The Me Too movement, which was initially slow to spread in Japan, is now quietly reaching boiling point.

The latest source of heat is a journalist who claims the Finance Ministry's top bureaucrat harassed her with sexually suggestive comments. The woman told her story, on condition of anonymity, to the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho, which then reported the case earlier this month.

Last week, the bureaucrat, Administrative Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda, abruptly stepped down, saying the allegation, which he denied, left him unable to do his job.