Japanese actress strips down for animal rights  

Japanese actress and erotic novelist Aya Sugimoto stripped down naked on Wednesday but this time not for a raunchy movie but to campaign for animal rights. Holding a tiny sign reading: "Fur? I'd rather go naked," Sugimoto posed in the nude before dozens of photographers and television cameras in one of the first Japanese campaigns by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA.)
"I stopped wearing fur two years ago after I learned how fur products are being produced," said the actress, who is also a dancer and singer."I want to play a role in the 'No Fur' movement and let more people know of the cruel and grim reality for animals," Sugimoto said. "I don't mind at all even if my naked photos are posted all over." PETA chose Sugimoto, 40, as the first Japanese model of its international anti-fur campaign because of her passion for animal rights, for which she has created a fake-fur fashion brand. "She is perfect," said Jason Baker, director of the group's Asia-Pacific branch office. "She cares about the issue." Sugimoto, a cat lover, said she wants to show Japanese consumers that being stylish and caring about animal rights does not necessarily contradict. Japanese fashion, particularly the so-called "kawaii" cute look, is enjoying growing popularity worldwide. "I want people to realize that they can be stylish and posh enough without using real fur," she said. Whether the campaign will influence consumers to stop wearing fur remains to be seen.An Arab expatriate living in the UAE told AlArabiya.net she does not wear fur because she thinks it is old-fashioned and said although she cares about animal rights she thinks there are more important issues in the world. "If I did wear fur, I probably wouldn’t think twice about animal rights unless for example it was an animal on the brink of extinction," Maya Haslam, 30, said, adding she would consider wearing fake fur.