While Japan remains a male-dominated society and "pleasure" tends to favor the guys first and foremost, with us ladies getting short change, there are some small sea shifts taking place.
Tenga created the stylish iroha vibe and has made female sex toys a major part of its output. Porn for women is also growing in Japan.
Likewise, we are seeing more discussion of how women can enjoy sex in the mainstream, as well as adult entertainment.
Sponsored by iroha, a screening and talk was recently held in Tokyo on this theme.
The screening was Roman porno softcore classic Yugao fujin ...
We've just discovered the Sangre Yakuza blog. It's not in English and we can't understand much Spanish, but we love his (?) tastes!
The blog profiles so-called pinku eiga (pink film), a genre of softcore porn films (sexploitation). They were made by some of the greatest and most experimental names in Japanese cinema before they turned more mainstream later in their careers.
The blog also features "Roman Porno", the subgenre of softcore pink films made by Nikkatsu in the 1970s.
Back in the day, pornography was more innocent. That's not to say it wasn't erotic (it certainly was!), ...
Before there was SOD, JAV and all their bizarre hentai genre, Japanese porn was a different affair. Often not "hard core" in the true sense of the word and watched in special movie theaters, "pink" cinema was led by Nikkatsu and their "Roman Porno" genre during the Seventies.
Though watching them now they seem rather tame compared to the extreme antics of Japanese pornography today, they still merit value as nostalgia, genuine art and also a unique brand of retro kinkiness in their own right. They also launched the career of many now respected art house directors, such as Koji ...
Remember back in June when Megumi blogged about the pink movie theater Okura in Ueno that was closing down (to re-open as a "modern" porn cinema, including for women patrons)?
Tokyo Reporter managed to capture the final day closing events (oh, why do I have a regular job?!). After five decades of providing the citizens what they want, the curtains came down on a landmark of porn history in Japan...
Here's a couple of sample photos but you can check out more on his ...
A new trend in Japan's pink movie theaters is a surge in the popularity of narration from the movie's stars. You can hear the women saying: "Now it's going in", "Now I will move my hips" etc.
Previously this kind of commentary was provided for the visually impaired but now it seems the target is seniors! I guess these patrons also might have trouble hearing, seeing or just remembering what is happening on the screen!
Pink movie theaters actually have popular morning showings (porn at ten a.m.!), as well as wheelchair access, naturally...
For example, the Porepore in Higashi Nakano ...
Famous pink movie (sexploitation) theater Ueno Okura Theater is to shut its doors in August, bringing to an end fifty-nine years of sex history. A new cinema will be built in front of the old building.
Okura first appeared in northeast Tokyo in 1951 and started showing pink movies from 1962. Despite its age it still attracts many old fans to its weekly three-movie schedules, with some 2,000 visitors per week.
However, since the last decades saw the rise of video and then DVD, the pink movie theaters, once a staple of Japan's sex industry. There were some 300 theaters at its peak but now ...
