Japan PM grilled over events at party meet

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was grilled by lawmakers on Wednesday about a gathering of ruling party members at which scantily clad female dancers were reportedly told to use their mouths to receive cash tips.

Footage leaked from the event in November organised by a regional chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) showed women dancing and sitting on participants’ laps. The women came from a troupe called Glamor Dancers and were obliged to use their mouths to receive banknotes hanging from those of the participants, media reports said.

One of the organisers, Tetsuya Kawabata, later sought to defend the event by saying that the presence of the “gogo dancers” were intended to ensure “diversity”.“We invited the dancers after studying from various viewpoints, including whether it matches the theme of diversity,” Mr. Kawabata, deputy head of the local LDP youth wing, told broadcaster ANN. He reportedly later resigned from the party. The LDP’s nationwide youth wing on Monday apologised and said that two MPs who attended were stepping down from their posts in the Youth Bureau, but will remain party members and lawmakers.

The episode is embarrassing for the LDP as it seeks to get more women into the maledominated world of politics.

Mr. Kishida said on Wednesday that the event “does not match the Cabinet’s goal of diversity”.

“What my Cabinet seeks is an inclusive society where all people feel the meaning of life with their dignity and diversity respected,” local media quoted him as saying.