A Japanese department store has been slammed over its controversial plan to encourage female employees to wear 'period badges' when menstruating.

The Daimaru Umeda department store in Osaka claims the badge aimed to boost culture and foster sympathy among co-workers, not trigger a public outcry.

The badge, which would be worn alongside the employee's name tag, features a manga character named 'Seiri-Chan', which loosely translates to 'Little Miss Period'.

One Twitter user said it would be "creepy" to know a sales assistant was on their period.

While another woman labelled the badges "crazy".

One woman went as far as saying "there is absolutely no need to expose" this information, comparing it to "saying I am doing diarrhoea now".

Reconsidering

A male executive, who declined to be named, said the company had received many complaints from the public.

"Some of them concerned harassment, and that was definitely not our intention," he said.

The department store is now "reconsidering" the idea following the backlash.

The Daimaru executive said the store had not intended to make the badge compulsory, instead giving employees the option to wear a badge during that time of the month.

Latest launch

The badge was proposed as part of Daimaru Umeda's "new store zone" which launched on November 22 in collaboration with a cycle-tracking app, Luna Luna, according to local media WWD Japan.

The store section focuses on women's sexuality and menstrual health by selling lingerie, sanitary products, herbal medicine and bedding for menstruating women.

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Takahiro Imazu, the store’s manager, told WWD at the launch that “in Japan, women’s sexuality and menstruation are subjects 'not to be touched'."

The menstrual badge, described as an "in-house communication tool", was introduced alongside the launch in an attempt to "break the stigma surrounding menstruation".

In the video below: Teen campaigns against 'period poverty', calling for sanitary products to be free

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The backlash comes as cases of workplace harassment have come under the spotlight in Japan, amid a shrinking workforce and changing values about gender roles and work-life balance.

Companies are increasingly and publicly being criticised for bullying and gender discrimination.

- with AAP