Rail company rejects naked man posters

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese rail company has refused to display posters advertising a 1,000-year-old "naked festival" held at a temple in northern Japan, saying the design is too extreme.

The festival at Kokuseki temple in Iwate Prefecture is one of several held around Japan in which men dressed only in "fundoshi" loincloths, which barely cover the genitals, take part in purification rituals and wrestle for possession of wooden charms.

The poster shows a hairy-chested man in the foreground, with rear views of other naked men in the background.

"The overall design is rather extreme, said Kaichi Yamazaki, spokesman for the Morioka branch of JR East, which refused to display the posters.

"We just want passengers to be able to use the station in a pleasant atmosphere," he added. "We do not mean to be negative about the people in the photographs, or about the festival itself," he added.

Domestic media said the company had said displaying the poster would amount to sexual harassment.

Tokyo's subways briefly ordered parts of a poster of a naked and heavily pregnant Britney Spears to be covered up in 2006 because it was considered "too stimulating," but quickly reversed the decision.

Posters featuring photographs and manga drawings of scantily clad young women are, however, commonplace on trains.

(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; editing by Roger Crabb)