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TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese rail company has refusedto display posters advertising a 1,000-year-old "nakedfestival" held at a temple in northern Japan, sayingthe design is too extreme. The festival at Kokuseki temple in Iwate Prefecture isone of several held around Japan in which men dressedonly in "fundoshi" loincloths, which barely cover thegenitals, take part in purification rituals andwrestle for possession of wooden charms. The poster shows a hairy-chested man in theforeground, with rear views of other naked men in thebackground. "The overall design is rather extreme, said KaichiYamazaki, spokesman for the Morioka branch of JR East,which refused to display the posters. "We just want passengers to be able to use the stationin a pleasant atmosphere," he added. "We do not meanto be negative about the people in the photographs, orabout the festival itself," he added. Domestic media said the company had said displayingthe poster would amount to sexual harassment. Tokyo's subways briefly ordered parts of a poster of anaked and heavily pregnant Britney Spears to becovered up in 2006 because it was considered "toostimulating," but quickly reversed the decision. Posters featuring photographs and manga drawings ofscantily clad young women are, however, commonplace ontrains. (Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; editing by Roger Crabb)
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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable
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