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The story
Nagisa Watanabe, a former Fuji TV announcer, posted a video on Instagram showing her walking around a hotel property in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, wearing skin-revealing clothing. Watanabe explained that the country began accepting foreign tourists in 2019, that AlUla is a resort area that draws many foreign visitors, and that foreign visitors aren’t required to wear an abaya. The post sparked debate on 5ch, with users questioning the appropriateness of her appointment as a tourism PR ambassador and whether it squares with her past comments on women’s rights.
November 4, 2026, 18:14
Nagisa Watanabe (29), a former Fuji TV announcer now working as a freelancer, updated her Instagram by November 4th to explain her clothing choices in Saudi Arabia.
Watanabe posted a video captioned “AlUla, Saudi Arabia — taking a walk around the grounds of the hotel I stayed at,” showing her walking in skin-revealing clothing. She explained: “They began accepting foreign tourists in 2019, and here in AlUla, as a resort destination, lots of foreigners gather. Foreign visitors aren’t required to wear an abaya (*a loose, full-length traditional garment women wear over their clothes), so everyone dresses however they like.”
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Looked it up — the customers are almost all men, the women are still in Muslim dress, and it's only foreigners (Japanese?) who are showing skin…
People go on about how 'safe' it is, but that safety is just bought with money — it's ridiculous.
Oh, is this one of those paid gigs where you call a dangerous country 'safe and wonderful' from the comfort of safe Japan?
But it's also strange how people overreacted so hard — even hinting at lawsuits — over a headline just saying 'Islam is reassuring.'
Re: #9
I wonder if 'posted as scheduled' in this post is code for 'this is a paid promotion.'
This thread's a hotspot for people posting just to get themselves deleted ('abooned') and rack up lawsuit risk lol (*abooned = 5ch slang for having a post hidden/deleted by moderators)
They say part of what turned the Saudi-born Bin Laden anti-American was seeing female US soldiers stationed there walking around in tank tops and short shorts.
Isn't that just Bin Laden being out of his mind, though?
If someone reports this social media post, it could turn into an international incident.
Well, that sounds interesting — go ahead and try it yourself, then.
Apparently she went in spring when it hit 35°C, but wasn't Riyadh already at travel advisory level 3 this year? Just when exactly was this 'spring' trip?
Maybe she should think a bit harder about what that actually means —
otherwise she won't even realize how hollow her usual comments are starting to sound.
She's a tourism PR ambassador, right? Islam has nothing to do with it.
She's had dinners with the Georgian ambassador and everything — this kind of diplomatic activity suits her.
Six months ago she was all 'International Women's Day this, women's rights that' —
and now she's out here saying she loves Saudi Arabia more than any country in the world — a nation that mandates abayas and, as a state, strips women of even the basic right to wear makeup or show skin as they please.
She's out here recommending a country that literally has missiles fired at it lol
Wonder if this even counts as good PR…
Re: #49
Honest question, but why did the Saudi side pick her as PR ambassador in the first place?
Objectively speaking, isn't she not really at the level of fame or popularity you'd expect for that role?
Does it even make sense to pay someone who used to go on about International Women's Day and women's rights to be your PR ambassador?
Still, probably happier than Japanese men, though.
Correcting my own post —
"than" (より)
↓
"than, at least," (よりは — a softer nuance meaning 'happier than X, if nothing else')
Corrected to: Still, probably happier than, at least, Japanese men, though.
How so? Japan's happier — the women actually smile here.
Are you some kind of cynic? Saudi women smile too, you know.
What's there to smile about in a country where polygamy is legally sanctioned?
Background and Points of Contention
Saudi Arabia introduced a tourist visa system in 2019 and began accepting foreign visitors; in tourist destinations like AlUla, the practice is that foreign women aren’t required to wear the abaya otherwise expected of women generally. This is a special exemption carved out for foreigners — the post doesn’t mention that norms around dress and behavior still apply to Saudi women themselves. What divided opinion in the thread wasn’t so much the post itself, but more a question of character: how to square Watanabe’s past comments on women’s rights with her current role as a tourism PR ambassador — and that’s where the debate ultimately centered.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Ex-Fuji TV’s Nagisa Watanabe] Explains Her Clothing in Saudi Arabia, Including Skin-Revealing Outfits…’Foreign Visitors Aren’t Required to Wear an Abaya’ [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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