Admits to Affair with Employee During Business Trip and Issues Apology
Promises to Reduce Salary by 30% as a Gesture of Remorse
The mayor of Tagawa City in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, was revealed to have stayed in the same hotel room while traveling on business with a female employee with whom he was having an extramarital affair. On the 20th, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Mayor Takuya Murakami of Tagawa held a press conference on the 18th and acknowledged that the report about staying in the same hotel room with the female city employee who accompanied him on the business trip was "mostly true," and issued an official apology.
Earlier, on the 16th, the weekly magazine Shukan Gendai reported on the inappropriate relationship between Mayor Murakami and the female employee, releasing photos as evidence showing them leaving the hotel together. In response to the report, Mayor Murakami stated, "When I went on business trips to Tokyo for the national mayors' meetings in November last year and January this year, I stayed in the same hotel room with the female employee," adding, "We have been in an extramarital relationship for about a year, and this year alone, there have been 10 business trips accompanied by this female employee, including day trips."
When asked, "Are you aware that these trips are funded by taxpayers' money?" he replied, "If I properly perform official duties during the day, I consider the nighttime as non-official time." He then bowed his head and said, "I sincerely apologize for betraying the trust of the citizens through my reckless and inappropriate behavior." Furthermore, Mayor Murakami stated that as a gesture of apology, "I will reduce my salary by 30% for the remainder of my term."
On the 16th, the weekly magazine Shukan Gendai reported on the inappropriate relationship between Mayor Murakami and a female employee. As evidence, they released photos of them leaving a hotel together. Shukan Gendai website
Mayor Murakami was first elected in April 2023. The female employee involved in the extramarital affair was transferred to a department responsible for secretarial duties in August of the same year. According to Tagawa City, protests surged after the report of Mayor Murakami's affair, and voices demanding his immediate resignation, mainly from city council members, also emerged. Mayor Murakami's term runs until April 2027. Without mentioning resignation, Mayor Murakami is expected to propose an ordinance regarding the reduction of his salary at the regular council meeting.
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