Photo/Illutration The Iwate prefectural government's matchmaking booklet's advice on clothing and appearance in its “appearance and impression” section for women (Captured from the booklet released by the Iwate prefectural government)

MORIOKA—Iwate prefectural officials here removed a marriage promotion booklet from their website on Oct. 28 after social media lambasted its disproportionately gendered advice.

Published by the prefectural government in 2019 and titled “Make a nice meeting happen in Iwate: For those who want to improve their marriage-hunting skills," its contents include instructions for women to wear natural and elegant makeup. 

Netizens responded by calling it “discriminatory toward women” and saying it would achieve the opposite effect and that “young women will leave Iwate.” Other replies simply read, “don’t spend tax money on this.”

The prefectural government commissioned a printing company within the prefecture to produce the booklet, while a marriage agency based in Miyagi Prefecture was responsible for writing it.

The booklet offers advice from marriage support specialists to both women and men on topics such as mindset and personal appearance for matchmaking.

According to prefectural officials, the booklet was distributed at marriage promotion events they organized and was also available to view and download on the prefecture's official website. All physical copies produced have been distributed.

Tomomi Yamaguchi, a professor at Ritsumeikan University who has studied gender issues in both Japan and the United States, called it "quite awful" in an X (formerly Twitter) post the night of Oct. 27. 

Yamaguchi, who specializes in cultural anthropology, added, “Isn’t this reinforcing gender-based role division?” 

The post quickly spread, and by the evening of Oct. 29, it had been viewed approximately 5.6 million times. 

The booklet's fashion recommendations for women are detailed: wearing pumps and a skirt or dress is advised as doing so would highlight the neck, wrists or ankles to help create a "graceful" appearance.

In terms of hair, it emphasizes the importance of a clean, beautiful and elegant appearance as well as to maintain glossy locks by caring for dryness and damage.

On the other hand, the booklet offered little looks-based advice for men, simply recommending a "clean" appearance, wearing clothes that suit them and choosing sizes appropriate for their body shape.

For hair, it encourages men to maintain a clean and neat look by regularly visiting a salon.

This significant gap in the volume of instruction given to men and women is what drew ire on social media after Yamaguchi came upon it while researching government-led marriage promotion efforts.

MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Aya Furuhashi is another academic who weighed in on why this type of content is harmful.

“The booklet makes detailed demands regarding appearance, which undermines women’s self-esteem,” said Furuhashi, an associate professor at Iwate University with expertise in sociology and gender issues.

She added, “The Iwate prefectural government needs to reconsider the meaning of marriage promotion. The content should be something that is more applicable to residents.”

In addition to removing the booklet, Iwate's child and child-rearing support division posted an explanation on its website about the decision.

“We received feedback that some expressions caused discomfort. Going forward, we will be more careful in sharing information and strive to provide content that everyone can use with peace of mind,” it read.

A representative from the division elaborated in an interview, saying, “We created the booklet to offer practical advice to those struggling with seeking marriage. It was not intended to impose any particular values.”

The representative added, “We want to respond thoughtfully to people who wish to get married while respecting diverse values in line with the times.” 

The government said it no longer possesses the records of the production process as its retention period is five years and the booklet is six years old.

“I remember rewriting it many times based on requests from the prefectural side before it took shape,” said an individual from the marriage support agency that wrote the booklet, adding, “I was surprised that a booklet from six years ago was still publicly available.”

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