"Thick ones make your legs look lots slimmer, " says Rie Takahashi, a student in rural Mie prefecture.

CNN: A SOCK TO THE SYSTEM

"It is a system of irresponsibility, " says Masayasu Kitagawa, Governor of Mie prefecture.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Japan: Japan's Governors Take Aim at Mighty Tokyo

Masayasu Kitagawa, the governor of Mie prefecture and a pioneer of the new confrontational style, won celebrity last year by opposing the construction of a nuclear power plant.

ECONOMIST: Japan