Readers in Council,
The Japan Times,
5-4, Shibaura 4-chome,
Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto takes a lot of heat for the dumb things he says. In his case I usually think
the more heat the better because he deserves it. And at first I was put out by his most recent outing into absurdity (“Hashimoto takes flak for sex slave rationale” May 15, 2013, “Hashimoto sticks to guns on sex slaves” May 16, 2013, “Hashimoto stays in the hot seat” May 17, 2013, and more) that is causing more and more reaction. But after thinking more about it I decided that Mr. Hashimoto might have a point after all. As an admitted adulterer (“Hashimoto admits affair, doesn’t deny ‘cosplay’,” July 20, 2012) he just might have some beneficial experience of and insight into the matter of sexuality and effective means of releasing sexual energy, in a brothel and elsewhere. Some critics might say that his adultery robs him of any credibility to talk about sex, traditional values, marriage, social responsibility, etc. and that he should go back to being a television tarento because that is what best suits him. But I think on this topic we should hear more about the deviant sexual adventurism that shape the man because he knows what he’s talking about.