In December 2021, residents of Kusatsu, a small town famous by spa have overwhelmingly voted to remove the local council’s only female member after she accused the mayor of sexual assault.
It was reported to the world as if Japan is sexism nation.
[https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/09/asia/japan-councillor-sexual-assault-intl-hnk/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/09/asia/japan-councillor-sexual-assault-intl-hnk/index.html)
November 11, a former Kusatsu town councilwoman who accused town mayor as sexual assault was indicted by prosecutors in a criminal trial on charges of defamation and filing false complaints against the town mayor.
[https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQB0759VQB0UTNB01C.html](https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQB0759VQB0UTNB01C.html)
At an hour-long press conference about indiction, the mayor Kuroiwa said that the prosecutor had presented him with conclusive evidence which would be disclosed at trial.
The mayor expressed anger at the damage done to the reputation of Kusatsu and its citizens by the slander, and indicated that a lawsuit would be filed against activists who commited negative campaigns.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR\_VlCp9AUA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_VlCp9AUA)
As of now, none of the feminists committed the criticize campaign against Kusatsu have come to the defense of the former councilwoman or criticize the prosecutor as sexism.
Most of them simply keep silence but some have begun to euphemistically excuse themselves after mayor mentioned about lawsuit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/yxrdv2/new_phase_of_kusatsu_town_mayors_sexual/
2 comments
I mean, just from the evidences that has been presented, the accusation sounds like it was a total bogus. It looks like this will be a massive defamation lawsuit and many feminist activists in Japan will further suffer a damage on their reputation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_VlCp9AUA
Be careful here…
In Japan it is entirely legal to sue someone for defamation even if what the person is claiming is 100% true.
Even if the persons claim is 100% true, the accused can still sue the claimer for defamation for ruining their image even if they are guilty.
These women in your post above could be backing down only due to the fact that they are being sued, not because what they are saying is false
Japan is a backwards country in some ways. This is one of them.