The Finance Ministry acknowledged Friday that its former top bureaucrat sexually harassed a female reporter, slapping him with a deduction equivalent to 20 percent on six months' worth of wages.
The ministry plans to deduct the amount from former Administrative Vice Minister Junichi Fukuda's full ¥53 million ($487,000) retirement benefits. He has yet to receive the payment.
"It's very regrettable and (we) deeply apologize," senior ministry official Koji Yano told a news conference.