Kazuyoshi Nakanishi

Nakanishi, 40, allegedly pressed himself against a 22-year-old woman, reached inside her dress and grabbed her left breast at around 2 a.m. in "High Touch Town," as the seamy entertainment district is famously known by the sign over Roppongi Crossing.

Nakanishi said that he was drunk and couldn't remember anything, police said.

Article 50 of the Constitution guarantees lawmakers immunity from arrest while the Diet is in session. But this does not cover cases of on-the-spot arrest or when approval has been granted by the Diet chamber in which they serve.

The Diet Secretariat said it was the first time a Diet member had been arrested for indecent assault.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 19, 2005
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