Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Ex-Japan governor sent sexually harassing texts to staff

Photo taken Jan. 7, 2026, in Nagoya shows a list of sexually harassing texts that former Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto sent to female prefectural government staff, in an investigative report published the same day by external lawyers. The central Japan governor, who stepped down the previous month, sent approximately 1,000 inappropriate messages to multiple female staff members and also touched female staff members' bodies several times.

E

Ex-Japan governor sent sexually harassing texts to staff

Photo taken Jan. 7, 2026, in Nagoya shows a list of sexually harassing texts that former Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto sent to female prefectural government staff, in an investigative report published the same day by external lawyers. The central Japan governor, who stepped down the previous month, sent approximately 1,000 inappropriate messages to multiple female staff members and also touched female staff members' bodies several times.

E

Ex-Japan governor sent sexually harassing texts to staff

File photo shows Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto speaking at a press conference in Fukui, central Japan, on Dec. 4, 2025, after the prefectural parliament approved his resignation over a sexual harassment allegation. An investigative report by external lawyers said on Jan. 7, 2026, that he sent some 1,000 sexually harassing texts to multiple female staff of the local government and touched female staff members' bodies several times.

E

World Baseball Classic

Japan outfielder Lars Nootbaar's grandfather, Tatsuji Enokida (front row, 3rd from L), and grandmother, Kazuko (front row, 2nd from L), watch the Japan-U.S. World Baseball Classic final on television in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on March 22, 2023.

E

World Baseball Classic

Japan outfielder Lars Nootbaar's grandfather, Tatsuji Enokida (front R), and grandmother, Kazuko (front C), watch the Japan-U.S. World Baseball Classic final on television in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on March 22, 2023.

E

Late human rights lawyer Fuse draws renewed interest

TOKYO, Japan - Teacher Kazuhiko Abe (L in back) teaches third-year students at Onagawa No. 4 Junior High School in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, a Korean man who kept mentioning human rights lawyer Tatsuji Fuse's achievements in the protection of human rights.

E

Cup given by prince in 1928 returned to Japan

A silver goblet presented in 1928 to a national association of student skiers by Prince Chichibu, the deceased brother of the late Emperor Hirohito (posthumously called Emperor Showa) was returned to Japan more than 50 years after its whereabouts became unknown. George H. Lynch (L), a U.S. citizen who purchased the goblet in February at an Internet auction without knowing its origin, hands it to Tatsuji Miya (R), president of the ski association, in a ceremony at a Tokyo hotel June 25.

E

3 reactors to become 1st in Japan to operate beyond 40-year limit

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto meets the press at the prefectural government headquarters in Fukui on April 28, 2021, saying he had consented to a plan to restart three aging reactors at two local nuclear power plants. The reactors will be the first in Japan to operate beyond the 40-year limit.

E

Late human rights lawyer Fuse draws renewed interest

TOKYO, Japan - Teacher Kazuhiko Abe (L in back) teaches third-year students at Onagawa No. 4 Junior High School in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, a Korean man who kept mentioning human rights lawyer Tatsuji Fuse's achievements in the protection of human rights. (Kyodo)

E

2-seat compact EV

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto (L) drives a two-seat compact electric vehicle, named e-TOP, in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture on June 8, 2021. The car, 2.5 meters in length and 1.3 meters in width and equipped with a small driving motor developed by a motor maker in the central Japan city, is currently being put through test drives on public roads.

E

3 reactors to become 1st in Japan to operate beyond 40-year limit

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto meets the press at the prefectural government headquarters in Fukui on April 28, 2021, saying he had consented to a plan to restart three aging reactors at two local nuclear power plants. The reactors will be the first in Japan to operate beyond the 40-year limit.

E

3 reactors to become 1st in Japan to operate beyond 40-year limit

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto meets the press at the prefectural government headquarters in Fukui on April 28, 2021, saying he had consented to a plan to restart three aging reactors at two local nuclear power plants. The reactors will be the first in Japan to operate beyond the 40-year limit.

E

3 reactors to become 1st in Japan to operate beyond 40-yr limit

People rally in front of the Fukui prefectural government headquarters on April 28, 2021, protesting against Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto's approval earlier in the day of a plan to restart three aging reactors at two local nuclear power plants. The reactors will be the first in Japan to operate beyond the 40-year limit.

E

Mihama nuclear power plant in Japan

File photo taken April 24, 2021, shows Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto (L) visiting the No. 3 reactor at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Mihama nuclear power plant in Mihama in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. Sugimoto consented on April 28 to a plan to restart three aging reactors, including the one in the picture, at two local nuclear power plants. The reactors will be the first in Japan to operate beyond the 40-year limit.

E

Dinosaur bus in central Japan

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto (3rd from L) attends an event unveiling a new bus emblazoned with dinosaurs in front of the prefectural government building in the central Japan city of Fukui on Oct. 22, 2020. Operations of the bus on a direct route between JR Fukui Station and Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum will start from Oct. 31.

E

Dinosaur bus in central Japan

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto (3rd from L) attends an event unveiling a new bus emblazoned with dinosaurs in front of the prefectural government building in the central Japan city of Fukui on Oct. 22, 2020. Operations of the bus on a direct route between JR Fukui Station and Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum will start from Oct. 31.

E

Hog cholera infection in Japan

Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto (R) speaks at a taskforce meeting at the prefectural government office on July 29, 2019, after hog cholera was detected in Echizen, the first case of infection at a farm in the central Japan prefecture. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Fukui gubernatorial race

Tatsuji Sugimoto celebrates after winning the Fukui gubernatorial election on April 7, 2019, by holding the prefecture's specialty Echizen crab, in the central Japan city of Fukui. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Fukui gubernatorial race

Tatsuji Sugimoto celebrates after winning the Fukui gubernatorial election on April 7, 2019, in the central Japan city of Fukui. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Cup given by prince in 1928 returned to Japan

A silver goblet presented in 1928 to a national association of student skiers by Prince Chichibu, the deceased brother of the late Emperor Hirohito (posthumously called Emperor Showa) was returned to Japan more than 50 years after its whereabouts became unknown. George H. Lynch (L), a U.S. citizen who purchased the goblet in February at an Internet auction without knowing its origin, hands it to Tatsuji Miya (R), president of the ski association, in a ceremony at a Tokyo hotel June 25.