Japan anti-nuclear governor quits over sex scandal
18 April 2018 4:44 PM GMT
Tokyo: An anti-nuclear Japanese governor stepped down on Wednesday after a magazine alleged he paid university students for sex, a resignation that could boost the government's plan to restart the country's mothballed reactors.
Ryuichi Yoneyama was elected governor of Niigata prefecture in 2016 on a pledge to prevent the restarting of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power station, the world's biggest nuclear plant, about 200 kilometres (130 miles) northwest of Tokyo. His unexpected victory, in which he narrowly beat a government-supported candidate, posed a challenge for the pro-nuclear policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Yoneyama, a 50-year-old unmarried doctor and lawyer, paid women in their 20s to have sex, according to the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine.
"I decided to step down to avoid further turmoil and to take responsibility for my actions," he told reporters, bowing deeply in front of the cameras. "It was hard to find someone to date... I did give gifts and money to get attention" from the women, he said.
"I wasn't able to tackle the nuclear issue, which I thought was a historic mission." A 22-year-old student told the magazine he was "a good client." Prostitution is illegal in Japan but prosecution is rare.
There are seven reactors across the 4.2-million-square metre (45-million-square feet) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
site.
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