Japanese lawmaker apologizes for comment about consensual sex between adult and 14-yr-old
TOKYO -- An opposition lawmaker has apologized for a comment in which he said words to the effect that it is "absurd if a 50-year-old and a 14-year-old consented to have sex and (the 50-year-old) gets arrested" during his party's working team meeting on revisions to sex crime laws.
House of Representatives member Hiranao Honda, who belongs to the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), released an apology on the night of June 7 saying that his comment during the meeting was inappropriate and that he hoped to retract what he had said. "I sincerely apologize," the lawmaker wrote.
According to several sources close to the party, Honda made the remark in question during a May 10 meeting. In response, CDP Secretary-General Tetsuro Fukuyama said on June 7 that following an internal probe and fact-checking of Honda's comment, the party has given him a severe verbal warning. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210608/p2a/...