A Japanese municipality was forced to withdraw tips urging women to wear shoes that make them appear “delicate” or choose makeup that looks “demure” to secure a partner, after facing accusations of sexism.

The northern Japan region of Iwate faced heavy criticism this week after an online booklet with advice for people looking for marriage caught the attention of a prominent feminist scholar and stoked heated debate on social media.

Featuring a cartoonlike drawing of a slender, long-haired woman with pink-tinted cheeks, the brochure advised women to don pumps and a skirt to accentuate their exposed ankles.

“That way you can exude an air of delicateness,” it said, detailing other tips such as “demure” and “elegant” makeup, predominantly white clothes and “beautiful, graceful” hairstyles.

The booklet is “entrenching the division of roles based on gender”, cultural anthropologist Tomomi Yamaguchi wrote in one of a series of posts on social media that was viewed more than 6.5 million times.

Iwate removed the booklet from its website on Tuesday, citing complaints that some of its descriptions were “upsetting”.

While taking those voices seriously, “we believe information in it was necessary to support people looking for marriage”, an Iwate official said on Friday.

“Nowhere did it describe these dress codes as mandatory – it was just meant to let novice or struggling singles know that this is how many others have been successful” in finding a match, said the official, who declined to be identified.