The city of Tokushima and its prefectural government in Japan are facing criticism for reportedly spending over $2,800 (400,000 yen) in public funds on a sex doll to promote tourism. The controversy surrounds the use of the sex doll in a tourist exhibition at the Tokushima Awaodori Airport in 2017, organized as part of the “Awa indigo charm promotion project” aimed at highlighting the prefecture’s traditional indigo-dyeing art.
The project, with a budget of $18,900, was commissioned to the private sector, and a designated promotion area was established in the airport lobby. Initially, a pair of inexpensive mannequins, rented at approximately $180 per day, were placed in the exhibition. However, several months later, the mannequins disappeared, and a sex doll, dressed in an indigo-dyed summer kimono, reportedly took their place.
The existence of the adult doll reportedly came to light in September of the previous year, prompting prefectural assembly member Atsushi Fukawa to request a citizen’s audit in November. According to reports from the Japanese news outlet Mainichi, a male official in his 40s, overseeing the project, instructed the contractor to purchase the sex doll to replace the mannequins. The official allegedly visited a sex doll manufacturing and sales company in Osaka with other project members.
The controversy raises questions about the appropriate use of public funds, as citizens express concern over the allocation of budgetary resources for unconventional and potentially inappropriate promotional activities. The local government is now facing scrutiny and calls for accountability in the aftermath of the revelations about the sex doll’s involvement in the tourism promotion project.
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