7.6% of people in Japan are gay, lesbian or have gender identity disorder.
That's according to a Dentsu survey published in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper on April 24th (and that's also the sway they word the "groupings" too). It equates to 1 in 13 people.
The results were released on April 23rd. They were conducted on around 70,000 adults in Japan through an online questionnaire.
A similar survey in 2012 found that 5.2% of people, or 1 in 19 people, identified as LGBT.
The new survey was conducted on April 7th and April 8th with 69,989 people aged 20-59 across Japan.
However, ...
Tenga has a habit of turning up in unusual places.
From the garbage on a beach to a Buddhist temple, a business card holder, and even once in the home of comedian Tomonori Jinnai when accidentally shown on a TV show.
Back in 2012 some people stumbled upon this Tenga Egg vending machine in Nakano Broadway, west Tokyo.
It's a gacha-gacha capsule vending machine, which makes sense for the Tenga Egg. You get a single Tenga Egg for ¥500 and if you are lucky enough to get a ticket in your capsule, you can take it inside to the shop to claim a porn DVD.
We don't think this is ...
We love to follow the developments of Japanese lingerie brands as ersatz soft-core porn.
The best are Ravijour and Peach John.
After all, no lingerie brand that invents something that stops men from unhooking a bra if they are not the right guy for you has got to have a nice sense of humor.
But we are sad to see that Ravijour has moved away from Japanese models!
In the past, our jaws have dropped at the hot ladies modeling their latest lingerie, including Elli Rose, Mai Miyagi and Azusa Koizumi.
But whereas Ravijour rival Peach John continues to be very "Japanese" in its ...
As we know, religion in Japan is traditionally not conservative or moralistic about sex.
Just look at the Shinto fertility festivals for a perfect example.
Shinto is full of raucous, erotic gods. The islands of Japan itself are said in mythology to have been formed out of sexual union between Izanagi and Izanami.
Shrines apparently have no trouble with people drawing on prayer plaques with bondage illustrations.
Religions run all sorts of non-religious businesses too, such as love hotels.
So we are not really surprised that Buddhism approves of Tenga.
Tenga recently ...
Japan's most high-profile lesbian couple held a "wedding ceremony" on April 19th to celebrate their union.
The ceremony is literally just ceremonial, since gay people are not allowed to get married in Japan.
Ex-Gravure model and television personality Ayaka Ichinose (34) and actress Akane Sugimori (28) announced their "marriage" in December last year and have no followed through with the big day itself.
Same-sex marriage is finally becoming a major issue in Japan.
Hotel Granvia in Kyoto now offers gay wedding ceremonies, in partnership with a local Buddhist temple, as does ...
Japanese politics can be a dull affair.
That's why when a candidate puts himself forward for consideration by the voting public in all his naked glory, people take notice.
Teruki Goto is standing in the April 26 Chiyoda ward assembly elections in central Tokyo. His campaign poster features his posing naked against a backdrop of imperialist iconography.
Images via GetNews.jp
His rambling website seems to place Goto firmly in the ultra-nationalist camp, though we wonder what the uyoku think about his nude antics.
The thirtysomething wannabe politico has stood before as an independent ...
Larger ladies can be cute.
Though few and far between in Japan, some degree of love handles come in very handy (literally) and make a nice contrast to the chopping-board flatness of many women.
Despite the lack, there is demand. We've even seen foreigners who deliberately wanted larger local ladies.
There are chubby girl idols, larger lady porn and sex clubs, and even fat girl-themed onahole sex toys.
The truth is a little bit pocchari is very sexy.
Naomi Watanabe is a comedienne and riding a popular trend right now for larger girls, who even have their own magazine. ...
Japan, sometimes you defeat even us.
We love all its kinkiness and its vibrant sex scene, and we deplore the hypocrisy of the establishment that puts people like Megumi Igarashi on trial or who censor gay art.
We've seen a lot of Japanese porn -- perhaps too much. Surely nothing can take us by surprise anymore.
Wrong.
Take this segment of a game show called "Tekoki Karaoke" (Handjob Karaoke).
Mainstream entertainment, this ain't.
The contestants have to sing karaoke while being jerked off by a girl. Who is wearing a hot nurse uniform (playing on porn tropes, natch) and ...
Go into a kiosk in a station on the Tokyo Metro subway system and take a look at the drinks.
There's always a colorful selection of beverages.
But perhaps none quite so colorful as this.
In fact, the energy drink is proving so popular you may not even be able to find a can of Ojo-sama Seisui, which translates as "fair lady's holy water". Since April 1st the drink has been on sale at Tokyo Metro station shops.
There's even a catchy bit of copy: "The goddess inside me awakens"!
The drink is apparently full of healthy and beautifying ingredients, but the name is a ...
Some ladies on Twitter have amused us by trying to copy an anime character.
Well, there's absolutely nothing new about that. But this is cosplay with a particular focus on one body part -- one of our favorites.
The girls attempted to copy Hestia from DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) and her trademark costume: revealing white shirt and blue ribbon, which runs tantalizingly under her boobs and around her arms.
The TV anime adaptation of the light novel was shown on TV for the first time recently and it got some lovely ladies thinking.... Could I do what ...
