This Monday it's Coming-of-Age Day in Japan. On top of being a national holiday for everyone, if you are turning 20 you get to dress up in a kimono and attend a ceremony where you become a legal adult.
Asagaya Loft A has its own take on the rite of passage, though.
While officially the coming-of-age ceremonies are known as seijin-shiki (成人式), Asagaya Loft A is holding an event named the same but with a different Kanji. The seijin-shiki this time is 性人式, literally meaning "sexual person ceremony." When written with those characters, it's slang for a swingers' party (and adds a ...
The BBC has weighed in on the whole "Is-manga-child-porn?" argument with an online article and radio show with the balanced headline: "Why hasn't Japan banned child-porn comics?"?
James Fletcher reports from Tokyo on this now slightly tired issue.
Posters of elfin-faced, doe-eyed cartoon heroines, many of them scantily clad and impossibly proportioned, turn the cavernous space into a riot of colour.
We stop at one table where the covers on display feature two topless girls. To my eyes they look to be in their early or pre-teens, and the stories show them engaged in explicit ...
Baymax protects the young male protagonist in Disney's Big Hero 6 but these are some heroes we'd like to protect ourselves. And they certainly live up to the "inflatable" bounce of the big-screen animated character.
Tenga, currently in a frenzy of publicity for its tenth anniversary celebrations, went a big cheeky and decided to decorate a Tenga Egg (white, of course) with some eyes... and then voilà, you have Baymax.
Pretty similar, huh?
And then sexy cosplayer Saku, who has a mighty fine pair of assets, decided to put Baymax's eyes on her chest. The effect was to highlight ...
What happens when otaku ask the gods for good fortune for the year ahead?
Ita-ema, that's what.
These are the ema plaques, usually hung on boards at Shinto shrines in Japan to ask for fortune in work, love or study, but here with a very moe twist. It is common to decorate a plaque with a handwritten message and perhaps a little illustration, but we think these worshippers are revealing their true religious idols.
These "Ita-ema" have been appearing at Kanda Myojin Shrine in east Tokyo (and elsewhere) since a few years ago, getting more numerous and inventive with each New ...
Be careful. With some prudent cropping, it's easy to be deceived.
We've all be in one of those sketchy clubs and thought that girl in the corner looked hot, only to be disappointed when our hands went for a fondle in the taxi on the way to a hotel. We've all been there, right?
Anyway, Japanese cross-dressers (josou) have been demonstrating just how hot they look with some careful framing. A photo from the mouth down can be surprisingly deceptive!
See what we ...
Here are some more cute cosplayer highlights from last month's Comiket 87, which was held at Tokyo Big Sight from December 28th-30th.
Also check out our "companion" booth babe round-up.
Images via: KAI-YOU and ...
In 2014 we loved how the selfie (known as jigadori locally) phenomenon took the Japanese porn star world by storm.
Here is a selection of the some of the best pictures, from see-through cosplay uniforms to cat girls, fresh-from-the-bath nudes, and more.
Rika Hoshimi
Mion Hazuki
Yu Namiki
Mio Mikuru
Yu Kawakami
Yui Ayase
Yuka Asamiya
Ami Kasai
Yuuki Shiina
We look forward to more sexy selfies in ...
Happy New Year!
Here's an interesting eye-opener into lesser-known side to the Japanese erotic.
Minorities and Sex: Strictly Personal Way of Love is a new film directed by Makoto Sasaki about sex and minorities, a topic mostly ignored by mainstream Japanese society.
It will be screened from February 14th at Uplink in Shibuya, Tokyo's top venue for non-mainstream cinema.
The meta-film is part fiction, part documentary. Divided into three parts focusing on different characters who are social minorities.
While obviously filmed on a low budget, we love the sound of this.
Here's the ...
Some would argue that Japanese girls have small enough chests already. Some would argue that that's a very good thing and makes them so cute (especially Japanese guys, it seems).
Others would wish their breasts were larger than the B or C cup that's average.
But surely few would think that Japanese girls need bras that make their breasts look even smaller.
After all, there is already lingerie catering for girls with flatter chests who want to show off their cuteness.
And yet, these types of bras exist.
Wacoal's range of bust-shrinking bras is so popular that they even recently released ...
Tenga is the Apple of the Japanese sex toys industry.
Not only are its adult aids superb to look at and use, but it's savvy marketing means it comes up with awesome ways to promote its products, from sponsoring music and art events, to working with all sorts of top creative types to pursue side projects.
It has also inspired some other people to do Tenga-themed things.
These include a "Tenga coffee tumbler", plus it even gave away a free sex toy with its company business cards earlier this year (the Pocket Tenga was integrated into the business card).
Now tarento and idol Akari ...
