"Japanese Politician Who Made Controversial Statement 'No Problem with Sexual Relations at 14 with Consent' Finally Resigns"

▲Honda Hiranao, Member of the House of Representatives of the Constitutional Democratic Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A Japanese opposition lawmaker who sparked controversy by saying it was strange to arrest someone for having consensual sex with a 14-year-old minor has ultimately announced his resignation.

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 28th, Hiranao Honda (56), a member of the House of Representatives from the Constitutional Democratic Party, the main opposition party, announced at a press conference the day before that he would step down from his position as a lawmaker.

Honda also submitted his resignation from the Constitutional Democratic Party, which was accepted.

He stated, "If the situation caused by my remarks continues, it could cause further harm to third parties and bring trouble to the party, so I submitted my resignation."

Earlier, Honda faced criticism after it was revealed that during a May meeting of the Constitutional Democratic Party's 'Working Group on Promoting Amendments to the Sexual Crime Penal Code,' he said, "It is strange to punish consensual sex between a 50-year-old like me and a 14-year-old child who are dating."

The Constitutional Democratic Party was discussing a penal code amendment to raise the age of consent for sexual activity uniformly prohibited from 'under 13 years old' to 'under 16 years old,' increasing it by three years.

Honda retracted his remarks and apologized, but the party's 'Abuse Prevention Committee' criticized him, saying, "His qualifications as a member of the legislature are seriously in question."

He initially refused the party's demand to resign but eventually decided to leave the party and resign from his lawmaker position as the controversy continued.

Honda is a three-term lawmaker first elected to the House of Representatives in 2004 and a former secretary to Yukio Edano, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party.