Japan's government has protested that a book about the country's Crown Princess written by an Australian investigative journalist contains 'groundless claims'. Tokyo is seeking an apology and corrections from the author, Ben Hills, and his publisher, Random House. This report from Chris Hogg:

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Ben Hills is an Australian investigative journalist who says he interviewed more than sixty Japanese, American and English sources for his unauthorised biography of the troubled princess. These included her former colleagues and those of her husband, many of whom, the author says, had never given interviews before. But Japan's government says the book contains disrespectful descriptions and distortions of the facts. The complaints are made in letters of protest sent to the author and his publisher. The government says it cannot ignore what it calls the book's false characterisation of the imperial family.

The Foreign Ministry says the author and his publisher have told them they see no particular problems with the book and want to consider what response to make. A Japanese edition is due to be published in a few weeks' time.

Chris Hogg, BBC News, Tokyo

Listen to the words

diplomat
a person who represents a government in its relations with other governments

the imperial family
the emperor, empress and their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters etc.

a male heir
a son who will take over his father's property, title, position etc. when his father dies

sources
here, the people who supplied information for the biography

unauthorised
done without the permission or approval of (here) the Japanese imperial family and/or government

former colleagues
the people Princess Masako used to work with

disrespectful
showing a lack of respect; rude, impolite

distortions of the facts
false, inaccurate or changed representations of situations or events

false characterisation
untrue or misleading representations or descriptions of somebody's personality and behaviour

consider what response to make
take some time to think about how to react

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