Witty writer from Japan faked resume

Kato Yoshikazua, a popular Japanese writer who wrote many commentaries during the nine years he lived and studied in China, admitted Wednesday to faking his resume including his education background.

Shukan Bunshun, a monthly Japanese magazine, reported in its November issue that Kato's forged his resume.

Kato published an apology on his personal blog, saying that he had never attended the University of Tokyo, as he had claimed. He said cryptically that in the future he would use more accurate words.

Kato did not explain other allegations, which said that he had not placed fourth in a national judo competition, nor was he a senior researcher at Keio University in Japan and a researcher at Peking University.

Dong Jie, a former student at Peking University, said the university had warned Kato not to use the title of researcher.

"We are shocked by the allegations," said Wang Zhongyi, editor-in-chief of the People's China, a Beijing-based Japanese magazine, told the Global Times. "It wasn't because of his academic qualifications that we used his commentaries. He made some good points," said Wang, who would not say if the magazine would continue to use his commentaries.

Kato left China for the US in July. He did not respond to emails sent by the Global Times on Wednesday.