He cuddles puppies, cycles nonchalantly in shades and lowers his near-naked torso into icy waters. But perhaps less conventionally, Japan’s latest calendar pin-up is no fresh-faced popstar: it’s Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.

Loft, a Japanese chain of lifestyle stores, has reported that calendars featuring the rugged, blue-eyed Russian president are flying off the shelves and eclipsing even its most popular domestic celebrities.

Sales of official 2019 Putin calendars containing a stream of testosterone-fuelled images of the 66-year-old president were reportedly in Loft’s number one sales spot.

Following closely behind the perhaps unlikely political pin-up were calendars devoted to the thirty-something Japanese actor Kei Tanaka and, in third place, 24-year-old Olympic skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu.

The popularity of the ageing Russian president’s calendars was reportedly fuelled by a surge in self-proclaimed “Putin fans” – mainly young Japanese women apparently seduced by his rugged charms, according to local media including SoraNews24.