Ivanka Trump spoke to row upon row of empty seats as she gave a women’s empowerment speech in Tokyo on Friday.
There were embarrassingly large gaps in the auditorium that had been especially reserved for a talk by the First Daughter after being invited to speak by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Her words echoed around the room as photos from her speech at Japan’s World Assembly for Women showed a half-empty hall.
The unfilled rows reminded many of the huge gaps in the crowd that occurred at her father’s inauguration in January.
Empty seats greeted Ivanka Trump at a women’s empowerment speech in Tokyo
Officials claimed that tight security meant that not everyone was able to enter the venue
Officials insisted that her speech was the most registered talk of the three-day event, but numbers were still pitifully small.
Organizers had their own excuses for the poor turnout saying that extraordinarily tight security measures meant that many people were unable to make it inside the venue before the doors closed.
However, both The Guardian and New York Times said that there were no long lines of people queuing up to here what Ivanka had to say.
The Times reported the room was so empty that ushers encouraged people to move forward before she walked into the room.
Ivanka Trump arrived in Japan Thursday, ahead of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s visit to the country as part of an Asia tour.
Ivanka Trump, left, was invited by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, to speak at the meeting of the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo
Ivanka Trump is apparently well known in Japan for her modeling and fashion line.
The unfilled rows reminded people of the large gaps in the crowd at her father’s inauguration in January, pictured
She spoke to the thin crowd and shared her views on sexual harassment and women’s empowerment including issues that women have to deal with in the workplace.
‘All too often our workplace culture fails to treat women with appropriate respect,’ she said. ‘This takes many forms, including harassment, which can never be tolerated,’ Trump continued.
The issue of sexual harassment has been in the spotlight since bombshell claims against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, with allegations emerging against a host of others in the entertainment industry.
A videotape of Donald Trump emerged last October that showed him boasting about being able to get away with inappropriate behaviour.
‘When you’re a star, they let you do it,’ he said. ‘Grab them by the p****. You can do anything,’ Trump added.
Trump said the comments were ‘locker-room banter’. Several women subsequently accused him of sexual misconduct, which he denounced as lies.
In his daughter’s speech on Friday, she also said workplaces need to make further efforts to respect women’s values and accommodate the need for balance between work and family.
Despite the increase in the percentage of women at workplaces, corporate expectations have remained ‘stagnant’ and still operate on ‘a single-honor mindset’ with expectations for mothers to stay home to provide fulltime care, she said.
After the talk, Ivanka Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went out for dinner at a restaurant in Tokyo
It ‘disproportionately’ impacts women and most likely causes them to leave jobs or curtail ambitions due to lack of affordable care for children or relatives who can help, she said, calling for innovative ways to make it easier for women to enjoy motherhood without compromising their careers.
‘This isn’t a woman’s issue, it’s a family issue,’ she said.
She did not mention her father by name during the brief address and instead focused on her work with the US administration to promote women’s roles in the economy.
Ivanka Trump came to Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is set to leave one day before her father arrives on Sunday at the start of a 12-day visit that includes stops in South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Trump will play golf and talk with Abe and meet with Emperor Akihito and relatives of people abducted by North Korea.