French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has denied making remarks denigrating sumo and other aspects of Japan, the Japanese ambassador in France said Tuesday.
The French weekly magazine Paris Match said in its Jan. 15 edition that Sarkozy, a popular 49-year-old Cabinet minister with presidential ambitions, told reporters during his visit earlier this month to China that sumo "is not really a sport for intellectuals."
Ambassador Hiroshi Hirabayashi, who was invited by Sarkozy to a lunch Tuesday, said the interior minister said the article contained conjecture by the reporter.
The ambassador said he told Sarkozy that he accepted his denial of the alleged remarks and invited him to Japan so he can better understand the country and help improve Franco-Japanese relations.
According to Hirabayashi, Sarkozy remained low-key throughout the lunch and criticized what he called sensational reporting and conjecture about domestic politics in the media. The presidential race is set for 2007.
Sarkozy reportedly said of sumo, "How can they be fascinated by these battles between obese guys with slicked-down topknots?"
The weekly also quoted him as describing Tokyo as being "stifling" and saying he doesn't understand how people can be amazed by Kyoto and that he found famous Japanese gardens there "grim."
The Paris Match reporter who accompanied Sarkozy on the trip told a radio program Tuesday that the quotes from Sarkozy in the report were accurate.