The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has sent a written complaint to Shinchosha Ltd., the publisher of the weekly photo magazine Focus, claiming a vice governor was injured during a scuffle ensuing from an attempt by the magazine to take a photograph of him, it was learned Sunday.
Focus editors denied the allegation, saying their photographer was hit by the vice governor, 52-year-old Takeo Hamauzu, though the journalist had done nothing beyond regular reporting.
According to the metropolitan government, Hamauzu was injured Friday night when he struggled with a reporter and a photographer from Focus, who tried to photograph Hamauzu at the housing complex in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward where metro government officials reside.