Tokyo's subway allowed a publisher to display posters of a nude and heavily pregnant Britney Spears on Monday， overturning a decision to cover up part of the image for being "too stimulating（1）" for young people.

    The picture of the pop singer —— nude but covering her breasts with her arms and crossing her legs at the knee —— appeared in the August issue of Harper's Bazaar in the United States and will be on the cover of the magazine's Japanese edition for October.

    Tokyo Metro and the publishers had initially agreed to display a censored（2） version of the cover photo， with the pop star's body covered from the elbow down.

    But the Metro reversed（3） the move to mask the picture， saying "the original decision wasn't a good one".

    "It's a strong image of a working woman"， said Tomoki Ishikawa， a 19-year-old male university student walking through Omotesando subway station in a trendy（4） part of central Tokyo.

    "It's old fashioned that the Metro people thought that way"， he added.

    One passer-by expressed concern for Spears' unborn baby.

    "It's becoming an absurd（5） world，" said 83-year-old Tsuyako Egashira as she looked at the poster of the former teen idol.

    "Why does a pregnant woman have to show her belly（6）？ You have to take care of it，" she said.

    But not everyone in her age group agreed. Takuro Shimizu， 78， travelled in from a Tokyo suburb especially to take photos of the posters. "I think it's good for the low birth rate problem"， he said. "It's not so exciting for me since I'm old"， he smiled.

    Harper's Bazaar commented： "We're happy that our position was accepted".

    Japan's low birth rate is at the centre of public concern as the fertility（7） rate fell to an all-time low of 1.25 in 2005， the same year that its ratio of elderly people to the total population became the world's highest.

    周一，东京允许一发行商将裸体大肚的布兰妮。斯皮尔斯的海报贴在地铁中，而且没有如最初决定的那样盖住对年轻人来说“过于刺激”的部分。

    美国《时尚芭莎》8月刊的封面便是这张照片，这位流行歌手在片中全身裸露，双臂遮住胸部、双腿交叠。同样的照片将会作为《时尚芭莎》日本版的10月封面照。

    东京地铁最初和发行商约定修片，只展示手肘以上的部分。

    但是地铁部门最终却反过来掩盖了布兰妮的面部，说：“最初的决定不是很好。”

    一位名叫Tomoki Ishikawa的19岁大学生走过东京时尚中心表参道站时说：“这幅海报很震撼地展示了一位职业女性。”

    他说：“地铁部门那样想也太古板了。”

    另一位行人表达了对斯皮尔斯未来宝宝的关心。

    83岁的Tsuyako Egashira看着海报中这位曾是十来岁孩子的偶像说：“世界越来越疯狂了。”

    她说：“为什么怀孕的女人要展示她的肚子呢？你必须小心保护它。”

    但也并非所有的老人都这样想。78岁的Takuro Shimizu来自东京郊区，特意来此拍摄海报，微笑说：“我觉得这有利于解决出生率低的问题。我已经老了，看见她不会太兴奋了。”

    《时尚芭莎》说：“我们很开心我们的做法得到了认可。”

    2005年，日本的出生率降至有史以来最低点1.25，成为全国关注的焦点。同年，日本的老龄化也达到世界最高点。

    1. stimulating：刺激的

    2. censor：检查、审查

    3. reverse：颠倒

    4. trendy：流行的

    5. absurd：荒谬的

    6. belly：腹部

    7. fertility：人口生产