A Japanese advertising agency has started selling ad space on the armpits of attractive young women, snagging a beauty treatment clinic as its first client.

The Wakino Ad Company - “waki” is the Japanese term for armpit - was set up earlier this year as a subsidiary of the Liberta beauty products firm, which does a brisk trade in items designed to make armpits beautiful.

The company’s web site has images of sample adverts, with a rectangular, full-colour ad measuring nearly 2 inches by 4 inches nestled snugly into an armpit costing ¥10,000 (£68.60) for one hour of exposure. The models displaying the adverts are pictured grasping overhead handles on trains or stretching to show off their armpits.

The Seishin Biyo Clinic has been the quickest off the mark to secure this unconventional advertising space, using models’ armpits to raise awareness - appropriately - of its painless underarm hair removal procedure, the Togech news site reported.

The company is looking to hire more armpit models, Wakino Ad states on its web page, including male models. It has also announced plans to stage a beauty contest to find the most attractive armpits in Japan.