Now-internationally reviled misogynist "pick-up artist" Julien Blanc is supposed to be coming to Japan this month. On Monday, a petition signed by over 36,000 people opposing his entry into Japan was submitted to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, claiming that he is a criminal and shouldn't be allowed into the country. Blanc was recently kicked out of Australia after the immigration minister canceled his visa.
Blanc is "an executive coach for Real Social Dynamics," which charges men up to $3,000 for a chance to learn his secret dating tricks — including lying, psychological manipulation and choking. One of his videos, which was independently subtitled in Japanese and posted online on Sept. 17, raised ire in Japan and internationally. The video shows him bragging about physically grabbing Japanese women and footage of Blanc apparently sexually assaulting some of them.
After reading about Blanc, two women — a self-employed Japanese in her 20s and a longtime foreign Japan resident and DJ, 31 — put together a bilingual petition to stop Blanc from returning to Japan. Posted on Nov. 6 on Change.org., by 6 p.m. on Nov. 9, 32,588 people had signed.
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