Tenga turns ten! Celebrates with Premium Tenga Vacuum Cup onacup

January 16, 2015 by Tadashi Anahori

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Ten years of Tenga! Yes, Japan’s most designer brand of sex and masturbation aids (“the Apple of Japanese adult toys”) is a decade old.

While we don’t wish to blow our own trumpet (no euphemism implied), Kanojo Toys has played a part in their success.

Of course, that Tenga products are now global bestsellers is first of all thanks to the quality and innovation of the series.

But Kanojo Toys and Tokyo Kinky (when it was just the Kanojo Toys blog), along with the old CScout Japan trend blog essentially “broke” the story to the world when Tenga first appeared.

A then small company called Tenga, led by former mechanic Koichi Matsumoto, released its first sex toy in 2005 — the Tenga Cup. In what would go on to be a defining use of red color (now the “Tenga color”). Its success was immediate and suddenly Tenga was everywhere.

The name of the brand is always written in Roman characters but it applies a very old Japanese adjective meaning “elegant”.

The Tenga Cup led on to further “onacup” (onanism cups). The brand continues to innovate with this style of toy today, including “short type” versions recently.

But it went further and created even more inventive, at times amusing designs.

The Tenga Eggs are just that — disposable compact masturbation aids that literally resemble eggs.

The Tenga Flip Hole took the brand to the next level, the best sex toy Japan had ever seen at the time. This even later had a reversible “3D” version, as much art sculpture as sex toy.

Recent years have seen the company, now owned by Soft on Demand, branch out into the fully disposable Pocket Tenga, artist-themed special editions (Keith Haring?!), women’s toys (the Iroha vibrator series), and toys for couples (the colorful Vi-Bo series).

Since that day in July 2005 when the onacup first appeared on shelves, Tenga has sold 37 million toys in over 40 countries. This is true “cool Japan”.

To celebrate its tenth anniversary the company is engaging in a marketing blitz. Its strategies have always been very savvy, including sponsoring music and art events, and even a beach clean-up day.

It recently sponsored a “coming-of-adult day” event, with free toys for visitors.