Naoki Hyakuta, the co-founder and leader of the Conservative Party of Japan, has received intense backlash for his recent comments, and rightfully so.
The 68-year-old politician spoke about Japan’s declining birth rate, proposing that all women in the country above the age of 30 undergo forced hysterectomies — the removal of their uteruses.
He also put forward the idea of banning women from getting married after 25.
If you’re now reading this with a raised eyebrow, thinking “what’s his problem?”, it gets way worse.
He also suggested restricting women’s rights to education after the age of 18 to “encourage them to focus on childbearing”.
What is this, the 1800s?
He claimed that his proposed plans would “pressure women into having children earlier”, countering the population decline in Japan — a problem the country has been facing since 2008.
His insensitive comments have drawn the ire of women across Japan, with many labelling him a “misogynist”.
Frankly, why should the conversation of increasing a country’s birth rate solely be about women? It takes two hands to clap, and vasectomies are a thing.
Hyakuta apologised after being harshly criticised for his proposals. He said his suggestions were merely a “hypothetical idea”, and added that he “did not support the ideas on a personal level”.
He admitted that his comments were “undeniably harsh”, and said that he only spoke about the ideas as a “science-fiction storyline”, and that such a scenario should never happen.
Well, that’s one science-fiction story no one gives a hoot about.
Photos: eastasiaforum.org, Kyodo News