Tokyo Court Convicts Labor Ministry Official of Stalking

A Tokyo court on Tuesday convicted a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare section chief of stalking a female subordinate and entering her home without permission. The court sentenced the 39-year-old official to two years in prison, suspended for five years.

The ministry dismissed him in a disciplinary action that took effect the same day. The judge stated that the official developed romantic feelings for the woman, sent her repeated messages unrelated to work, and secretly photographed her and her belongings.

The judge described the conduct as self-serving and said the official continued seeking contact after his advances were rejected and kept appearing at the woman’s home despite workplace warnings. Prosecutors said the official became fixated on the woman in April of the previous year and sent messages such as “You’re cute” through the ministry’s internal chat system.

The indictment stated that the official sent the woman six messages in December and, in March, used an unauthorized duplicate key to enter her home and take personal items.

The ministry said it would consider and implement measures to prevent a recurrence while making every effort to restore public trust. A victim impact statement read in court said the woman felt compelled to respond to the messages because the sender was her supervisor and that the opening of her workplace locker left her fearful of further intrusion into her private life.