In their never-ending crusade for something to be mad about, feminists in Japan have set their sights on a new target: Harashima Rojami, the long-standing anime-style mascot of “ロヂャース” (Roger’s), a discount supermarket chain primarily operating in the Saitama Prefecture.
The character, a voluptuous, long-haired store clerk featured in promotional materials for years, is now being accused of “objectifying women” and promoting “unrealistic” beauty standards.
The controversy, sparked by a viral tweet that amassed over 37,000 likes, highlights what many see as a recurring trend: activists targeting fictional characters while overlooking actual real-world issues.
Harashima Rojami has been a staple of Rodgers’ marketing for nearly a decade, featured prominently on in-store displays, advertisements, and point-of-purchase (POP) promotional materials.
Typically shown wearing a green apron and jeans, sometimes swapping into alternate outfits Harashima Rojami represents a friendly, helpful store clerk, regularly promoting deals and store specials.
Though trademarked and beloved by many local shoppers in Japan, the character has only now come under fire from feminists who have labeled her “disgusting” and “creepy,” calling for her removal.
The viral tweet called for the character to be “canceled into oblivion,” sparking complaints from feminists about Rojami’s “disproportionate” features, particularly her bust size and stylized large face.
Some have gone as far as to claim her design caters to the “fetishes” of supermarket executives. Critics have framed the mascot as a symbol of misogyny and objectification, while many level-headed Japanese netizens have responded with a simple message: if you don’t like it, shop elsewhere.
These accusations mirror past feminist campaigns in Japan and elsewhere, where stylized anime characters are often condemned as “over-sexualized” or even “pornographic,” regardless of artistic context or creator intent. Critics have targeted the Harashima Rojami corporate mascot, calling it “disgusting” or “gross”, a curious approach to promoting women’s rights that involves body-shaming fictional characters in the name of gender equality.
This isn’t the first time anime-style characters have come under fire from feminists in Japan. In 2024, they took aim at a female mascot created for Mie Kotsu Co. (Sanco) to commemorate its 80th anniversary. Despite the character being dressed in a formal suit and trousers, critics claimed the design was “inherently sexualized” and even compared it to pornography, oddly ignoring the male mascot who wore the same outfit.
Similarly, a figurine of Sophie from the Atelier JRPG series was criticized for “sexualizing women” and “underaged children,” despite its relatively modest design.
The Rodgers controversy also recalls earlier feminist backlash against blood donation campaigns in Japan and South Korea. In 2019, the Japanese Red Cross collaborated with the manga Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! featuring Uzaki Hana, a short, busty college student.
Feminists and foreign outlets like Unseen Japan criticized the campaign as “over-sexualized,” objecting to the playful tone of the character, who teased people into donating blood despite the campaign’s clear success in increasing donations the uproar led to a temporary suspension of the campaign which caused a drop in blood donations.
It was eventually reinstated in January 2020 due to overwhelming popular demand.
Just weeks ago in South Korea, a collaboration between the Korean Red Cross and the mobile game Blue Archive led to a significant increase in blood donations. However, Korean feminists called for a boycott, accusing the campaign of “promoting pedophilia” due to the games nature of using stylized anime girl characters to attract a male audience.
Some even went so far as to urge women to reject blood donated by men during the drive.
These feminist crusades expose a broader agenda: feminists’ resentment toward fictional characters designed to appeal to male audiences. By labeling anime girls as “pedophilic” or “objectifying,” feminists not only attack fans but also contribute to cancel culture, often equating stylized designs with real-world harm.
This begs the question: Why the sudden outrage? Because Harashima Rojami isn’t new.
Her design hasn’t changed significantly. Yet she’s suddenly deemed offensive only now because feminists say so. There’s no consistency, only a persistent effort to find something, anything, to criticize.
These incidents reveal a troubling pattern: a vocal minority with outsized influence seeking to censor art, restrict creative freedom, and enforce ideological conformity. They manufacture outrage over fiction while overlooking real societal problems, weaponizing terms like “objectification” to dictate what people can see, create, or enjoy.
Feminists quite literally can’t point to any real “privilege” men have today that women don’t, but as said before, their grievances are never about equality.
Rodgers has not responded and likely will not and they shouldn’t have to. Their priority remains where it belongs: providing affordable products like rice, ramen, and vegetables to everyday customers, rather than catering to online outrage mobs trying to turn Harashima Rojami from a simple store mascot into a cultural clash between creative freedom and Marxist authoritarianism.
In conclusion, these feminist activists are not safeguarding anyone’s interests. They neither advance women’s rights, nor strengthen communities, nor address actual injustice. Rather, they transform trivial images such as store mascots and fictional characters into platforms for garnering attention and power in the hopes of putting Harashima Rojami into an early grave.
The general public, however, has often disengaged from these disputes, unintentionally allowing feminists to gain influence and pressure companies into conceding to their demands. After all, if Rodgers’ customers haven’t had issues with such displays for years, there wasn’t a problem to begin with.
