Shoko Arai says she was ‘punished’ for making accusation against mayor

A former assembly member in Japan who alleges she was sexually assaulted by the mayor of the town she represented has spoken out, claiming residents were unduly pressured into voting to expel her last week.

Shoko Arai, who was the only woman on the 12-member assembly in the hot-spring resort of Kusatsu, accused the mayor, Nobutada Kuroiwa, and other prominent local men of seeking to drive her out of office after she went public with her allegations in an e-book in late 2019. She claimed Kuroiwa sexually assaulted her in his office in 2015. He denies the claim.

Related: Japan town's sole female councillor ousted after accusing mayor of sexual assault