Carla Hills Called ‘Cute but Aging’ : Japanese Politician Defends Words, Says No Sexism Intended

A senior Japanese politician today defended his comments that U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills is “easy to handle” and “cute but getting on in age.”

Takayuki Sato, deputy secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told a Japanese audience at a dinner Monday that Hills is not so tough and “can be handled easily if you lull her with talk of the Oriental way of life and philosophy.”

“She is charming and cute but getting on in age,” Sato reportedly said of Hills, who is 56. “When I spoke of her husband, she smiled, and I realized she is really quite feminine.”

In an interview today, Sato, 62, confirmed that he made the comments Monday but said he did not intend to cause any harm.

“Those were not sexist comments,” Sato said. “I did not say, ‘She is feminine,’ with any intention of discriminating. Was that sexist?”

Sato said he wanted to assure his listeners, predominantly bureaucrats and politicians who attended the Houston summit, that Hills is not as ferocious as her image suggests.

“Everybody in Japan says she is (fearsome),” he said. “I wanted to explain that she is not.”

Sato said he sat next to Hills for more than two hours at a dinner in Houston hosted by President Bush on July 10.

He said he has warm feelings of friendship toward Hills and hopes to meet her the next time she is in Tokyo.

“I gave her my business card and asked her to visit me,” he said. “The prime minister said he will set it up because we get along so well.”

Hills has a reputation of being a tough negotiator. When Bush nominated her as trade representative, she pledged to open foreign markets with “a crowbar where necessary,” earning her the nickname the “Velvet Crowbar.”

She played a key role in getting Japan to agree this year to open its market to supercomputers, satellites and wood products and to adopt a wide range of economic reforms aimed at cutting the nearly $50-billion annual U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

Several major Japanese newspapers reported Sato’s comments and expressed concern that they may have an adverse effect on the problematic U.S.-Japanese trade relations.

“What will be the reaction from Hills?” asked the daily Mainichi Shimbun.

“The U.S.-Japan relationship seems quiet on the surface, but there are still issues remaining--like opening the rice market, which Hills is in charge of--so there are some people who are worried about Hills’ reaction to Sato’s remarks,” said the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper.

The women’s movement in Japan has been gaining steam in part due to the reaction to offensive comments and actions of Japanese male politicians.

Prime Minister Sousuke Uno was hounded out of office last year in part because of allegations he had an affair with a geisha.