Photo/Illutration Kenji Imata, town mayor of Togo, Aichi Prefecture, announces his resignation on April 25. (Reo Komeda)

Two town mayors have resigned for repeatedly sexually harassing local government workers, although both said their memories are foggy about the incidents.

Kenji Imata, 54, mayor of Togo, Aichi Prefecture, said he would step down effective May 2.

“I made the decision for the town’s future and the happiness of town residents and to create an environment where town government employees can work in peace and quiet,” Imata, now in his second term, said at a news conference on April 25.

Asked if he was aware he was committing sexual and power harassment against town employees, he said: “I am once again ashamed of my ignorance and lack of study. I was not fully aware of the harassment.”

He also said his actions stemmed partly from familiarity, as he had attended the same elementary, junior high and senior high schools of many other senior town government employees.

But when asked about specific harassment cases, Imata repeatedly said, “I don’t remember” and “I can’t answer for each individual case.”

A third-party committee established by the town government found that Imata harassed 108 employees.

According to the committee, in one of the power harassment cases, the mayor said, “I will kill you if you take a year off for child care leave.”

The committee also found malicious sexual harassment, including the time Imata told a female employee who was about to undergo surgery, “When are you coming back with big boobs?”

He submitted his resignation letter on the evening of April 24.

END OF 20-YEAR REIGN

Kazuo Okazaki, 76, mayor of Ikeda, Gifu Prefecture, submitted his resignation letter to the chair of the town assembly on April 25.

“I am very sorry for my selfish and ill-considered behaviors,” Okazaki, now in his sixth term, said at a news conference. “I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

According to a third-party committee’s investigation report released on April 24, Okazaki sexually harassed 15 town government employees and others, such as groping them in the mayor’s office.

The committee concluded the mayor should step down.

Okazaki joined the town government in 1966 and went on to serve as chief of the general affairs division and deputy mayor.

He has been Ikeda mayor for more than 20 years since 2003.

The committee said Okazaki’s victims were unable to speak out about his actions because he had control over personnel affairs.

The mayor said: “I was self-centered, like the emperor who has no clothes. I was full of myself.”

He said he did not remember all of his acts committed against each of the 15 people, but he said, “I have to admit it.”

Toshiaki Eto, a professor at Taisho University who specializes in local government, said local government leaders have power over personnel affairs, which makes employees reluctant to speak out about harassment.

“Some of them have the mistaken belief that they are the most powerful” because they are elected by voters, Eto said.

To address the problem, he calls on local governments to adopt anti-harassment ordinances and have their assemblies and other bodies conduct checks for such behavior of their leaders.

“It is necessary to devise a way to understand not only their policies but also their personalities through public debates at times of elections,” he said.

(This article was written by Yoshinobu Matsunaga, Shunsuke Kimura and Takashi Tomioka.)

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