KYODO NEWS - Jan 6, 2020 - 20:08 | All, Japan

A former television reporter appealed on Monday a civil court ruling ordering him to pay damages to Japanese #MeToo symbol and journalist Shiori Ito in a high-profile rape case.

Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former Washington bureau chief for Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc. and biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has denied Ito's allegation that he had sexual intercourse with her without her consent at a Tokyo hotel in 2015 while she was in a state of intoxication and unconscious.

(Japanese journalist Shiori Ito speaks to reporters outside the Tokyo District Court on Dec. 18, 2019.)

The Tokyo District Court last month ordered Yamaguchi, 53, to pay 3.3 million yen ($30,500) in damages to the 30-year-old Ito.

The court rejected a counter-lawsuit filed by Yamaguchi seeking 130 million yen in compensation from Ito. He claimed his social reputation has been damaged by her remarks.

Ito filed a criminal complaint with police, but prosecutors dropped the case in 2016.

(Noriyuki Yamaguchi)

She later filed a complaint with the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, but it also judged in 2017 that the prosecutors' decision was appropriate.

Related coverage:

Japan's #MeToo symbol surprised by "landmark" rape suit victory

Labor minister opposes banning female dress codes with high heels

Companies having hard time letting go of heels: Kyodo poll

Feminist scholar calls Japan's gender problem "human disaster"