The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© KYODOProtesters in 3 cities criticize Aso over sexual harassment comments
TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© KYODO
35 Comments
Login to comment
Yubaru
He's 77 years old and should be put out to pasture ASAP! He has been, and continues to be, an embarrassing part of Japanese politics for decades. He's got to go!
zizou2016
77.
Should better retire and enjoy gardening in the countryside
Steven Fennel
Oh great so now there's #withyou now as well as #metoo? C'mon, getting a bit out of hand now.
This guy IS a loser, though....
Dango bong
all he did was ask a hostess to kiss him in a nightclub.
Bintaro
Nothing surprising. With this kind of guy, it's if but when he will say something stupid.
I wish he would just go away.
Yubaru
Do you even take the time to read the article?
When does a female TV reporter become a hostess?
And you say THIS is proper dialogue or behavior for a vice-minister?
bones
Aso suffers from chronic foot in mouth syndrome!
Simon Foston
YubaruToday 07:59 am JST
Dango bong seems to be unaware of what the vice-minister actually did or said.
papigiulio
Wishful thinking, unfortunately this guy has so much friends, power and money. He said so many idiotic things in the past and look he is still here ugh
Cricky
Didn't he Pledge, urge, and wish for equality, another fail, economy Minister blocks any tobacco measures, makes light of sexual misconduct and blames the victim. Hail the protesters they are doing more than the government are.
Aly Rustom
WHAAAA?????
Yeah, but this is going to be ANOTHER nail in Abe's and hopefully the whole LDP's coffin, so maybe there is a silver lining in there somewhere. Abe's not too popular, and this buffoon is close to him, so he's only hurting Abe and the conservatives even more, which is always a good thing.
Considering he was a spring chicken of 70 something at the time...
browny1
Aso - old, old money filthy rich, powerful and connected. Combined with his sense of arrogance and entitlement and you have a ready made Japan Hater.
That's right. The Japan he loves is Brand Nippon-Kaigi. A powerful elitist cult desiring to create a bygone Japan in their own image.
By far the majority of the citizens of Japan are just trying to eke out a living - the same people Aso consistently shows no respect for. His flippancy towards the ordinary Japanese has been breathtaking at times.
That's why he's a True Japan Hater.
Dukeleto
I would say it’s quite more advanced than chronic...ACUTE foot in mouth syndrome.
A salary man plucked off the street could do a better job than any of these guys running this country...Ireally mean that!
Cricky
Deputy PM, Financial Minister, at 77 with no plans to retire, I'm guessing he spends more than he earns or gouging. Sounds familiar. Can't read basic kangi, wants the Jdf to shoot gaigin who appear off shore, blames the victims of sexual assault because they asked for it. Nice guy if you're a Nazi loving woman hating old man.
Ricky Kaminski
Saw him once at Tokyo station about to board a Shinkansen in the most outlandish and brash pale blue suit with this massive hat that was straight out of a James Cagney movie. It’s was pure gangster. Had the walk and all. Couldn’t believe my luck. With all the body guards it was quite the spectacle. Puts this article into context now. A dinasour living the dream.
Pukey2
This excuse of a man has no redeeming features. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth into a family associated with slave labour and a dirty history. He is rotting away in all senses of the word, and still he clings to dear political life. Retire already.
rainyday
Er, have you not been watching US news for the past 18 months?
CruisinJapan
It was just last week when Aso said the problem with the harassment complaint is that it was filed on a single sheet of paper and the font is too small!
Good work Aso, you've outdone yourself again!
smithinjapan
Like this will make him do anything but grow more defiant. He won't resign -- not over anything as stupid as women demanding he do it when they should be in the kitchen anyway (his way of thinking, not mine!), and at BEST he'll "retract" his remarks, calling it regrettable people reacted that way.
The ONLY way Aso is going down is if he is seen to seriously threaten Abe's chances to win re-election and change the Constitution. All that said, it is refreshing to see the women out in full power, and I hope this grows and paralyzes things until they change.
Schopenhauer
I am not surprised. He is a Trump of Japan.
Cricky
Having taken the the time to reflect I find it strange that the Financial boss of Japan has not retired at 77 if anyone could plan a retirement surely it would be the Minister of Finance? Or am I missing something. Maybe he doesn't have enough slaves.
gokai_wo_maneku
I guess his generation considered "hitting on women" just a manly thing to do. Times have changed. Women are no longer men's pets.
CH3CHO
It is true that "sexual harassment" is not a crime under Japanese law, unless the act coincides with forced intercourse or forced indecency. Everyone in Japan knows this except some of the foreigners here. And LDP law makers are now working on criminalizing "sexual harassment" for whatever definition it may be.
Ascissor
"He wasn't downplaying anything. He simply said that sexual harassment is not as bad as murder or sexual assault."
And murder is not as serious as mass murder, but if someone in your ministry murdered someone, that's not necessarily the best thing to say.
Thunderbird2
Old gits like this are really needing to retire from public life... and as for the asking the hostess for a kiss... that's just creepy.
CH3CHO
Needless to say, demotion within a private company is not a criminal punishment.
gokai_wo_maneku
So I'm guessing that Aso may have spent a lot of time in Kabukicho hostess clubs when he was younger. Much younger.
itsonlyrocknroll
If this LDP government didn't have enough on its plate, scandals, US trade disputes, President Trump forthcoming summit with a Pyongyang dictatorship, that's potentially the political equivalent of walking into a gin trap. Finance Minister Taro Aso inexplicably chunters out loud ,....... "No such thing (crime) as a sexual harassment charge, it's not the same as charges of murder or sexual assault,".......
Why, if there is an audio clip in the public domain of Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda allegedly requesting "Can I touch your breasts?" whilst in the company of a female TV reporter?
I do believe Agatha Christie wrote..... If a person does not develop wisdom with age, his or her foolishness, is all the more obvious and shameful........