Every two or so months, we seem to stumble upon yet another news story about sexlessness in Japan. And with perfect timing, here's the latest, following the claim that two in three marriages in Japan are sexless that we wrote about in January.
As always, these assertions are based on surveys with dubiously small samples. First published in the Japan Times, this latest story states that nearly half of married couples don't have sex. (And if you're now feeling déjà vu, you're not alone: an almost identical article appeared in 2017.)
The first question mark about this is the definition of ...
After tantalizing us with a short yet sexy nude scene in the very first episode, Yuka Kouri is back with more nudity in the Disney and FX series Shogun.
In episode four, we get treated to a proper sex scene. She sits naked in her lover's lap, who promptly lies down on top of her (because it would be frankly rude not to). "I love you, Kiku," he says, and who can play him? They begin to kiss.
The scene is, admittedly, only a few seconds long but is more explicit than the previous one and very sensual. We get nice glimpses of Yuka Kouri's breasts and her legs as her lover lies on top ...
While we are well inured to the knowledge that Japanese politicians spend their large salaries and generous expense accounts in hostess clubs (and sometimes get caught doing research on their next visit when they should be working), even this latest scandal raised some eyebrows, perhaps because it was so brazen.
An event organized by the governing Liberal Democratic Party in Wakayama, hired scantily clad dancers to "entertain" the attendees.
The roughly 50 attendees included members of the Diet part of the LDP youth bureau as well as young assembly members from prefectures in Kansai.
A ...
It is widely perceived that adultery is common in Japan, but what's the reality?
Sure, there are lots of dating apps out there, including ones specifically for people already with partners.
There's also a bustling cottage industry of private detectives whose entire raison d'être is to find out whether your spouse is cheating or not.
It also depends on the definition of adultery and cheating. Prostitution is a large industry in Japan but would a session every now and then with a sex worker count as an affair or cheating?
Well, a survey by the aptly named Love Is All of 1,966 married men ...
When does a debate over gravure photography become a debate over public space, civil rights, freedom of speech, and other lofty notions? When it involves parks in Saitama.
A surprisingly big controversy last year involved the withdrawal of permission to use public parks in Saitama for gravure swimwear events, where models would pose for fans to take photos. Such events are particularly popular for fans to take photos of idols up-close and for freelance models who don't get the lucrative cover shoots in the weeklies to make some much-needed yen.
But the events were planned for pools located ...
The book is out. Now to see whether the hype was worth it (and whether the media attention translates into hard sales).
The announcer-model Kasumi Mori's debut photo book, Su no Kasumi (Pure Kasumi), generated a lot of air time on TV and from gravure and regular media after it was announced in December.
The attractive 28-year-old had already made a real splash with alluring shoots for the fashion magazine Anan and gravure weekly Friday. Now she was trying to cross over into the riskier world of print photo books, which have high production costs due to the color printing, locations (this ...
In the FX/Disney series, a new adaptation of the James Clavell bestseller, Japanese actress Yuka Kouri (向里祐香) has a nude sex scene in the first episode.
The 33-year-old actress, best known until now for her roles in local TV dramas and low-budget films, plays Kiku, a courtesan.
She enters a room and then alluringly slips her kimono off a shoulder to expose a breast, playing up to every male fantasy tropes involving Japanese women in one shot. The kimono comes off the second shoulder and we glimpse her other breast.
She then lies naked on top of a man all while another guy ...
Earlier in the month, we reported on a new services offered by a real estate company that puts couples together on blind dates to view properties.
If that sounds a bit outlandish, wait till you hear what local governments think the solution is to boosting the marriage and birth rate in Japan.
You've guessed it: artificial intelligence.
The buzzword of the decade is not only going to change everything from graphic design to how movies are made (and no doubt, how porn is produced), but also how we find prospective partners.
Matchmaking events and services are now using AI to filter ...
Do you want to work surrounded by vibrators, dildos, and female customers? Sounds like a dream job for us.
The Vibe Bar Wild One in Shibuya is looking for new staff.
The bar sadly closed at the end of September 2020, no doubt hit hard by the pandemic, but will reopen in 2024 at an as-yet unannounced date. In the interim, the bar, which recently celebrated its eleventh anniversary, has operated as a space for hire for private events, photo shoots, and so on.
Famously, the bar is by women, for women, and men can't go unaccompanied.
Based on the concept of "see, touch, and try," the ...
When the 27-year-old Mari Takahashi agreed to stand as a candidate for the Democratic Party for the People, the senior members of the party must have been pleased. Japanese politics is a staid world full of graying men in dark suits, and the presence of young blood -- especially photogenic young female blood -- is a dream come true.
Takahashi is a graduate of Keio University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. She won the university's beauty contest in 2016 and worked as a TV announcer while still at college, followed by three years at an IT consultancy company. She also ...
