The examples are so numerous as to be merely coincidental And if anyone were to fail to catch the connection, one ad even goes so far as to teach us:

Placing a woman at the center of the sign for water: the Chinese character "mizu"

To appreciate this, you might wish to consult the following calligraphy tutorial:

Ads actually tell us more than this about women and water From ads we learn:
Women are strong in the presence of water Here, overpowering a man and dumping him in the drink
	Women are more powerful than water Here, a "superhero" repulses an on-coming wave
Water is the seat of female power a site for temptation and seduction
Women are freer and less inhibited at the water
As in the case of this high schooler who rushed to the shoreline to shout (in English): "I wish I were a bird"
	Or in the case of this woman who flees to the ocean to make a decision about her hair
Or in this gum commercial where a woman is free to float in the ocean undisturbed by life's events

Importantly, this is an association which appears to exist not only in Japan... but in countries as disparate as America (L) and Malaysia (R), as well

One ironic, but certainly not unintentional effect of this association, is to present women stripped down at or in the water Water, in effect, serves as an excuse to bare skin It also appears to undermine the message that other water-ads deliver: that women are powerful and dominant For a brief consideration of this phenomenon, click here

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