Topic - Shoko Arai

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Shoko Arai, a former councilwoman in Kusatsu town, northwest of Tokyo, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Arai who was ousted from an assembly in the old Japanese hot springs town after accusing Mayor Nobutada Kuroiwa of sexual assault said Friday that her case highlighted problems of small town politics in Japan dominated by local male heavyweights and women are easily silenced. Arai, who was the only woman in a 12-member assembly in the town was voted out of office in a Dec. 6 referendum initiated by the mayor and his supporters who campaigned for her removal. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Japan councilwomen says ouster shows gender bias in politics

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

Nobutada Kuroiwa, mayor of Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. The mayor of the Japanese hot springs resort denied sexual assault allegations by a former town assemblywoman and justified her recall in a recent referendum. Kuroiwa told a news conference Monday that the recall of Shoko Arai had nothing to do with discrimination against women but was to protect from disgrace. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Japan mayor defends councilwoman’s ouster over assault claim

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press