Last spring, actress Ryoko Hirosue filed a lawsuit against publisher Shogakukan for alleged defamation. On Tuesday, a Tokyo court ruled in favor of Hirosue, awarding her 1.2 million yen in damages.

Shogakukan's weekly magazine Josei Seven had published an article in March 2007 claiming that Hirosue, still married at the time, was having an affair with an actor. Hirosue denied the rumors and subsequently took her complaint to court, demanding 23 million yen. The judge agreed that the article was very likely false and had negatively affected the actress' image. However, he also explained that the impact was not as significant as Hirosue claimed, given her prior reputation for being free-spirited.