Japan's porn giant Soft on Demand seems finally to have recovered from one of the most bizarre and shocking screw-ups in their history.
SOD Land in Kabukicho suddenly closed down in March this year after police discovered it was violating the law on fuzoku ("amusement businesses") establishments, which covers hostess clubs, brothels, and so on.
Billed as an "adult theme park," SOD Land allows visitors to meet and interact with actual Japanese porn performers (and others like sex workers and hostesses) in various ways across five floors, including bars and a space for viewing performers in ...
One of the most-profile experiments in genderless toilets in Japan has ended quickly rather ignominiously.
When Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, the latest example of the gentrification of Shinjuku's red-light district, opened in the spring, its decision to have genderless restrooms on the second floor immediately attracted attention -- largely in terms of concerns over female safety. The toilets are all in stalls but the hand-washing station was shared by all users.
Soon social media was flooded with footage of men loitering around the entrance and wash basins for seemingly no reason than perhaps to ...
What is about female politicians in Japan at the moment? Just days after learning about Japan Innovation Party lawmaker's role in a past porn production, we now find out that Yuri Saito (斎藤ゆり), a one-time candidate for Politician Girls 48 Party, is alleged to have been a sex worker and nude model.
Well, we shouldn't be too surprised. She was a candidate for SJJ48 (as the party dubbed itself, parodying AKB48), alongside a bevy of other women with unusual backgrounds. Hasumin Yoshikawa, for instance, was a former Self-Defense Forces nurse and sex worker, and then embarked on a porn ...
Japanese politics, a dull place populated by staid old men in gray suits. Right?
Think again.
Look beyond the geriatric male statesmen and discover a fascinating example of models and celebrities enjoying well-paid second careers.
From former gravure idols like Renho and Ayaka Shioyama to nude performance artist Rena Masuyama, there are plenty of instances of women with rather questionable experience moving into politics.
The one-time top gradol Chisato Morishita is bidding to be a politician for the ruling conservative party, the Liberal Democratic Party, possibly making her the hottest ...
Japanese designers and engineers are famous for their dedication and meticulous approach. It is this mindset that led to innovations like the Prius and Walkman.
The same goes for Japanese sex toys too.
In the adult industry, while there are a fair few products that are clearly just rushed through the design and manufacturing process to make a quick yen, we never cease to be amazed by the original and striking designs that continue to emerge, month after month.
Tenga is, of course, the industry leader when it comes to design. Its sleek and stylish masturbator toys revolutionized the ...
A few weeks ago, we reported on the rise in highly visible prostitution in the Okubo area of Shinjuku, located next to the notorious entertainment and red-light district of Kabukicho.
Recent attempts to gentrify Kabukicho notwithstanding, you are still only a short walk away from a blow-job parlor and a huge bevy of love hotels, which stretch all the way to Okubo.
The latter has now become a well-known and flagrant place for picking up street walkers, who are otherwise relatively rare sights in the city. Most sex workers operate from "delivery health" businesses as call girls dispatched to ...
Last month, we wrote about the controversy that threatened to wreck one of the conventions of the Japanese summer: swimwear gravure photo events where fans go to see and take pictures of models and idols.
These are often held in public lidos (outdoor pools), and are popular events that attract large numbers of fans.
After local Japanese Communist Party politicians complained about the commercial use of prefectural parks and the "lewd" nature of the poses, though, authorities stepped in to ask organizers to call off some events in June.
This was then criticized as censorship and ...
One thing that becomes apparent quite quickly if you spend any time reading product info about Japanese masturbators (known as onaholes) is that designs really like to talk about the cervix and uterus.
The canal will often include a portio vaginalis section (the part of the cervix in the vagina) and even a cervix opening that you can penetrate, since a vagina and rubbing up against the cervix alone is not exciting enough, it seems.
If these were actual vaginas, we would all be smashing our ways through the cervix and shoving our cocks directly into the womb itself! We're not gynecologists, ...
There are jukujo mature porn stars. And then there's Yuko Ogasawara (小笠原裕子).
The 88-year-old is probably the world's oldest porn performer.
We found a couple of recently published longish interviews with her on Shueisha Online.
The obvious questions to start with are: When and why did she begin performing?
Her husband died when she was 59 and she then entered the world of snack bars, working as a "mama" as one bar for seven years from the age of 61. Even after giving that up in 68, it was still several years until she entered the adult video industry.
She spent the ...
Sex sells, a truth of which this blog is an undeniable beneficiary.
But when it suggestive and risqué too much? This thorny issue has been reopened by, of all things, an ice cream ad.
Manufacturer Morinaga surely didn't expect to find themselves in the middle of a social media storm when it conceived a series of illustrations to promote its Ice Box product this summer.
It released these online and offered a small number of postcards to Twitter followers.
But the tenth illustration the company announced on July 6 quickly raised eyebrows and drew criticism for its sexual nature.
Created ...
