THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 16, 2023 at 15:17 JST
A senior defense official denied an online report that he sexually assaulted his aide in a karaoke parlor, the latest scandal to rock Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration in recent months.
Allegations reported by Bunshun Online were "not true," said Shingo Miyake, the parliamentary vice minister of defense, at a Diet committee session on Nov. 16.
Miyake, 61, is accused of groping his aide in a private karaoke room when she was working for him in Tokyo in 2013, according to a story posted by the Shukan Bunshun on its online platform the previous day.
The Upper House member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said his lawyer had lodged a formal protest with the weekly news magazine's publisher.
In the Diet session, Miyake said he may have met the aide outside his office in October 2013 after she expressed her intent to resign due to issues with her colleagues. But he couldn’t remember if he actually met her privately, he added.
His testimony followed Kishida's comments on the allegations, who said Miyake “should explain the matter more appropriately.”
The report dealt a fresh blow to Kishida’s administration, which has already suffered the resignations of three scandal-hit senior officials within a month.
The development also came amid calls for the Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces to address their toxic workplace culture in the wake of a series of sexual abuse and bullying cases.
EDITORIAL: Kishida’s picks for top LDP posts dampen hopes for reform
October 2, 2021
Kishi removes family tree from website amid cries of nepotism
February 14, 2023
Aide to lawmaker admits illegal payments to campaign staff
January 19, 2020
Kishida set to tap Yoshimasa Hayashi as foreign minister
November 7, 2021
Obuchi’s past could thwart female-presence plan of Kishida
September 14, 2023
Sonoura realizes the game is up in scandal over his political funds
December 18, 2022
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shingo Miyake speaks at a Diet session in 2020. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
