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That's model Stav Strashko strutting about for the Toyota Auris. The Ukrainian-born Tel Aviv resident has made waves in the modeling world for his striking, androgynous good looks. And now Stav's doing the same for Toyota.



Japanese mass media and popular culture seem more than open to individuals who cross gender roles or shake them up (daily life seems to be a different story). Earlier this year, a cross-dressing Swedish rocker made his debut in Japan. Moreover, transgender model Kayo Satoh, who is also a top Street Fighter player, is a mainstream celebrity—she appears on prime time television and in women's fashion mags.


This sort of thing isn't new—in Japan, there's a long tradition of transgender celebrities, such as Yukio Mishima's lover Akihiro Miwa, who considers himself a gay man, but dresses in drag and appeared in films as females. More recently, Japanese nerdom has seen a maid and Lolita style of cross-dressing called "otokonoko" (男の娘), a slang word play on the Japanese for "boy" (男の子) that literally means "male daughter".


This latest Toyota commercial is going viral in Japan, splashed all over otaku (geek) websites.

美女がポロリ!? 過激でドキッ！なトヨタのCM [IT Media]

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.