#MeToo has yet to make inroads in Japan, despite a few scandals and efforts by feminist campaigners. In that respect, South Korean women are doing a better job at raising awareness of such problems as sexual abuse in the entertainment industry and secret recording of women in public toilets.
A new campaign has launched, though, which shines a light on a different aspect of Japanese women’s plight: high heels. Dubbed #KuToo (a play on the Japanese word for shoes, kutsu, and pain, kutsuu), the campaign calls on employers to stop enforcing dress codes that require female workers to wear uncomfortable shoes during shifts.
After submitting its petition, which got over 25,000 signatures, to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the campaign has garnered international attention but a quick putdown by the government.
“It’s generally accepted by society that (wearing high heels) is necessary and reasonable in workplaces,” said Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto during a Diet committee session on Wednesday. Needless to say this was announced with a straight face by the male official — someone who has never had to wear heels all day at the office.
Incidentally, Japan ranked 110th out of 149 nations in the latest World Economic Forum ranking on gender equality.
What has attracted less attention about the campaign is the background of the person behind it — 32-year-old Yumi Ishikawa (石川優実). Described in some media reports as an “actress and writer,” she is in fact a gravure idol known for her sexy shoots. In fact, she’s gone further than gravure and did fully nude shoots in 2014 and 2015. She also did a nude sex scene in a film called Woman’s Holes.
We don’t point this out in a spurious attempt to discredit Ishikawa’s campaign, but rather because we think it’s great that gravure idols can also pursue feminist agendas.
As we know, the casting couch is rampant in the Japanese entertainment industry, as is sexual abuse or harassment of models and idols, and coercion of adult video performers. To ensure a healthy industry for all, fans and workers alike, we need far more people like Yumi Ishikawa.
