Exactly a year ago in the weekly women's magazine Shukan Josei, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara shot off a few of his patented provocative statements. His remarks about middle-aged women were particularly noteworthy. "Old ladies have proved to be the biggest obstacle to the progress of civilization," he said. "It's pointless for women who've lost the ability to reproduce to continue living."

Given the governor's well-known history of making provocative statements simply for the sake of making them, it's obvious he was having a bit of wicked fun with the magazine's readership. However, given the governor's position as one of the few public figures who is expected to say what he really means, he may also genuinely feel that baba (old ladies) are something of a worthless burden.

A group of women have been trying to extract an apology from the governor for the past year, and, having been unsuccessful, they have taken to the streets. Not by accident, they chose as their launching site the JR station in Sugamo, which is affectionately referred to as "the grannies' Harajuku." Last Monday, they stood outside the station holding aloft two big banners with Ishihara's offensive statement written on it and passed out pink leaflets blasting its blatant sexism.