An Outrageous Remark on Thai Women by a Japanese Politician
With three members of the House of Representatives and over 2% of the vote, Naoki Hyakuta’s "Japan Conservative Party" has become a national political party, which means it is now eligible for taxpayer-funded financial support. So, it's worth emphasizing again.
Naoki Hyakuta’s inflammatory remarks, which can be found around 2525 on YouTube and around 01:10 on the following clip.
YouTube Address
He said,
"One in Several Women in Bangkok is a Pro〇〇itute"
This is an obvious lie and a discriminatory remark. Last year, a working group from the UN Human Rights Office visited Japan to investigate the country’s situation regarding "business and human rights." It appears that Naoki Hyakuta, leader of Japan’s Conservative Party, was displeased that one of the investigators was Thai. He seemed to imply that a country like Thailand—allegedly rife with women engaged in prostitution—had no right to criticize Japan.
It’s hard to follow his logic here—why bring up “a country of prostitution” when the focus was "international business and human rights"? A female writer who appeared with him on the same YouTube program later mentioned a past incident: a "UN Special Rapporteur" previously visited Japan and, in a press conference, claimed, "13 percent of Japanese female students have engaged in compensated dating," which became a significant issue. Perhaps that controversy was still on Hyakuta’s mind. The statement was later retracted after the Japanese government lodged a protest.
If we’re looking at it objectively, if Thailand is a “country of prostitution,” then Japan could be considered the one too. With the recent depreciation of the yen, more visitors from Asia are likely using Japan’s adult entertainment services, so Japan’s sex industry is hardly a secret. Japanese adult videos are also incredibly popular in Thailand, to the extent that mainstream Thai newspapers report on adult film actresses regularly. Japan doesn’t seem to be in a position to criticize Thailand on this front.
But fundamentally, the Thai expert came as a representative of the United Nations, not Thailand. The UN, after all, issues recommendations to Thailand on various matters as well. While I don’t view the UN as infallible or beyond criticism, raising another country’s internal issues to say to an individual from that country, 'You have no right to speak on international matters,' is itself discriminatory against Asian people—even though he himself is Asian.
Hyakuta’s message seems to be, “Improve your own country’s human rights situation before speaking to Japan.” However, most Asian experts who travel abroad for such investigations are genuinely dedicated to addressing issues in their own countries. Thailand, in fact, was the first country in Asia to develop an "action plan" on the very theme of "international business and human rights."
Honestly, it’s embarrassing for him to make such a statement.
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Additional Note: Following his offensive remark about Thai women, Hyakuta has once again made a shocking comment, this time targeting Japanese women. On his own YouTube program, he jokingly suggested the following as possible solutions to Japan’s declining birthrate: “Ban women from attending university,” “Mandate marriage for women by the age of 25 and forbid it beyond that age,” and “Perform hysterectomies on women at 30.”
He may fancy himself thought-provoking, but these statements are disturbingly fascist and extreme, and he cannot avoid accountability as the leader of a party with seats in parliament. If he thinks this is just a joke, then finding such trashy comments amusing reveals a warped and dangerous sense of humor. A Western politician would be out after just one remark like this.
The Youtube Site
Reference
「ChatGPT にある政治家を評価させてみたら・・・」