TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s finance minister admonished his top bureaucrat on Thursday after a magazine reported the official had sexually harassed several female journalists, but stopped short of imposing any punishment.

Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso attends an upper house parliamentary session in Tokyo, Japan March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The issue could become another headache for Finance Minister Taro Aso and for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose ratings have been hit by scandals over suspected cronyism and cover-ups.

A steady trickle of new allegations about the scandals has raised doubts about how long Abe can stay in power.

The weekly Shincho said in its latest edition, published on Thursday, that Administrative Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda went drinking with a female reporter recently at a bar near his house and asked to touch her breasts and kiss her.

The magazine quoted Fukuda as denying the allegation.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm the report and attempts by Reuters to reach Fukuda at his office were not successful.

The magazine related a similar incident with a female reporter at a restaurant in the past and said Fukuda had been known for making sexually suggestive comments to women journalists.

The reporter in the most recent incident said she had gone to meet him because he was an important news source, the magazine said.

The magazine did not identify the reporter nor several other women mentioned in its report.

Aso, whose ministry is under fire for its involvement in suspected cover-ups over a murky sale of state-owned land to a school operator with ties to Abe’s wife, told a parliamentary panel that Fukuda had spoken to him about the matter.

Fukuda said he met many people in a private capacity and it was not possible to verify every interaction but that he would be careful not to “be misunderstood” from now on, Aso said.

“I admonished him that given the situation the ministry is in now, he should not be complacent,” Aso said, adding he believed Fukuda had “reflected” on the matter.

The report provoked anger from politicians of both the ruling bloc and the opposition.

“It’s unbelievable and extremely regrettable,” Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary general of the Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.

Kyodo also quoted Kenta Izumi, head of parliamentary affairs of the opposition Party of Hope, as saying, “If this is true, it’s outrageous and he should be fired immediately.”

Japan has had few reported “#MeToo” cases about sexual harassment involving public figures, apparently in part because victims are reluctant to speak out for fear of being blamed.

While Abe has made his “Womenomics” programmes to mobilise women in the workforce part of his policies to boost growth, big gender gaps persist at companies and in politics.

“This symbolises the Japanese society of today, which is far from gender equality,” Twitter user “Blue Rabbit” tweeted.

“Women are just seen as sex objects. If this is true, it is unforgivable.”

Asked about Abe’s women-friendly policies and whether the reported harassment contradicted them, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference: “We are working to create a society where this kind of thing doesn’t happen.”

Underlining challenges for the government, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a parliamentary committee on Thursday the ministry had told a senior official not to send emails to a female official any more.

Kato’s comment follows a weekly magazine report that the official, Yusuke Fukuda, head of the ministry’s Health Service Bureau, had sent the woman emails that could be construed as sexual harassment. Reuters could not reach Fukuda for comment.

The suspected cronyism scandals have sparked opposition calls for Abe to resign and cloud his chances of a third term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader, and hence premier.

Victory in the September party poll would set Abe, who took office in 2012 pledging to reboot the economy and bolster defence, on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier.