Executive at Japan's Yoshinoya "beef bowl" restaurant chain sacked over sexist remarks

An executive officer at the parent company of "gyudon" beef bowl chain restaurant Yoshinoya Co. has been sacked for making sexist remarks about young women, local media said Tuesday.

According to local reports, parent company Yoshinoya Holdings Co. dismissed executive officer Masaaki Ito, 49, for making inappropriate and sexist comments during a marketing event at a Tokyo-based university on Saturday.

Ito, according to Kyodo News, likened an approach to targeting young diners to keeping young women captive and getting them addicted to drugs.

"It's like a plan to get a green young girl from the countryside who doesn't know what's what to use Yoshinoya for the first time and get her totally hooked," Ito was quoted as telling the attendees at a marketing event at Waseda University.

Ito was sacked over the remarks on Monday, Yoshinoya Holdings said.

According to the parent company, "They were significantly inappropriate remarks made officially that are completely unacceptable from the perspective of human rights and gender issues."

Yoshinoya is a popular beef bowl chain here and also well-known in multiple countries outside Japan.