Mature Talk: Sexual Issues in Japan

[oldies8ladies]

This thread is going to be about Japan and the issues of sex that are happening in Japan today.

We will be posting articles that we find about what is happening on this issue of SEX in Japan.
It is important to understand where Japan and other Asian countries view sex and what
they are doing about either allowing Sex or curbing Sex.

Please understand this point from us:

This part of the forum for us is to learn and teach about what is happening in Japan and Asia.

If you see something that YOU like – let us know.
We are here to have some fun and look at a world of Sex from another point of view.

We hope that you guys enjoy what it is that we are setting out to do.

What ever questions you may have about a post we make please PM us and ask us……
We will work on explaining what we are wanting to say.

[oldies8ladies]

Japanese women having sex younger

Sixty-two percent of female university students have had sex, up 10 percentage points from six years ago to reach the same percentage as their male peers, according to a nationwide survey released Saturday.

http://asiansexgazette.com/phpads/adlog.php?bannerid=39&clientid=16&zoneid=51&source=&block=0&capping=0&cb=66df36b377d592905edd3d395db5847c
The survey, taken by the Japanese Association for Sex Education, found the experience gap between females and males among high school students is also shrinking.

The Tokyo-based association carries out this kind of survey about every six years to investigate sexual behavior of young people.

In the first survey in 1974, 23 percent of male and 11 percent of female university students said they had experienced sex.

In the previous survey in 1999, the percentage for men stood at 63 percent and women at 51 percent.

The latest survey was carried out from November 2005 through this March with junior high school, high school and university students in Hokkaido, Akita, Miyagi, Tokyo, Tochigi, Niigata, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Shimane, Kochi, Fukuoka and Kumamoto. The association compiled the responses from 5,510 students.

The survey found 30 percent of high school girls had sexual contact, up 6 points from the previous survey, but the percentage for high school boys was the same as before at 27 percent.

The association said it has not yet fully analyzed the survey results, but the outcome indicates girls are outpacing boys in lowering the age of first sexual contact. Female students probably have more opportunities to meet members of the opposite sex than before as they turn to new communications channels, such as e-mail via mobile phones, the association said.

As for junior high school students, the percentage of those having had sex was almost unchanged at around 3 percent for both boys and girls.

Source Material: The Japan Times

[oldies8ladies]

In the future, we'll all stay at Japanese Love Hotels

We've seen the hotel of tomorrow and it looks kind of familiar...

Back in August a bunch of hotel architect types got together with a few design companies and put their own George Jetson spin on the hotel of the future. Forward-thinking it may be in some cases, though we can't help noticing that much of it seems to come straight from a Philip K. Dick story or what's already standard in a Japanese love hotel.

http://asiansexgazette.com/phpads/adlog.php?bannerid=39&clientid=16&zoneid=51&source=&block=0&capping=0&cb=57dfc38bf33b63bfe22e4413ff71af7c
The results were unveiled at the Global Exposition and Conference for Hospitality Design in Miami this past September. There's an article on it, complete with renderings, in the current Business 2.0 print issue, but there's a text story online at Crain's Chicago Business. Here are the buzzwords:

Nanotechnology -- lots of materials that are anti-bacterial and lightweight

Robotics -- a creepy "botler" (robot butler)that never needs a tip, but never leaves either

Recycling -- better use of water and sheets that don't need as much washing (oh great...)

Multi-tasking -- Your bed is also a table. Your armchair gives you the control of Captain Kirk.

We can't help noticing that most of this benefits the hotel companies rather than being something guests are clamoring for. We don't hear many guests complain, "I wish I could have less personal service." But full automation seems to be the holy grail here, which is where it all will seem eerily familiar to the Japanese.

Picking out a room from a screen on the wall and swiping a credit card to get the key, then lights and arrows in the hall leading us along to our room? Not needing to talk to another human during the whole stay? Been there, done that, over a decade ago.

Maybe next year the design heads should cross the Pacific to Tokyo for the conference, then half the work will already be done.

Source Material: http://www.asiansexgazette.com

[oldies8ladies]

Japan's Pink Kink

A new book explores the epic weirdness of Japan's sex industry

The Japanese sex industry, often referred to as the "Pink Trade", looks inexplicably kinky and oddly ritualized. But as strange as it seems, it is also pervasive and very lucrative. A recently published book, Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs by photojournalist Joan Sinclair (Harry N. Abrams, 192 pages, 155 full-color photographs) offers a rare and unique look into a world that few outsiders will ever glimpse.

Delving into a wide variety of sex venues, Sinclair's photo documentary reveals aspects of kink that may be new even to seasoned observers. Still, in many ways the book only reinforces the wacky and wild view of Pink Kink.

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Trying to understand the Japanese love of kink can be hard to grasp for many foreigners. Elaborate bondage rituals, a fascination for women in uniforms, the passion for looking up the skirts of school girls or groping on public trains is difficult for those outside of these fetish cultures to understand, much less appreciate. But as one of Sinclair's interviewees, a male customer puts it, "I think all men are universally perverted; it's just that in Japan we do something about it."

The introduction by James Farrer cites economist Takashi Kadokura who said, "The commercial sex services sector in Japan accounted for 2.37 trillion Yen, or about USD $20 billion." Which makes it Japan's second largest industry second only to automobiles.

He calls the sex trade "Japan's most public secret" and notes that red light districts are ubiquitous, located near almost every train station while catalogues advertising sex services are available in every convenience store. The root of the kink, Farrer writes, "May lie in the strict social norms governing everyday life in Japan. Japanese social life has often been described as having two layers, a surface (tatemae) of formal and rule-bound social relations and a reality (honne) of real emotions, antipathies, and attachments.

"Japan remains a society in which people must speak in polite, formal language to superiors and exercise social restraint in relationships with coworkers," he says. "Uniforms, a common requirement in schools and companies, symbolize this surface of polite deference.

Japan's sex industry offers men the relief they yearn for from this formal world. In her photos and commentary Sinclair gives the reader a look into an industry full of women dolled up as schoolgirls, stewardesses and office workers-all standard fare for Japanese kink.

There is even a helpful "Pink" glossary explaining terms like "manaita", a sex show that likens the lucky customer to a knife-wielding chef and the woman to a fish on a cutting board. Offensive? Certainly. But the range of perversions is undeniably fascinating. Many hostesses stay in the clubs and simply entertain wealthy clients with conversation and little else. Those who are available for additional services are "makura" companions, "pillow" girls who will go to bed with customers.

Though Pink Box shows a world that most will never see, the text and pictures largely ignore some underlying controversies facing the pink industry, including the fact that Japan has been teetering on and off of the United States State Department's list of nations that support human trafficking. Indeed, the often forced employment of Central Asians, Colombians, Russians, Thais, Filipinas, and Chinese, is not exactly a fuzoku secret.

Sinclair explains her take on the industry in her Photographer's Note, allying herself with those who see sex work as a viable choice for women and even a means of empowerment. The argument is not unlike that heard from some college students in the US who see lap dancing as an easy way to finance their education. Sinclair says she hopes "that viewers not assume that this profession is inherently degrading. It is more complicated than that. These women are not powerless, they are not on drugs. They have made conscience choices; they have there own dignity."

Indeed she may be correct that many Japanese sex workers willingly choose the profession. But the presence of so many foreign women working in Japanese bars may raise too many complex questions; perhaps that is why Sinclair focused primarily on Japanese workers.

This is the central focus of the book anyway Japanese sex clubs in Japanese culture and society. For a glimpse into the powerful economic and psycho-sexual relationship between the fuzoku workers and their clients, it delivers a rare and unique insight.

Source Material: Asian sex gazette

[oldies8ladies]

Deadly 'iku iku byo' reaches a climax in Japan

Growing numbers of Japanese women are afflicted with an illness that gives them orgasms virtually 24 hours a day. And with suggestions that it could be deadly, the women hardly know whether they're coming or going, according to Shukan Post.

If a guy simply taps me on the shoulder, I just swoon. Even when I go to the toilet, my body reacts. I'm a little bit scared of myself," one woman sufferer tells Shukan Post.

Another adds: "When I got on the train one day, I could feel blood gushing toward a certain part of my body and it felt so good I almost let out a moan. It was sheer murder when everybody got pushed into the carriage."

Yet another woman has her say.

"Even the vibration of my mobile phone is enough to set me off," she says. "My friend said there's something called Iku Iku byo (Cum Cum Disease). I guess I've got that."

What may be afflicting these women, the best-selling weekly says, is an ailment called persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS).

PSAS has been described as an affliction that brings about orgasm through the slightest of jolts regardless of whether they're aroused, or even thinking about sex. What's more, orgasms experienced by PSAS sufferers are not just momentary phenomena, instead affecting women over anywhere from a few days to a week, with one reported case seeing 300 orgasms in a single day.

Awareness in Japan of PSAS -- which was first documented by Dr. Sandra Leiblum in the United States five years ago -- is growing, especially in the blogsphere, where it is being called Iku Iku byo.

Hideo Yamanaka, a doctor at the Toranomon Hibiya Clinic in Tokyo says the disease can be debilitating.

"For women to orgasm, they need to have some sort of sexual stimulation. There are nerves around the female genitals which react to sexual stimulation. The body gradually builds up to a crescendo, that ascends to a climax," the doctor tells Shukan Post. "However, with this disease, women are mysteriously reaching climax without any external sexual stimulation at all. One possible cause that I can think of is an irregularity in the sensory nerves."

PSAS discover Leiblum says that the disease has a tendency to strike post-menopausal women in their 40s and 50s or those who've undergone hormonal treatment. But she adds that there have also been cases reported among women in their 30s, stressing that too little is known about the syndrome to pinpoint anything and adds that the nature of the ailment means that many sufferers may be too ashamed to report it.

PSAS numbers in the U.S. are high enough for support groups to have popped up, suggesting it won't be too long before Japan sees the same.

"Awareness levels are still too low," Jeannie Allen, the head of PSAS Support, tells Shukan Post. "I think there's a strong possibility that there are Japanese patients."

Manga artist Akira Narita, who says he has slept with over 1,000 different women, says he has come across some he believes may have had PSAS.

"There must have been about 15 who came without me doing a thing. We'd only need to stare in each other's eyes and they'd start wiggling about, gripping tightly onto whatever was around them and their bodies would start to shake. There were others who'd orgasm repeatedly just because I'd stroked their hands," the self-professed sexpert says. "I'd always thought of these women as types who got off in their minds, but I think perhaps they may have had PSAS."

PSAS is not sex addiction and, considering the constant orgasms can be draining, can often be a painful and demeaning experience. Many sufferers are driven to the verge of suicide, prompting medical experts to recommend anybody who suspects they have the ailment to seek a doctor's advice immediately.

"Anybody who has the slightest suspicion," physician Yamanaka tells Shukan Post, "should get to a gynecologist or neurologist straight away."


Source Material: Asian Sex Gazette

[oldies8ladies]

Japan's oldest profession sees slide in work ethic

Changes to the law regarding adult entertainment earlier this year were supposed to be a boon for Japan's burgeoning call girl industry, but they've been a flop, according to Weekly Playboy.

With the tightened law cracking down on sex services that have storefronts, hoteheru, the business where women visit customers waiting in places like love hotels was supposed to skyrocket, but the poor quality of worker is having an adverse affect, the weekly says.

"I use a lot of other rivals' services, just to check out their performance, y'know. And what really stands out is that the quality of girl working for them is disgraceful. They show no inclination to open up to you, don't even try and have a conversation and seem to just want to get it over and done with," an ejaculation industry insider tells Weekly Playboy. "It's become the norm for girls to complain of having sore throats and refusing to perform fellatio. Others have absolutely no qualms about telling paying customers they won't do it at all. You can't possibly ask them for sumata (a technique where a woman uses her thighs to masturbate a man). Even if you show them how to do things, they just say it's a bother learning them and offer me (illegal) intercourse."

A reporter with 12 years experience using Japan's adult services elaborates on the recent trends that have been affecting the sex industry here.

"There are many girls who go all the way, who'll go on dates with customers and do other good stuff, so there are plenty out there who enjoy what they have to offer. The problem is the attitude in which service is performed. It's at the worst level ever," the reporter says. "They're supposed to be professionals, but they're puerile. If the cops don't start cracking down on hoteheru, they'll be dominating the sex business by 2007."

As hoteheru have become the main form of servicing customers, the number of workers who don't provide the services the industry was once famous for is increasing.

"Storefront sex services had shifts with the popular women getting the most lucrative work times, which meant if customers didn't like you, there was no chance of getting put on a roster for weekend work (where the best money can be made). All the women had to compete to make money," the hack continues. "But with hoteheru, the women only have to sit around for a while and wait for the customer to call. It's become totally normal for girls to turn up for work hours later than they were supposed to. They walk all over the weaker operators who tell them they aren't allowed to have dyed hair or tattoos."

A 19-year-old girl working in Tokyo's Shibuya district as a hoteheru is dismissive of the claims."Hey, I'm working in the sex business and still only giving (her pimp) 5,000 yen a pop," she tells Weekly Playboy. "I hate fellatio and sumata. Rather than do them, I'd rather go all the way and get paid a bit more on the sly."



Source Material: Asian Sex Gazette

[oldies8ladies]

US lawmakers seek to prod Japan on WWII sex slaves

A proposed US congressional resolution urging Japan to apologize to women forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers in World War II should come up for debate this month, its sponsor said this week.

http://asiansexgazette.com/phpads/adlog.php?bannerid=39&clientid=16&zoneid=51&source=&block=0&capping=0&cb=03015a62d83f875c9eac8b7aca3ea1a0
California Democratic Rep. Michael Honda on Wednesday introduced the nonbinding measure, a move that could roil close US-Japan ties ahead of an expected spring visit to Washington by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Honda's resolution calls on the government of Japan to "formally and unambiguously apologize for and acknowledge the tragedy that comfort women endured at the hands of its Imperial Army during World War II," his office said in a statement.

"Comfort women" is a Japanese euphemism for the estimated 200,000 mostly Asian women forced to provide sex for Japan's soldiers at battle-zone brothels during World War Two.

"These women, whose experiences were unprecedented in cruelty and were officially commissioned by the government of Japan, endured gang rape, forced abortions, humiliation and sexual violence resulting in mutilation, death or eventual suicide -- and to this date, they have still not received justice from this tragedy," the resolution reads.

The women and other wartime issues still strain Japan's ties with China and the two Koreas, causing concern in Washington because the US alliance with Tokyo is a bedrock of American policy in the region.

Honda's spokesman, Daniel Kohns, said the resolution would likely be debated in the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs in a few weeks.

Four previous attempts to pass the nonbinding resolution were blocked from being voted on by the entire House. But Kohns said "all indications are that there's a groundswell of support for this."

Honda, one of a handful of members of the US Congress of Japanese descent, said he had no intention to "bash or humiliate Japan" and merely wanted justice for the women.

Source Material: Lifetimes.com

[OldiesLover]

I believe all Countries who participated in World War II, including Japan, Italy, Germany, Russia, Great Britian, France, Canada and the United States (especially because of the 2 Atomic Bombs dropped on women & children)... Should all stand up and apologize for their involvement in that War.

Thank goodness none of these Countries have never participated, nor are presently participating in Wars of any kind.

:evillaugh: :evillaugh: :evillaugh:

[oldies8ladies]

Kansai's red lights still glowing strong

It's been five years since Asahi Geino's last visit to Tobita Shinchi. The district, a 10-minute walk from Dobutsuen-mae on Osaka's Sakaisuji subway line in Nishinari Ward, stands on the site of the its predecessor, the old Tobita Yukaku (licensed brothel quarters), which was founded in 1918.

After the Anti-prostitution Law went into force in April 1958, the old two-story establishments therein officially became "restaurants." But young women still sit by the ground floor windows waiting to escort male customers to rooms upstairs, assisted by businesslike crones who handle the negotiations.

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At the 80 to 90 establishments currently operating in Tobita, rates begin at 11,000 yen for 15 minutes, rising to 16,000 yen for 20 minutes and 22,000 yen for 30 minutes; but discounts can be negotiated, especially with some of the older gals or when business is slow. Once inside the room, time is of the essence, and the standard method of getting clean prior to performing the act is a few quick swipes with a pre-moistened towelette.

After a hiatus of five years, the first thing that struck Asahi Geino's reporter is how the quality of women working at Tobita had considerably improved. Some gals were even outstanding -- as cute, he said, as the "idols" that appear on TV.

What's the explanation for the sudden appearance of these lovelies?, wonders Asagei's reporter.

"The quality has definitely improved over the past three years," says the editor at a magazine covering Osaka's "pink" trade. "One theory is that a major police crackdown of 'fashion health' massage parlors at Daikokucho, which had the city's biggest pink area, drove the girls to work at Tobita."

Apparently Tobita gets away with things that would bring down the authorities elsewhere.

"Basically, if you can get a couple of girls to come to work for you, then you've got a viable business," explains an ad agency rep who specializes in placing sex industry recruitment advertisements in specialty magazines. "If a girl owes you money and you want to put her to work, Tobita's about the only place you can get away with it. You could never put her to work in other kinds of pink business."

"The police have been cracking down on that kind of stuff," agrees the operator of an underground massage service in Osaka's Nipponbashi district. "Forcing a woman into white slavery to pay off debts is illegal, and we won't take that kind of risk. To put girls out on sale, manage them and collect money from the customers takes manpower and knowhow. Most sex shops these days don't want the extra bother."

In the past, Tobita's workers featured a high percentage of women from Okinawa or Kyushu, who came to the big city in search of work. But recently, writes Asahi Geino's reporter, a surprising number of local Osaka girls can be found working there. The reason is simple economics. A gal's cut of the house take is 60 percent. By servicing 10 Johns a day, she clears about 100,000 yen -- an income no massage parlor or soapland can match.

More girls at Tobita are making efforts to cater to customer fantasies, such as by adorning themselves in maid costumes or wearing glasses to give them a more "intellectual" appearance.

Manon, age 22, is a native Osakan. She had been earning a decent income as a hostess in a cabaret club. Now she's in her third week of work in Tobita. "This guy I met introduced me," she says. "He told me working here would be a 'learning experience.'"

Asahi Geino's survey of Kansai red light districts doesn't stop at Tobita. A map of the region identifies now fewer than nine locales where houses of prostitution operate openly. Osaka proper boasts two other red-light areas: Matsushima Shinchi in Nishi Ward (70 shops) and Imazato Shinchi in Ikuno Ward (30 shops), bringing the city's total to nearly 200. And other red-light areas can be found around Kannami Shinchi in Amagasaki City (30 to 40 establishments); Shintaizan Shinchi in Izumi City (30 establishments); Gojo Rakuen in Kyoto (15); Ikoma City (10); Takii Shinchi in Moriguchi City (10) and Tenno Shinchi in Wakayama City (5).

Source Material: Asian Gazette

[oldies8ladies]

Congressman vows to continue efforts on comfort women bill at next session

Washington - A US congressman pledged continued efforts to pass a bill scrapped Friday that hold Japan responsible for sexual enslavement of women during its invasion of Asian neighbors in the last century.

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Rep. Mike Honda, in a statement honoring retiring colleague Rep. Lane Evans, said he looks forward "to seeking the justice the comfort women deserve."

The House International Relations Committee in September passed a resolution that says the government of Japan should acknowledge and take responsibility for the comfort women, an euphemism for those coerced to serve sex to Japanese soldiers at frontline brothels.

It was the first resolution passed by US legislature that blames Tokyo for refuting the existence and involvement in the massive sexual enslavement.

But it was automatically shelved as of Friday with the end of the incumbent Congress.

Evans has been the driving force behind the resolution that passed with bipartisan support in the House but not put to vote by the full Congress.

"On a scale that reaches to the other side of the world, Lane Evans is a hero who has tirelessly fought to provide justice for over 200,000 comfort women who were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II," Honda said in his statement.

"I want to assure him that I will do my best to continue his work and legacy on this issue after his retirement this year."

Source: Asian Gazette

[oldies8ladies]

Fear and loathing in Tokyo today

Otto van Bismarck quipped that the crafting of laws, like sausage making, does not bear watching. Certainly both can be messy and disillusioning, but David Leheny, in probing the discourse surrounding some recent laws in Japan, demonstrates just how important and revealing it is to examine the process. This engaging study examines how domestic anxieties and international norms, ranging from child abuse and counterterrorism, are instrumentalized by policymakers to achieve long-standing agendas.

Gaiatsu, foreign pressure, is depicted frequently in terms of the United States forcing Japan to adopt some policy that Washington thinks best. In the theater of gaiatsu, Japan reluctantly goes along because it has little choice in the matter. Leheny shows us how Japanese policymakers artfully manipulate and orchestrate gaiatsu to force through legislative initiatives that are often only remotely connected to the putative gaiatsu.

In the domestic policy arena, gaiatsu is the wild card, enabling advocates to trump opposition. By justifying such initiatives in terms of international norms and expectations while playing on and seemingly addressing popular anxieties, political actors have enjoyed great success in advancing their agenda by stealth. It is the classic magicians' technique of distracting the audience's attention.

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This sleight of hand is evident in Japan's child sex laws and counterterrorism initiatives. In both cases, global norms are powerfully linked to local anxieties. Leheny writes, "I explore how political actors used the fears bubbling up during Japan's nervous 1990s to justify enhanced powers for the state. Japan's newly demonstrative schoolgirls and murkily defined foreign threats (in particular presumptive Chinese criminal and North Korean spies) became crucial symbols of a nation under attack."

The media focus on enjo kosai (compensated dating often involving prostitution) encapsulated a deep anxiety about collapsing values. Leheny suggests there was more smoke than fire, but also shows how perceptions become reality. The media hype about secondary-school girls selling themselves to afford brand-name accessories was both a titillating and subversive discourse. There was a "fundamental fear of the ostentatious sexuality" of teenage women and how their rejection of traditional values would affect Japan's future.

The need to address international condemnation of Japan concerning lax attitudes toward Internet child pornography and sex tourism created an opportunity to pass legislation that curbed enjo kosai. Regardless of whether there was actually much enjo kosai going on, or indeed whether it represented anything significant about Japan, public discourse made it into a social problem requiring some action.

Leheny excels at cutting through the moral posturing and surface appearances to show how real concerns about child sexploitation among domestic networks of activists were hijacked by political actors eager to widen state policing powers. Legislation in 1999 enabled Japan to escape deserved international opprobrium as the leading source of child pornography, but according to Leheny, the new policing powers have intruded much more on teenage sexuality than sex tourism.

International norms represent policy opportunities. How political actors in Japan select, interpret and amplify these norms shapes legislative agendas. In linking domestic anxieties to such norms, Japan's conservatives in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and bureaucracy have adroitly outmaneuvered opponents and imposed their objectives under the guise of reform.

The post-9/11 "war on terror" and U.S. pressure on Japan to contribute to this effort is another example of how domestic actors invoked international expectations to achieve their long-standing agendas. As Leheny writes, "Terrorism's nebulous meaning . . . would provide an opportunity to recast a number of long-debated security plans as essential components of a strategy against this scourge." Japan's neoconservative hawks are eagerly "chipping away at the shackles on the use of force to deal with international security" in the name of solidarity.

"Think Global" is a pioneering and fascinating study that ponders deeply on how international norms are domesticated, and public anxieties exploited, without becoming ponderous. Leheny writes well and informally, revealing his personality, neurotic anxieties and sympathies with considerable charm. For anyone interested in decoding the mixed motives and diverse legacies of "reforms" in contemporary Japan, this is essential reading. Moves to transform the Defense Agency into a full-fledged ministry, and recent debates over the conspiracy bills lend credence to Leheny's powerful thesis.

Jeff Kingston is director of Asian studies at Temple University, Japan campus.

Source Material: Japan Times

[HongKongDr]

Women can lose weight and look more beautiful simply by tugging on their pubic hair, according to Shukan Josei.

Clutching at the map of Tasmania stimulates the sex hormones, gets blood flowing toward the genitals and releases pheromones.

It's the release of pheromones that is said to give women in love their "glow" and what is being attributed for making women who try the trick appear to be more beautiful.

Women are advised to tug their pubes while they're still dry and then move the clump of hair around in a circular motion. They're also told to run their fingers through their pubic hair the same way they would do when fondling their regular hair.

Women are told not to worry about pubic hairs that fall out and to continue yanking away for about 1 to 2 minutes.

That's the theory, but does it really work? A little bit, according to physician Hideo Yamanaka.

"If the erogenous zones near the genitals are aroused, it leads to an increased emission of the female hormone estrogen, which certainly makes the skin look better," Dr. Yamanaka tells Shukan Josei. "It could also help alleviate the ill effects of menopause and irregular periods."

Dr. Yamanaka continues: "One of the effects of female hormones is to make it easier for fat to build up under the skin, which gives women a more feminine look."

So, there may be something in the claims that pulling on pubes makes women beautiful. But the doctor is more skeptical when it comes to any dietary benefits.

"I really don't know about this being any good in terms of a diet. Normally, dieting tends to limit the amount of female hormones emitted," Dr. Yamanaka tells Shukan Josei. "But if women did this while they were also on a diet, I guess there is a possibility that it could make them look both beautiful and thinner."

Source Material: By Ryann Connell May 16, 2007

[HongKongDr]

The secret of Japan's exceptionally low birthrate is out - more than a third of married couples do not have sex.

"The situation is dismal," said Kunio Kitamura, director of the country's Family Planning Association, after a government survey suggested that 34.6 per cent of couples had not made love for more than four weeks.

"My research shows that if you don't have sex for a month, you probably won't for a year. This is very bad news for the country's birthrate, and something the Government needs to look into urgently."

The survey of 1400 people, for Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare, indicated that 39.7 per cent of all Japanese couples aged 16 to 49 had not had sex for more than a month, a 5 per cent increase on the results of the same survey two years ago.

Doctors and anthropologists say that there are a number of reasons why the Japanese are giving up sex. One is the lifestyle of many urban Japanese men, who leave home early, return home late and tired after a long commute, and tend to spend weekends and other free time socialising with work colleagues or catching up on their sleep. Women, too, are more likely to work and have less time to themselves.

Some couples do not expect to maintain a regular sex life after the arrival of a child and small, thin-walled apartments offer few opportunities for privacy.

Poor communication is also cited as a factor, especially among older people, who are constrained from discussing sex, even with their spouses.

The Japan Sexual Science Association defines a sexless marriage as one in which there has been no sexual contact between husband and wife for more than a month, and in which this situation is expected to continue.

Japan also came last in a table of 29 countries compiled by University of Chicago researchers into which had the greatest sexual satisfaction. (Austrians were first.)

It also came last in a survey by Durex, the condom manufacturer, which found the Japanese have sex 45 times a year, compared with an average of 103.

In the past 10 years, Japanese politicians and bureaucrats have become preoccupied increasingly by the country's declining birthrate. The fertility rate, the number of children that the average woman will bear in a lifetime, fell to a record low of 1.25 last year, well below the "replacement rate" of 2.1.

At the same time, Japanese are living longer. A situation looms in which a decreasing number of working taxpayers have to support a growing population of pensioners, leading to budgetary collapse.

Various reasons have been advanced to explain the declining fertility rate, but it may be mainly due to the most basic reason of all - that the Japanese are giving up on sex.

Source Material: The Times - By Richard Lloyd Parry March 16, 2007

[Lustor!]

Very interesting read. There are many reasons for this. I personally believe that the fucking government here in Japan has the wrong approach. Their backwards attitude is that it's people's duty to "beautiful Japan" to make babies. It's a form of rebellion as the whole point of having kids and a family shows little enjoyment, especially since most older couples in Japan hardly love each other and hardly communicate with each other. So, there are very few examples of good marriages in Japan to inspire people to marry and have children. Of course, as I hinted, the government turns a blind eye to this and tries to claim their workforce is overworked. The root of the trouble is a faltering society.

[HongKongDr]

Japanese women will frequently open up about their sex lives with partners, but when it comes to mentioning their masturbation habits, they tend to clam up, according to Cyzo.

A survey the monthly carried out among 50 women in their 20s or 30s found that 90 percent felt it was perfectly natural for men to masturbate, but only 56 percent felt women should bring themselves off.

Among the reasons women gave for believing sisters shouldn't be doing it for themselves were that female masturbation is "dirty," "embarrassing" and "something only women who can't find a guy would do."

Sex therapist Kim Myung Gun tries to explain why masturbation has become such a taboo topic for Japanese women.

"Masturbation for men involves expelling the pleasure outside of their bodies in an action that's kind of like expunging any other waste product. But for women, there's no ejaculation involved and all the pleasure remains inside them, so talking about masturbation involves revealing to other people their innermost selves," the sex expert tells Cyzo. "I'd say that's why women are ashamed by masturbation and tend to treat talk of the practice as a taboo."

Kim adds that a woman's home environment while she's growing up has a tremendous influence on her adult attitude toward masturbation. He says that if, for example, her parents did not get along well and her mother developed a negative attitude toward men, this would make a woman wary of men, suppress her curiosity about sex and tend to strengthen inhibitions she had about physical intimacy and self-pleasure.

Dr. Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association Clinic agrees.

"Women should become more active about masturbation," Kitamura says.

Kitamura says he has been researching Japanese sexuality for more than 30 years and is disappointed that women don't take enough advantage of their chances to masturbate.

"Many women come to my clinic with worries because a man has suggested their performance in bed was no good and that they're probably frigid. I tell them not to worry and that 'frigid' is a word that selfish men have made up because they don't care enough for women," Kitamura says. "Even if they can't orgasm during sex, many women are able to reach a climax by masturbating. Remember sex involves somebody else, even if they are a beloved husband or lover. I think it's a bonus if they can derive sexual pleasure while engaged with one of those beloved people. That's why, to have fruitful sex, a woman should explore her body through masturbation so that she can find out where she feels good and then direct a man toward those areas when they are having sex together."Kitamura says Japan's patriarchal structure is harmful.

"Japan's male-dominated society," the doctor tells Cyzo, "is a major obstacle for women's masturbation."

Source Material: Asian Gazette

[HongKongDr]

Even months into retirement, porn star-cum-celebrity advisor and IT explorer Ai Iijima can't stay out of the news, with Shukan Asahi reporting that now she's moaning about her insatiable urge to break a sex drought.

Citing a serious liver illness, 34-year-old Iijima quit the showbiz world at the end of March, but has since maintained a high-profile blog that has managed to keep people talking about her.

Earlier this month, she used her blog to let it be known that she's becoming sexually frustrated.

"I was thinking the other day that ever since my life started, it has lacked sensuality," Shukan Asahi quotes Iijima posting on her blog. "I haven't got a boyfriend. I haven't even got a sex friend. Oh my god, I'm dying for a bit. I've just got to have some nooky."

The comments were typically Iijima in that they easily shocked. Her request for advice from visitors to her blog elicited over 300 replies, many from men predictably willing to meet her and alleviate her plight.

Despite Iijima lamenting a lack of lustiness, recent reports suggest that may not necessarily be the case. In July, women's weekly Josei Jishin caught Iijima meeting with a guy at a posh hotel.

A couple of weeks after that, Shukan Asahi itself reported that Iijima had developed a very close relationship with Hiroyuki Nishimura, 30, the maverick operator of anything-goes online bulletin board Ni-Chaneru. Iijima works part-time for an IT company in which Nishimura is a director, and she has made no bones about how much she likes his bones. After posting on her blog footage of the interview she undertook with him to get the IT job, Iijima also remarked about her feelings for the board operator.

"I quite fancy this Hiroyuki," the weekly quotes Iijima writing.

Despite the attraction, some pals say it's unlikely Iijima and Nishimura have consummated their relationship.

"Ai is pretty free and easy and it's common for her to whine to her friends about a lack of decent sex. She also complains about the fact that as soon as she leaves her home, the paparazzi are there to swoop on her so she basically has to remain cooped up in her apartment all the time," an Iijima buddy tells Shukan Asahi. "I guess if she's holed up inside all the time, she would be getting a bit bored.

Shukan Asahi (9/7)Iijima won't be offering any insight into her relationship with Nishimura, refusing to divulge any details even for Shukan Asahi, for which she was once a columnist. She wouldn't open up when the weekly approached her for a comment.

"Considering everything your magazine has done for me, I'd really love to help, but in this case, I'm really, really sorry, I just can't cooperate with the story," Iijima tells Shukan Asahi. "I'm really, really sorry."

Source Material: Asian Gazette

[HongKongDr]

The USB Keyboard Bra from Angel Kitty was probably conceived in a junk food fueled late night frenzy following one too many visits to an illicit adult chat room.

Why the beancounters at Angel Kitty actually indulged their sex-addled engineers and funded production of this perverted peripheral, however, is beyond even MY imagination. Nevertheless, here it is, thoughtfully backed in soft silicone and trimmed prettily in pink lace. Ooh la la!

The keyboard layout appears to be standard while allowing for the natural contours of the female anatomy.

It's not known whether heavy use of the keyboard will result in carpal tunnel syndrome - our testers haven't reported any side effects other than a tendency to leer salaciously while using it.

The photo that shows the model reclining in front of the monitor isn't quite accurate since to actually use the keyboard, the monitor would have to be mounted over her face. Basically, the woman is reduced to the role of a desktop. Now ladies, I know you want to get closer to your comp-addicted hubby, but is the situation really that desperate? In the days before PCs, the equivalent of this product might have been a Snack Table Bra. Just imagine: beer & pretzels are positioned right in front of Slovenly Husband's face, allowing him to slurp & burp without ungluing his eyes from the Big Game. It's good to know we've evolved since then, isn't it?

The USB Keyboard Bra from Angel Kitty costs ¥15,750 (about $130) plus shipping; buy one for your Significant Other at your own risk.

[HongKongDr]

Real love is hard to find for one Japanese man, who has transferred his affection and desires to dozens of plastic sex dolls Tokyo - Real love is hard to find for one Japanese man, who has transferred his affection and desires to dozens of plastic sex dolls.

When the 45-year-old, who uses a pseudonym of Ta-Bo, returns home, it's not a wife or girlfriend who await him, but a row of dolls lined up neatly on his sofa.

Each has a name. Ta-Bo often watches television with his toys before bathing them, powdering them so that their skin feels more human, dressing them in lingerie and then taking them to bed.

"A human girl can cheat on you or betray you sometimes, but these dolls never do those thing. They belong to me 100 percent," says the engineer who has spent more than 2 million yen ($16,000) over the past decade on the dolls.

"Sometimes it takes too much time before I can have sex with the person I meet. But with these dolls, it's just a matter of a click of the mouse. With one click, they are delivered to you."


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The man, who says he has had sex with five women but prefers the dolls, is one of a gradually increasing, though secretive, group of Japanese men who have given up on women.

A Japanese maker said it started producing its life-sized and anatomically correct dolls 30 years ago, targeting initially handicapped men who might find it difficult to find a partner.

Orient Industry Co. now makes 80 dolls a month in an eastern Tokyo factory to nine designs that sell for between $850 and $5,500 each. The more expensive models are made of silicon and have 35 movable joints.

Nearly all of the people who buy these dolls are single men and about 60 percent of them are over the age of 40, a company official said.

"Nowadays, women are sometimes more dominant than men in the real world, and they don't always pay attention to men," said Hideo Tsuchiya, the company's president.

"More and more men are finding themselves miserable so we're making these dolls partly in support of men."

The anonymity of buying a sex doll over the Internet has helped the business grow but Orient Industry also has a showroom displaying its wares.

Many have parted lips, prominent breasts and are shown splayed across beds or chairs in poses similar to those adopted by prostitutes in sex shops.

Ta-Bo says his parents are not aware of his companions as he has never invited them to his apartment.

He admits that carrying the dolls, changing their clothes and bathing them is almost like nursing bedridden people, but says for him and a few male friends who share his hobby, the dolls are the only emotional outlet.

"Sex with human girls was better, but I hate the process of dating," he said.



Source : Asizn Gazette -

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