Female councillors demand Miyagi governor scrap ‘suggestive’ tourism video

Seven female members of the Miyagi prefectural assembly on Friday asked the governor of the northeastern Japan prefecture to remove a tourism promotion video it is using on the internet, claiming it portrays women as sex objects.

The video, featuring a well-known model and actress in a kimono, showcases attractions and tourist spots in the prefecture but also contains some sexually suggestive scenes, including one in which the camera zooms in on her parting lips.

The video uploaded on YouTube has been viewed over 1.7 million times.

The prefectural government told the assemblywomen on Friday that it has no intention of complying with their request.

“We will keep the video streamed because we have received positive reactions, too, but I will duly convey your opinion to the governor,” Deputy Governor Akiyoshi Kawabata said.

In a letter submitted to the deputy governor, the assemblywomen, who belong to a group affiliated with the Democratic Party and to the Japanese Communist Party, protested that “the video, made with money earmarked for reconstruction (after the March 2011 tsunami), will not convince people elsewhere in the country to visit Miyagi.”