We consider ourselves aficionados of some of the weirder sections of the Japanese porn canon. ANd let’s face it, there are some oddities out there.

For example, in “World’s Kinkiest Nude Library Challenge”, an entry in the shuchi “shame” genre, a woman does crazy things while in a public library… totally naked, natch.

“Elf” sees a man have sex with a fairy-like girl with pointy ears.

“Daddy Quiz Daughter Sex” has a father tied up and forced to watch as his daughter is raped by men in masks if he gets questions wrong.

We think the titles of “Human Farm Cow Girls Orgy” and “Tokyo Manko Pussy Park” are self-explanatory as least of the concept, if not the logic!

There are even JAV porn films starring sex dolls and women dressed in kigurumi masks.

And all this stuff is actually fair mainstream compared to some of the more seemingly dangerous, extreme fetish, and legally dubious titles out there.

Now we want to introduce a brilliant and original subgenre of Japanese porn: The superhero heroine film.

“Heroine Pinch Letizia Red Rose” stars Yuri Hatano while “Heroine Tobatsu 63″ stars Chika Arimura.

Both are very rare JAV films made by a small label and with limited availability.

Both feature the two heroines having to fight the forces of evil while dressed up in costumes resembling a kind of Japanese tokusatsu TV show like “Power Rangers”. There are lots of special effects — okay, it’s hardly state-of-the-art CGI — and outlandish settings.

And of course there is sex, usually with our ass-kicking heroines being tortured and having to screw their way out of dire situations. After all, a gal’s gotta use what talents and skills she has, right?

We guess the appeal is partly cosplay — the girl’s are dressed up in tight, sexy costumes that have all sorts of appeal to our younger, happier selves. (After all, who doesn’t have fond memories of the rubber-suited Cat Woman?) There is plenty of retro kitsch in the visuals but it’s emotionally deeper than that, since these ladies are tough. They fight and beat up people, protecting weaker men. And yet they are still be seduced and defeated by men.

If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of one, report back on your impressions. Meanwhile, we will keep our beady eyes on porn label Giga and see if they make more for our viewing pleasure.

Our exquisite sexpot this week is slinky Akane Suzuki, born 1984.

The Gravure idol has been absent from our lives for a while now after a career of gradually increasingly revealing photo shoots.

She went out with a bang, ending by stripping complete nude in 2010. Since then we have seen no appearances by Akane but we can still hope for a (suitably scantily clad) comeback one day…

Last summer photography Manabu Koga delighted us with his series of sexy photographs of slinky girls swimming underwater in various states of undress.

Now he’s back with a follow-up, Underwater Knee-High Girls plus, released this October.

Sexy Japanese girls in knee-high socks, diving underwater. The concept is unchanged — when it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! — though this time the slender maidens having some incongruous props like umbrellas and raincoats, meccha gear, and even rabbit ears.

The models include Risu Shima and Manami Yamaguchi, who was also in the first book.

More of this please!

It’s high time we talked about otoko no ko (also written otokonoko) (男の娘). The name of course is a play on the word for “boy” but whose characters mean “male daughter”. As we know, the word for daughter (musume) is also employed a lot to mean “cute young girl”, and that’s the nuance here.

The phrase has been used since the 2000′s. A otoko no ko is a cross-dressing cosplayer, who dresses as a girl for certain occasions. It’s a unusual combination of cosplay culture, sexuality, and (in a way) otaku culture (it’s quite geeky as subcultures go). It took the world of men dressed as women in video games, manga and anime, and made it three-dimensional.

This is not the same as Japan’s vibrant gay subculture. Otoko no ko come more from the streets of Harajuku or Akihabara than Shinjuku’s Nichome. They could be gay or bi, though not necessarily. It’s about the costume, the “play” of the female, infused with references to anime and manga.

[Image source]

The results are highly feminized boys, rather than a simple boy-dressed-as-a-girl scenario.

And it is also not quite to be confused with general cross-dressing, often known as josoko (女装子). An otoko no ko is not a transsexual or drag queen in the way people think of them in the west. (And if we are listing terminology, we can’t avoid “New Half” (ニューハーフ), which is the usual word these days for full transsexuals.)

Japan’s cross-dressing culture is harder to define, even for a gender-bending world that is hard to define anywhere and any time.

[Image source]

Kabuki still continues to feature men who only ever play female roles (onnagata) while, on the contrary, Takarazuka is the revue that has only female performers, some of whom are assigned to playing men for their whole careers. And yet the biggest fans are women, who admire the showiness of it all, the flamboyant sexiness of the “men”.

And then there are entertainers like Akihiro Miwa and Matsuko Deluxe, who are more like drag queens or “conventional” transsvestites. Miwa also has yellow hair these days and is openly gay.

What is interesting is how otoko no ko culture has been developing. There are shops and maid cafes, books and photo books, and, as you’d expect, specialist porn.

But now Tama Toys, who focus on kawaii-style sex toys, have been releasing a whole line of interesting products, ostensibly for otoko no ko, though there’s nothing to stop anyone trying them.

This extends from panties to manicure sets, wigs, and more. There’s also an “anus smell” lotion so you can add some aromatic touches to your body.

There are even these new panties with sanitary pads so you can pretend you are menstruating!

And for the really realistic finish, you can add Camel Toe Underpants or Vagina Panties.

We seem to be witnessing a real otoko no ko boom, with many new shops and places opening. Meanwhile, the popular cross-dressing event Propaganda, held in Shinjuku, was attended by 400 people in August, some 70% of whom were dressed as “otoko no ko idols”.

In one interview recently quoted in the media, Ruru (22) said he (should we say “she” here?) works during the day and once a month gets the chance to cross-dress. “I can change myself into something different and be liberated of all the stress of male society.”

Propaganda has been held on the last Saturday of every month since 2007, growing from its first event with just 50 people to be a large festival.

Sociologists might talk about the pressure on men in Japan. Businessmen not allowed to show feelings or express opinions in gray working environments that value seniority and obedience over merit or talent. But we’ll leave the generalizing to the scholars. Certainly Japan has a long and rich gay history and (separately or otherwise) a vibrant culture of cross-dressing that extends to the present, free of moral qualms or assumptions about sexuality.

For now, we’re just admire the sheer wealth and countercultural defiance of otoko no ko.

While the Tokyo Game Show last weekend ultimately did not feature Sony’s divisive “Summer Lesson” demo for the Project Morpheus HMD headset, it did have some virtual boyfriends instead.

One booth at TGS 2014 showcased virtual dating and romance apps so women could get their perfect partner. The only snag is that the man in question does not exist in reality.

Voltage Romance Apps features a series of smartphone social apps with fake boyfriends for lonely women. They even have English-language versions adapted for North American audiences.

The average user is a 30-year-old Japanese female.

Room Share Love Days provides a virtual male flatmate who is cute and useful around the home. He supplies chocolates and flowers, and can even hug you… all at the press of the button.

They are even treading into the realm of bestiality. Okay, not really, but there is some cosplay SIm dating with animal themes, including cat-eared boyfriends which the female users keep as “pets” on their phones.

“The cat boyfriend — which has cat’s ears and a human body — is most popular, as its the most sophisticated,” said a spokesperson for developer Ambition, according to AFP. These “animal boyfriends” can be ordered to “study,” or “work” — that is, buy new clothes and accessories for you. In other words, you get your own half-animal, half-human slave.

Another developer, Sunsoft, is apparently focussing its efforts on Boys’ Love (yayoi, gay storylines, with young pretty men)… aimed at female users.

Well, we are seeing a big (if belated) increase in female porn and sex toys in Japan. Is this one effect of this?

While we are all for women enjoying the fruits of a democratic, liberated sex industry (after all, the guys have long had such apps as Love Plus), we do worry what this will do for Japan’s demographic crisis!

Who says otaku can’t be book worms? After all, they certainly read a lot of manga. And obsession can be a form of erudition.

An otaku magazine is currently offering a freebie for readers. Nothing special in that, though. In Japan this practice is known as omake and has become a staple in fashion magazines. But we’ll take this freebie over any brand bag.

It’s a book cover — and one with breasts!

The boobs in question are supposed to belong to Rias Gremory, the main heroine in the light novel, manga and anime “High School DxD”.

Needless to say, as you read you rest your hands on Rias’s ample boobies.

If you fancy it, get your hands (ha ha!) on the November issue of Dragon Magazine, a light novel magazine. The shock and glee of Japanese netizens has been vocal on social media and bulletin boards for the past few days.

So we’ve had oppai busty breast mouse pads for a long now. Why not book covers with breasts? It would certainly encourage kids to head to the library.

And the makers are claiming this is a world-first so perhaps rumors of the death of Japanese tech innovation have been exaggerated after all?

Still, we always prefer the real thing in the end.

And we also know that there are better silicone oppai out there for the more serious breasts lovers.

We all know that trains are far from the safest places for women in Japan, so full of would-be gropers the train companies have had to introduce women-only carriages in recent years.

Well, now you can add buses to your list of danger zones.

Why? Because police arrested a middle-aged bus driver for trying to kiss a female passenger.

The 54-year-old Kunihiko Nakanishi apparently attempt to plant a smooch on the forehead of a teenaged girl in March this year. Nakanishi is alleged to have stopped the bus he was driving mid-route while there were no other passengers on board except the girl, who was a stranger to him.

The incident occurred in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku, Japan’s fourth largest island.

We’re not sure why it took so long but Nakanishi was only arrested for his attempted kiss on September 22nd.

No sooner had we blogged an odd story about a bus driver trying to kiss his lone teenaged passenger in Tokushima, then along comes another peculiar tale of groping on the subway.

Two Chiba residents have been arrested by Tokyo police on suspicion of trying to grope a woman on the Tokyo subway during the morning rush hour.

The men — a 24-year-old Tokyo court assistant and a 39-year-old Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank employee — are accused of both groping the same woman on a subway train at around 8am on September 25th.

It is unknown if the two knew each other or how they came to launch their two-pronged attack (perhaps they had communicated online as some gropers are known to do), but they both deny the charges.

The incident apparently happened on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line between Kiba and Monzen-Nakacho stations.

The victim was a female company employee in her twenties. The banker went for her chest while the court assistant had his wandering hands on her ass.

Another male passenger witnessed the alleged groping and together with the victim was able to hold onto the men until they could be handed over to the police.

While some idol groups make a lot of money, the idols themselves are not getting rich per se. The management companies keep them on salaries representing their worth and this is a policy reflected across the Japanese entertainment industry.

That said, this is the first time we’ve heard of a Japanese idol group deliberately launched in poverty.

Japanese idol culture has been accused of moral bankruptcy in the past but The Margarines have a combined debt of ¥127.7 million (over $1 million). Aged from 19 to 30, these ladies are floundering in financial woes due to student debts, a failed family business, moving costs, and other problems that have left them in the red. The idea is that if you’ve got nothing left to lose, you can dream big.

In another novelty, the nine-member group even has a non-Japanese member, Marie Christine Krause, who is 22 and from Germany (and similarly in debt).

The concept for the group was announced in July and now the actual insolvent members have been finalized. “Goodbye Shakkin Tengoku” (Goodbye Debt Heaven), the band’s first single, will come out in December but will it be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Don’t worry, these girls are allowed to date. The only problem is whether they can afford to! You may end up paying for everything.

Still, we can think of one way that these nine girls could raise money quickly… by offering fans much more than just music releases.

We reported a little while ago about the fantastic news that Tenga was giving something back by organizing a special beach clean-up event at Enoshima.

Participants competed to fill up their garbage bag with trash on the beach within 90 minutes. If you could get a full bag, you got a free sex toy, a Tenga Egg or Pocket Tenga.

This means you can put your hand on your heart whenever your girlfriend or someone criticizes you for hanging on to your trusty onahole, sex machine or other masturbation aid: sex toys are good for the planet!

Well, in case you couldn’t make it to the event itself, Tenga has published a photo report about the day on its official blog.

People gathered where they saw the flag for “18′s only”. Around 200 people heard about the event online and then headed to Enoshima to take part.

This is the Enoshima regional mascot, here posing with some sexy girls. It begs the question: Do mascots get horny?

After the hard day’s work, feel free to have some me-time with your Tenga, folks. You earned it.

A doujin-made comic cooking book is provoking some eyebrow-raising online.

The title for Oyako to shimai o oishiku itadaku 15 no houhou translates literally as “15 ways to deliciously eat mothers-and-daughters and sisters”. What the heck does that mean? No, the creators, doujinshi Poisson Rouge, are not promoting cannibalism. Certain dishes in their book are classified as “mother-and-daughter” recipes, while others are “sister” dishes.

It’s a pun on Oyako-don, a common dish whose name literally means “parent-and-child rice bowl”.

While the concept is pretty interesting in itself, the choice of dishes in the recipe book are fairly ordinary.

What really makes this “gourmet comic” stand out is its approach to the illustrations!

Certainly a lot more lively than the usual cooking book!

Here are some previous comics/cooking books by Poisson Rouge.

It’s certainly one sure-fire way to get boys into the kitchen to help with the cooking.

A little while ago the Gravure world was stunned by the sudden appearance of a gorgeous model called Rara Anzai. She made her debut in a nude shoot for a magazine that fully showed off her incredible bust and body to the full.

In fact, a little bit of digging by those in the know revealed that Rara Anzai is actually Shion Utsunomiya, a JAV porn star popular in Japan (and Korea). It is common for stars to remake themselves under new names, often when their career goes through a change or when they change agencies, since the management does not have the rights to their previous stage name.

Rara Anzai/Shion Utsunomiya is a porn star still only 20 years old. Her G-cup (“the bust of god”) first burst onto the scene last year.

Onahole masturbator sleeves come (no pun intended) in all shapes and sizes, as well as neat “extras”.

There are ones with breasts. There are ones with mouths. There are ones with hands and even ones with fingers.

And then there is the Japanese Footjob Onahole, which has been designed to give the sensation of a hot Japanese girl rubbing your member with the soles of her feet.

A stable of Japanese porn (JAV), the foot rub (ashi-koki) is an erotic experience slower and more delicate than the standard handjob (te-koki) but it allows you to look down at the girl at the far end of your body, working her magic gradually with her feet.

This is a very well done sex toy. Obviously the concept is cool and works well, since you can hook the feet around your cock and control it as fast or slow as you like. The toes are small and cute, just like a sweet young Japanese girl’s.

The “feet” themselves are pretty smooth. With some lube you will get some traction but if you want things to move at a faster pace, you need some grip. And that’s the clever trick of the Japanese Footjob Onahole. It comes with two socks that you can slip over the feet and these have special padding to give a better stroking effect. And they also mean you can get the experience of another aspect of the footjob fetish, where they girl wears socks or tights while tickling the man with her feet.

Otoko no Ko “male daughter” cross-dressing cosplay is really getting big in Tokyo now. The fetish subculture has its only monthly event in Shinjuku called Propaganda. There are shops, maid cafes and even special photobooks.

Even more intriguingly, there are many Otoko no Ko cosplay adult toys too, mostly created by Tama Toys — from anus smell sprays to manicure sets, panties, bras, garter, wigs and more!

Well, now there is a way to check the time online with a Otoko no Ko flavor!

Keen-eyed readers may see a connection here to the successful Bijin Tokei series of digital clock apps that have cute amateur girls. The “Beauty Clock” concept expanded and has produced many spin-offs over the years, from porn stars to gyaru, race queens and more.

On otokonoko-tokei every minute a new genuine “male daughter” crossdresser will flash up holding a sign showing you the time.

If any of the guys (girls?) take your fancy, you can see the full listing here. One of the odd things among many, though, is that several of the models seem to be the same person, just with a different name. This suggests that the project hasn’t really taken off as hoped, despited being launched over 18 months ago.

It’s that time of year again. Every year we snigger gleefully at the return of the “flip-a-skirt” calendar.

The tribute to groping in paper form allows you to see the dates by literally lifting up the skirt of a cute girl!

And the best thing is that it is a high school girl’s skirt too! She even has cute knee-high socks on.

And just to make the men feel better, note that the calendar is designed by a female designer (Kaori Kato) — so it can’t be sexist, right?

Available in blue or gray, the concept and look of the 2015 calendar is much the same as in previous years. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

We also found a fun variation. We aren’t sure if this one is available for 2015 but here is a “steam girl” calendar for 2014, based on the idol group of the same name.

Saying that, perhaps you can’t beat doing this for real.

If you fancy getting your hands on the 2015 Flip a Skirt Calendar, get in touch with KanojoToys.

We’ve been watching the development of the mini sex doll trend in Japanese sex toys with some excitement. Alongside this you can still find lots of larger masturbators and onaholes devoted to replicating more than just the “hole”. After all, there’s more to a woman than just her you-know-what between her legs!

For example, there are lots of great buttocks and thighs onaholes that lay down flat on a table (flatbed-style, as they are sometimes known).

The Yume Namagoshi Dream Hips Doll Onahole is one such. The publicity photos show a truly gorgeous model, though officially this isn’t based on a JAV porn star per se. (Does anyone know the star in the photos? The makers don’t seem to tell you. It might be Julia?)

We’ve long argued that, contrary to stereotypes, Japanese women DO have nice hips. If you search, you’ll find curvy girls out there!

The Yume Namagoshi has a name that means “Dream Raw Waist/Hips” and what you get is a woman’s lower half with the legs either in the air (you only get the top part of the legs, though, enough to make a nice grip) or on her front, with her hot butt there for you to hold as you plough into her tight passages.

Alongside the kupaa labia lips that are designed to close tight around you, there are both anal and vaginal holes, plus unusually the holes are “full air release hole” types — i.e. they aren’t sealed so there will be less of a vacuum effect inside. Some guys prefer this as it allows you to push faster and harder.

We’ve been reading some interesting reports about goings-on in Osaka, which despite its inferior size compared to Tokyo, is often the first to try certain trends. And we suspect this might be the case here.

Following a recent series of arrests and police raids on “suspicious” maid cafes and schoolgirl “massage” parlors in Akihabara and elsewhere, the JK girl services are rebranding to get around the child labor laws. Now the high school girl parlors as so-called taiiki-suwari cafes.

A new addition to the Japanese erotic lexicon!

These cafes of course have a no-touching policy. Officially all you can do is chat to the girls, who are obviously dressed in school uniforms and may well be of school age. Drinks are available, but you buy them from a vending machine outside (so the girls aren’t serving the drinks).

Most importantly, they are sitting in the taiiku-suwari (or -zuwari) position, which looks like this.

The pose (literally meaning “physical education sitting”) is an idea from schools, where students hold their legs while they sit in gym class. Japanese kids are taught to do this. Naturally, if you’re wearing a skirt rather than regular gym clothes, the world can see the zettai ryouiki and your panties.

So would you pay ¥2,000 (around $20) for 20 minutes to talk to a maybe-maybe-not underage schoolgirl sitting like this?

We look forward to the taiiku-suwari cafes arriving in Tokyo.

Our friends over at Japan Trends picked up on a very funny about this pop-up cafe about to open this weekend in Harajuku where women (we presume only women) can get the experience of being pressed up against a wall by a hunky guy.

This is known as kabe-don in Japan and typically sees a hot guy with his hand on the wall by the girl’s face. She has her back for the wall and her face angled up, waiting for him to plant a smooch on her lips.

Only at the Morinaga Kabe-don Cafe, the “hunk” is a mannequin.

Yes, we’re not kidding. If you go to the cafe and try one of two new Morinaga dessert products, you get rewarded by a kabe-don session with an artificial waiter.

We don’t really hear much (or anything) of sex dolls for women in Japan so could this be a first?

Of course, there are butler cafes — like maid cafes, but with male butlers and female patrons — but this is a whole new development in the world of the Japanese erotic.

Check it out at SoLaDo Harajuku every weekend for the rest of this month.

At last, the first major Nogizaka46 scandal!

The idol group’s Sayuri Matsumura has been snapped kissing a man. But unlike her peers in AKB48 who tend to have affairs with their managers or with their otaku fans, Sayuri has opted for a guy in his thirties already married with a kid!

The tabloid Shukan Bungei ran the photos this week showing Sayuri on the street in the arms of the man.

Way to piss off your management, “betray” your fans, AND play up to the fantasies of older male admirers all at the same time, Sayuri!

The 22-year-old Sayuri has tearfully apologized but we wait to see what punishment she gets.

Her excuse was that she got drunk — shocking behavior for an idol! — proving that the old tactics are still the best.

In the picture you can clearly see the guy holding down her arms, which is a nice touch.

Apparently this wasn’t the pair’s first date and they spent a loving day doing karaoke. Let’s hope that Sayuri isn’t forced to shave her head and that her agency doesn’t sue her.

Calling all plush doll fans! Our friends at KanojoToys have told us they have the possibility to work with Japan’s leading makers of foam sex dolls, Dekunoboo.

The idea is to create a special KanojoToys-exclusive, KanojoToys-designed plush doll.

Following the previous collaboration with a sex toy maker which led to the very nice Chokyo Shojo Bondage Virgin Manami Sujiman Onahole (its popularity surprised even us!), everyone is very excited about what we can do with a whole doll.

Nothing is final yet but first KanojoToys wanted to collect ideas from fans. What kind of sex doll would you like to see made?

You can let them know on their Facebook page or just leave a comment here.

Check out the Dekunoboo dolls currently on sale at KanojoToys for more ideas.

So what are you waiting for?! Put your brainstorming caps! Your fantasy doll might just become a reality.