University professors in Kansai complained of being slandered by LDP member of the House of Representatives Sugita Mizuzo. Professor Emeritus Kazue Muta of Osaka University was conducting research on gender and other issues under a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Japan Scientific Research.
Muta and four others filed a lawsuit seeking damages for defamation after Sugita said in an Internet video that they were using the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research after the research period had elapsed. Osaka High Court in the second instance ruled that some of the cases constituted defamation and ordered Sugita to pay 2,33 yen in compensation.