Journalist in Japan's #MeToo movement sues cartoonist for defamation

Jun 09, 2020 | News On Japan

Jun 09, 2020 (Japan Today) - Shiori Ito, a journalist and symbol of Japan's #MeToo movement, sued cartoonist Toshiko Hasumi for damages on Monday for allegedly defaming her on Twitter.

In a suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Ito is seeking 5.5 million yen in damages from Hasumi for five posts she made between June 2017 and last December that included an illustration of a woman who appears to be Ito, and 2.2 million yen from a creator and a doctor, both men, who allegedly spread the posts.

She is also asking for the posts to be taken down.

In a country where few sexual assault victims come forward, Ito, 31, has become a symbol of Japan's movement against sexual abuse after going public with a rape accusation against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a 54-year-old former Washington bureau chief of Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.

The district court last December ordered Yamaguchi, a biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to pay 3.3 million yen in damages to Ito, recognizing he "had sexual intercourse without the consent of Ito, who was in a state of intoxication and unconscious."

The civil court's decision, which Yamaguchi has appealed, contrasted sharply with the criminal proceedings that were launched after Ito filed a complaint with police when prosecutors decided not to indict Yamaguchi due to insufficient evidence.

Ito claims Hasumi's cartoon defamed her by suggesting she filed a false rape accusation and is pretending to be a rape victim.

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