Shintaro Ishihara

Governor beats lawsuit over allegedly sexist remarks

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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APTN 1. Two plaintiffs protesting against court''s decision to acquit Tokyo''s governor who made remark 2. Two women holding sign 3. Exterior of Tokyo District Court 4. Sign on Tokyo District Court building 5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese): Yoshiko Nagai, Plaintiff, Beijing Japan Accountability Caucus (Japanese women''s NGO): "I have been working to eliminate discrimination against women and to establish equal rights for women for a long time. This (ruling) is the utmost insult to our efforts." 6. SOUNDBITE (English): Watanabe (no surname available), Plaintiff, part-time high school teacher: "I am very mad about this verdict. One thing I was very surprised about was that the judge did not mention governor Ishihara''s position. As a governor he said." 7. SOUNDBITE (Japanese): Sumiko Takagi, Female shelter social worker: "I am very upset about today''s ruling. This ruling does not make any sense in the context of human rights especially when it is judged by international criteria." APTN FILE Tokyo - April 1999 8. Ishihara, Tokyo Metropolitan Governor candidate at that time, campaigning for governorship on stage 9. Wide shot of crowd 10. Wide shot of women listening to Ishihara 11. Close-up of women''s face 12. Ishihara speaking 13. Women clapping STORYLINE: Tokyo''s outspoken governor on Thursday beat a lawsuit in which he was accused of denigrating women past their child-rearing years, hinting that he agreed with the opinion it was "almost a crime" for them to go on living. The Tokyo District Court rejected a demand that Governor Shintaro Ishihara pay damages to 131 female plaintiffs for the remarks. Court officials gave no details about their decision . The plaintiffs - teachers, company employees and housewives aged 20 to 70 who either live or work in Tokyo - filed the suit in December 2002. They demanded that Ishihara publicly apologise and provide compensation totalling a reported 14 (m) million yen (135,000 US dollars) for comments made in a November 2001 magazine interview. In the "Weekly Ladies" interview, Ishihara, quoting a college professor, said "the worst thing a civilisation has produced is an old hag," and added that "it''s a waste, and almost a crime, for women to go on living even after losing their reproductive ability." "It might be true, but as a politician I can''t publicly say that," he concluded. The article attracted huge publicity, prompting the Japan Federation of Bar Associations to issue a report in 2003 condemning his remarks as "sexist verbal abuse" and opposition lawmakers in the Tokyo assembly to grill him over what he said. Ishihara has maintained he was only quoting the professor he knew, and has never offered an apology or retracted his comment. Since taking office in 1999 as an independent, Ishihara, a novelist turned-politician, has won popularity by adopting policies that regularly defy the national government. He has pushed for stricter pollution laws, to the chagrin of big business, and imposed a special tax on Japan''s biggest banks, which are contesting the policy in the courts. However, the fiery nationalist has also deeply offended foreign residents and Asian nations with comments widely condemned as racist and xenophobic. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bd3c549868bbe12dc4078138e06b1a5a Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork