mayor.

Appearing on Nov. 15 was the author of the e-book, who faces a separate trial for defamation. The writer said in court, “At that time, I believed that Arai’s claims were the truth.”

In December 2021, Arai filed a criminal complaint against Kuroiwa charging him with forced indecency. Kuroiwa immediately filed a criminal complaint of his own against Arai saying her complaint was baseless.

The Maebashi District Public Prosecutors Office said there was not enough evidence to indict Kuroiwa. However, the office indicted Arai on charges of defamation and filing a false complaint.

The battle generated international headlines because both Kuroiwa and Arai appeared at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo to state their cases in December 2020 only days apart. 

Arai was initially expelled from the Kusatsu municipal assembly after she went public with her allegations against Kuroiwa, who has always maintained his innocence. 

While she reclaimed her seat after the Gunma prefectural government said the expulsion was invalid, a recall movement against Arai led to her removal from the assembly as 90 percent of voters supported the recall in the December 2020 vote.

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