Photo/Illutration The city assembly of Tsurugashima, Saitama Prefecture, passes a resolution regarding assembly member Megumi Fukushima on Aug. 4. (Jin Naganuma)

TSURUGASHIMA, Saitama Prefecture—Tired of receiving a flood of complaints and even a bomb threat, the city assembly here on Aug. 4 passed a gag order on Megumi Fukushima from posting on social media as an assembly member.

The assembly adopted the resolution by a majority vote requesting that Fukushima refrain from mentioning her elected position in her postings.

She has posted messages such as “Oppose discrimination against foreigners” and “I will not tolerate hate against foreigners” on social networking sites such as X.

The resolution stated that inquiries about her words and actions to the city government have increased, disrupting normal operations.

Fukushima, 44, was first elected to the 18-seat Tsurugashima city assembly in 2023 and does not belong to a political party. She criticized the resolution as “unjust.”

Fukushima said she has no intention of complying with the resolution.

“If I remain silent here, it will only benefit those who cause harm. This is not just my issue alone,” she said.

Between May and the end of July, the city government and the city assembly secretariat received about 150 opinions regarding Fukushima’s words and actions through their official websites, social media accounts and telephone calls. 

The majority of these opinions expressed concerns about her words and actions, officials said.

On the evening of July 22, a message threatening to kill Fukushima and bomb the city government office was received, prompting the prefectural police to begin an investigation.

Due to these disruptions, the city assembly canceled an Aug. 3 event planned for elementary school students in the city to experience and learn about the city assembly system during their summer vacations.

The resolution, which is not legally binding, stated, “There is no intention to restrict Fukushima’s freedom of speech, but serious impacts on citizen safety and the work of the city administration and city assembly have occurred,” and requested that Fukushima refrain from expressing opinions using her official city assembly title.

Yoshihiro Uchino, chair of the city assembly, said, “Threats of murder and bombing are unacceptable.”

Uchino added, “It is a given fact that (the resolution) is not intended to limit (Fukushima’s) political activities. However, since June, I have asked Fukushima to exercise self-restraint as chairperson, and yet she did not comply, so the city assembly decided to make an official statement.”

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