Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday denied a magazine report that he was detained when he was a university student for violating an ordinance prohibiting prostitution, suggesting that he may take legal steps against the magazine.
Asked by reporters at his official residence if he is considering taking legal action against the monthly magazine, Mori said, "I suppose so, since (the report is) groundless."
The "Uwasa no Shinso" ("Truth of the Rumor") magazine accused Mori of being detained in a brothel, a violation of the ordinance, when he was a student at Waseda University.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki, who attended the same university and belonged to the same debating club as Mori, also denied the report. "I don't think such a thing happened in his student days," he said.
Aoki told a regular news conference, "We were friends, so if there was such a thing, I would have known."