Japan has something of a fascination with Ivanka Trump, who is viewed here by some as the perfect woman: She has a career and a beautiful family and blonde hair and she always looks immaculate. It’s the kind of ideal that usually comes only in a Barbie box.
“Many people think she’s like a princess,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist at the University of Tokyo.
Japan is eagerly awaiting her arrival at the down escalator at the airport:
At least four television channels broadcast a live shot of an empty escalator on Thursday afternoon, awaiting her arrival at the airport, interspersed with her tweets and Instagram photos.
The local press there is fascinated that she says it only takes her 8 minutes to put on her makeup in the morning. (I'd bet that's just her makeup for jogging, not for public appearances.)
Protestors are expected, so women riot police will be wearing suits to blend in with the crowd:
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police have reportedly formed a women-only riot police unit to protect Trump during her visit, although they will be dressed in suits to blend in as they keep check on the Japanese women expected to show up to see the First Daughter.
How funny would it be if the protesters also wore suits?
This trip sounds like a sales pitch visit for Ivanka who had weak sales of her own clothes in Japan before the election.
An online store, Waja, was selling about six Ivanka Trump brand items of clothing a month before her father was elected president. This year, they’ve averaged about 600 a month.
A gender expert in Japan says:
“I’ve long been cynical about his efforts to promote women,” said Chelsea Szendi Schieder, an expert on gender in Japan who teaches at Meiji University in Tokyo. Abe’s initiative, dubbed “womenomics,” seems like a branding effort that promotes a few elite women rather than a serious effort to reduce the wage gap or poverty experienced by single mothers, she said.
“Ivanka is also a brand,” Schieder said.
Japan is a weak country in terms of women empowerment:
Japan now comes in 114th place out of 144 countries when it comes to gender equality, making it by far the worst in the G7
What will Trump do in Japan? Meet a You Tube "sensation" who sings a one minute song called "pen pineapple apple pen".
