Motherhood promoter in Japan arrested amid wife-beating claims

A man who runs a non-profit organisation promoting motherhood in Japan has been arrested on suspicion of hospitalising his wife by kicking and beating her, police said yesterday.

Shinji Morimatsu, 49, the chairman of the Japan Mothers Society, was alleged to have hit his 51-year-old wife around the head and face and then kicked her in the chest and abdomen as she lay on the floor on May 26, said a senior official at the Matsuyama Higashi police station in western Japan.

The Japan Mothers Society holds seminars on child-rearing as well as giving out a "Best Mother" award every year, usually to a high-profile actress with children, with its chairman presenting the trophy in a blaze of publicity.

The police spokesman said Morimatsu's wife took a month to recover from her injuries.

"His wife reported the incident after she went to hospital on the day, and we tried to persuade her to file an official complaint," the spokesman said. "Her reply at the time was, 'Let me think about it'. Then, in July, she decided to file the report, so we started the investigation."

The wife hinted that there had been previous incidents of domestic violence, the official said, adding that officers were investigating the allegations.