Tokyo-based publisher Bungeishunju Ltd. said Thursday its controversial article about former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's daughter contributed to the public good.
The publisher said in a special feature in the weekly magazine's April 1 edition, which hit newsstands Thursday, that it cannot consider the daughter of the lawmaker "a purely private citizen" as Cabinet members must disclose their assets, including those of their families.
Tanaka's daughter traveled abroad with her mother and grandfather, the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, and accompanied her mother on her election campaign, the publisher said.