Aug 08 2007

The Lolita Syndrome

Posted by Marc

Japan, acknowledges Shukan Bunshun (6/14), has a well-earned reputation as a “Rorikon Taikoku” (a country with a world-class Lolita complex). Although new and tougher laws cracking down on kiddy porn have been put into force, legal aspects of this business proliferate. These include publications such as deluxe coffee table books containing photo collections of young females in a variety of suggestive poses, and DVDs showing them in motion — clad in dresses or bathing suits, of course, but still satisfyingly suggestive to aficionados of “U-15,” i.e., under 15 years old, as pubescent females are referred to by some.

The annual market for such products, which are completely legal and sold openly, is estimated in the neighborhood of 17 billion yen.

On May 27, a group of 25 males converged at an unspecified Osaka location to participate in a “Satsueikai” (photo shooting session), in which the models were all females of primary school age.

Most of the men, the magazine reports, were in their 30s, with the rest in their 20s and 40s.

The arriving participants registered and each paid 8,000 yen. The session began from 10:30 a.m. at a large and mostly deserted public park, upon which the grinning cameramen assembled around the girls with whom they were most infatuated. They then began taking turns snapping away in a determined manner, without speaking to each other or to the girls.

For those wishing to arrange for a one-on-one shooting at a later time, appointments could be arranged to meet the girls, at which time, a fee of 50,000 yen plus incidental expenses would be charged. Expenses would include transportation and meals, including costs for the girl’s accompanying parent.

The girls themselves showed remarkable composure, standing as images of unruffled innocence while as many as 10 strange men armed with cameras surrounded them and began snapping away.

Just as the morning session was ending, the group was approached by three policemen, one of whom said, “We received a complaint that you guys are photographing girls in the nude.”

As the president of production firm that organized the event explained the procedure to the cops, an elderly man rolled up in an electric wheelchair, and informed them, “I’m the one who called the police.”

“These guys are flaky!” ranted the man. “Okay, the girls might not be nude, but there’s something suspicious about the way they’re ogling and photographing them.”

Observing nothing illicit, the cops departed and after lunch the venue moved to a photo studio.

On the set, one of the photo subjects wearing a middie blouse school uniform was asked to raise both arms over her head, and the hem of her blouse rose up to expose her bare belly, upon which the photographers could be seen leering with lusty lechery, sighs Shukan Bunshun.

The president of the production company says he has between 20 to 30 girls signed up with his outfit, ranging from 4 years old to high school age.

The mother of a 10-year-old girl modeling at the day’s event was clearly turned off by the experience.

“Many parents see these shooting sessions as a stepping stone to show business and are resigned to having to put up with it. But some of these guys strike me as sleazy. I wouldn’t speak to them.”

The reporter then asked her how she feels about the prospect of her own daughter being treated as the object of some man’s desire.

“Certainly there are going to be people who view the photos that way,” she replies candidly. “But unless you can accept that’s the way things are, you won’t be able to land any modeling jobs.”

“We see all kinds of parents at these things,” the session organizer explains. “Some are infatuated with the idea of nurturing their daughters into a showbiz career. Others just want some nice keepsake in the form of well shot photos. Sometimes at interviews, a parent will even bellow at me, ‘How much are you going to pay us!!?’”

The morals of grownups, Shukan Bunshun concludes grimly, leave a lot to be desired.

Filed under : Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »
Aug 07 2007

Sugar Daddy’s are back!

Posted by Marc

Officially, Japan’s economy is on the way back, but that’s according to regular, respectable businesses. To get a true indicator of whether there’s a resurgence of Japan Inc., the most accurate way is to look at Japan Pink, according to Spa! (7/24).

“Business is definitely getting better,” Spa! hears from a call girl performing enjo kosai, the euphemistic term to describe prostitution that literally translates as “compensated dating.” “At least it’s become a lot easier to pick up clients in Tokyo through matchmaking sites, And I think business has really gotten better since April. I’ve got a steady flow of repeat customers and even some customers who offer me pretty good money if I agree to meet them regularly. Some girls are getting paid as much as 100,000 yen just for going to a love hotel once!”

Across the industry, however, feelings are a little mixed. 0f 28 women engaged in enjo kosai, 43 percent felt that the economy was improving, with regular users continuing their patronage and growing numbers of salarymen joining the game.

Also with mixed feelings about Japan’s economy are nightclub hostesses.

“Traditional nightclub districts like Kabukicho, Roppongi and Akasaka have peaked. Some places in Tokyo are doing all right, but a lot of clubs have been shut down and chains are downsizing. There aren’t as many great hostesses as there used to be and I don’t think you could really say business is doing well in the capital,” Takahiro Marui, managing editor of nightclub guidebook Club After, tells Spa!

Marui says it’s a different story when it comes to the suburbs, where the nightclub caper is flourishing. It’s an argument borne out by a hostess working at a suburban club, “There’s definitely been an increase in customers who really throw the cash around,” she says. “Some of them will put 500,000 yen in cash on a table and pay for drinks all around. I heard one customer gave a girl a million yen in cash to go for a drive with him after she’d finished work and he bought her a really expensive Hermes handbag and stuff from a Don Quixote store.”

High class soapland brothels are also seeing an improvement in their fortunes.

“Soaplands are not just about the (sexual) services we offer. One of our sales points is the importance we place on human relations. And it’s the customers who have realized this that are the ones that are still using high class soaplands now. Shooting straight, I’m talking about old guys. We get some old gentlemen come into our soapland just to have a chat and a bath and they go home without doing anything sexual,” a sex worker from Tokyo’s Yoshiwara soapland district says.

An operator of a high-class call girl service also agrees the graying population is making business good.

“All my regulars are retirees. The guys who try once just to see what it’s like are always young and it’s the old guys who keep coming back,” the operator says. “This business is splitting between ultra-high class services and ultra-cheap stuff. The foreign girls are doing all the cheap work. There was a rush of arrests late last year, but things are now back on track. We pull in about 13 million yen a month now. Whether the economy is good or bad, old guys will always make sure the cash keeps flowing in.”

The Yoshiwara soapland brothel worker also has little time for younger clients, regardless of how much they may flash the cash.

“We have rich young clients who come in and throw their money around, offering hefty sums if I agree to go out with them after l finish work,” the brothel worker tells Spa! “What a nerve! I’m not so cheap as to be lured by a wad of cash.” (By Ryann Connell)

Filed under : Miscellaneous | 4 Comments »
Aug 01 2007

Summer Festival Tickets: Confirmed~!

Posted by Nicholas

Okay guys, thanks to Windbell, we have tickets to the Summer Festival at the Japanese School.  Here’s the list of people who responded:

LianYL - 1
Me - 1
Shia - 1
Tjhan - 1
Kwok - 1
Asoukai - 9 (harem)
Crest - 5 (trap harem?)
Xak - 1
Anyway, Windbell has kindly paid for the tickets on our behalf, and has asked me to collect the money for him.  So guys, anyway you all can meet up with me this coming Saturday to pass me the money?  Thanks Windbell!

Details of the Summer Festival again:

Location: Summer Festival at The Japanese School Changi Campus
Date: 25 August (Saturday)
Time: 6pm onwards
Cost of Ticket: $10/set (Includes Admission + Meal coupon + Free coupon 12pcs)

P.S. LianYL if you’re reading this french toast will be delivered to you at around 10pm. So please don’t sleep till then.  Sorry about not answering your call though.

Filed under : 1OBn Events | 16 Comments »
Jul 31 2007

Gintama OP3 - Giniro no Sora (redballoon)

Posted by LianYL

銀色の空
作詞:井上秋緒 作曲:村屋光二 編曲:redballoon

銀色の空 果てない
降り続く熱のように
短い季節 駆けてく
僕らを濡らして

何も持たず行くから
頼りない手のひらに
惑ってしまうよ

止んでしまった雨は
この空に痛みさえ
残さないで

惹き合う力と ぶつけ合う思い
傷つけてでも 抱き寄せた
壊れそうな 君に触れて
視えない物 信じてゆく

もう何も恐れないよ
吹き抜ける熱のように
短く蒼く 駆けてく
僕らを揺らして

「どうせ流れてく日々。。。」
俯き 逃したのは何の夢?

零れゆくような きらめきが欲しい
僕らは愛を 知りながら
辿り着けない か弱い光
夜が明けるのを 待ってる

明日だけが消えない
ただ途切れぬ約束
君の瞳に灼きつけたい
変わらぬ願いを

銀色の空 果てない
降り続く熱のように
短い季節 駆けてく
僕らを濡らして

giniro no sora hatenai
furitsuduku netsu no youni
mijikai kisetsu kaketeku
bokura wo nurashite

nani mo motazu iku kara
tayorinai tenohira ni
madotteshimau yo

yandeshimatta ame wa
kono sora ni itami sae
nokosanaide

hikiau chikara to butsukeau omoi
kizu tsuketedemo dakiyoseta
kowaresouna kimi ni furete
mienai mono shinjiteyuku

mou nani mo osorenai yo
fukinukeru netsu no youni
mijikaku aoku kaketeku
bokura wo yurashite

douse nagareteku hibi
utsumuki nogashita no wa nan no yume

koboreyuku youna kirameki ga hoshii
bokura wa ai wo shirinagara
tadoritsukenai kayowai hikari
yoru ga akeruno wo matteru

ashita dake ga kienai
tada togirenu yakusoku
kimi no me ni yaki tsuketai
kawaranu negai wo

giniro no sora hatenai
furi tsuduku netsu no youni
mijikai kisetsu kaketeku
bokura wo nurashite

中文翻译
银色天空

银色的天空 无边无际
好比持续降至的灼热
驱奔的短暂季节
濡湿你我

因为毫无执持走去
在不可靠的掌心里
被幻惑

停止的雨水
在这空中唯独痛楚
不复残留

互相吸引的力量 碰撞不已的思绪
就算受了伤 仍怀抱惜守
触碰着似已破坏的你
就是看不见 也深信不疑

已没什么好恐惧了
如被吹散的热气般
短暂苍蓝 开始驱奔着
摇晃你我

[反正也只是流失的岁月。。。]
惭愧着 逃离遗弃的梦想为何物?

想拥有如溢流出的闪亮
我们都了解爱
但却无法达至那微弱的光芒
夜晚正等待着黎明

唯独明日不消失
只剩不止的约束
想在你眼瞳里灼烧起
那不变的愿望

银色的天空 无边无际
好比持续降至的灼热
驱奔的短暂季节
濡湿你我

————————————

I decided to translate into Chinese for once.

Filed under : Music | 3 Comments »
Jul 29 2007

Summer Festival at the Japanese School!

Posted by Nicholas

Summer! Girls! Yukatas!This year’s Summer Festival (a.k.a Natsu Matsuri) will be held at The Japanese School(Changi Campus) on the 25th of August 2007.
Last year’s festival was over at The elementary school over in the Clementi Campus which was rather small.
The campus’s alot bigger so that you don’t have to worry about accidentely touching that cute girl in her Yukata.
There will be plently of Japanese food and drinks, and also not forgetting the games and events as well. It would definitely be an eye-opener for first-timers and an enjoyable one for those going again this year.

Location: Summer Festival at The Japanese School Changi Campus
Date: 25 August (Saturday)
Time: 6pm onwards
Cost of Ticket: $10/set (Includes Admission + Meal coupon + Free coupon 12pcs)

For those who would like the tickets, please leave the number of tickets you require by 7pm, 31 July 2007. Do also note that no cancellation will be allowed.
This is a public service announcement from Windbell.

Filed under : Miscellaneous | 16 Comments »