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The story
Actress Mary Jun Takahashi (38) appeared on TOKYO FM’s “Riho Sayashi’s Life-Up Choice” on October 30 and, when asked what she values when picking out clothes, said she tries to choose products made in as humane a way as possible, paying attention to the labor conditions behind them. When this remark was reposted to 5ch’s Entertainment/Sports Breaking News+ board, it drew a wave of mocking comments calling it “virtue-signaling,” along with practical doubts about whether an ordinary consumer can really verify labor conditions at all. At the same time, some replies showed understanding, framing it as the kind of choice only someone financially comfortable could afford to make — leaving the thread split between approval and criticism.
10/30 (Fri) 14:57
Actress Mary Jun Takahashi (38) appeared as a guest on TOKYO FM’s “Riho Sayashi’s Life-Up Choice supported by MyBest” (Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.), aired on the 30th. She talked about what matters to her.
The show centers on guests’ “choices.” Host and former Morning Musume member Riho Sayashi asked her, “Mary, could you tell us what’s important to you when you’re choosing something?”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
So is Onward (a major Japanese apparel maker) okay?
It's rare enough that there's no catchy label for it.
The opposite would be something like "Bargain-Hunter Auntie who loves a cheap deal" or "Sadly Resourceful Auntie who's great at making ends meet."
I've only ever seen her as that character, so she's locked into my head as the "scary person" now, lol. Kind of like how Kiyoshi Atsumi is forever just Tora-san (an actor typecast by one iconic role).
In other news: MX's rescue program getting axed.
What a waste of tax money.
Taking it to the extreme, humanity not existing at all would be best for the planet, so maybe that's the real way to "go green."
They just slap "sustainability" on it as a selling point, but a lot of the time it's basically slave labor underneath, isn't it (´・ω・`)
And just like that, Uniqlo's commercials vanished, lol.
Are you gonna ask the store clerk? Look it up online before buying?
I really can't stand people who say this kind of thing.
Such virtue-signaling fashion choices, lol.
Just wear secondhand clothes forever, then!
Meanwhile I just recycle the same clothes year after year and only buy shoes once every few years.
Naoko Takahashi (marathon runner)
Meijin Takahashi (legendary retro-gaming personality)
Yoshihiko Takahashi (baseball star)
That's exactly why I don't buy Uniqlo stuff either.
For the Uyghurs' sake.
A rich person's hobby.
Ordinary people don't have the luxury to worry about that kind of thing.
If she wants to flex how "conscious" she is, she should be a lot more specific.
That image is just burned in too strong at this point.
Whatever I watch her in, I can't help but think of that character.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
In the fast-fashion industry, criticism over the labor conditions and environmental toll hidden behind rock-bottom prices keeps resurfacing as a hot topic. Discount Chinese online retailers have been reported to sell items containing hazardous substances and to run poor labor conditions, and there’s a history of international allegations tying forced labor to cotton production in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. What split opinion in the thread was the question of just how verifiable this kind of “labor-conscious choice” really is in practice — alongside skepticism about feasibility (do you ask the store clerk? research it online before buying?), some felt that since no specific brand was named, it amounts to little more than a personal mindset. Notably, as the article itself makes clear, Mary Jun Takahashi never named any specific company on the show — the names Uniqlo and SHEIN were simply guesses raised by posters in the thread. Jeers calling her “virtue-signaling” coexisted with comments defending the remark as a choice only available to someone financially comfortable, making for a debate where opinion scattered rather than tipping clearly one way.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports Breaking News+) thread “Mary Jun Takahashi, on buying clothes: “I check what kind of labor conditions… and try to choose products that take as kind an approach as possible”.”
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