Japan is a country where the Kanamara penis festival (held yesterday) is fine but the depiction of the female genitalia is not.

The two arrests of Rokudenashiko (Megumi Igarashi) have caused a furore around the world — to be accurate, mostly around the world, not in Japan. The overseas press is much more interested in the tale of Igarashi and her arrests for distributing “obscene” materials.

Igarashi calls herself a “vagina artist”. Her artist name means “Good-For-Nothing Girl” and she has proved up to the image, not least in the eyes of the vice squad.

Her “art of the vagina” series consists of figures, models and other artworks based on her genitalia. Most originally she even created a “vagina kayak”.

The 40-something artist has been arrested twice. She displayed a plaster cast of her vagina in an exhibition at an adult shop in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, between October 2013 and July 2014. She was eventually charged for this “offense” when she was arrested in December 2014.

Her first arrest was in summer 2014 because she used 3D data of her pussy to create things, and then distributed the data to people who had crowdfunded an exhibition.

Images of genitalia is still “obscene” in Japan and only occasionally permitted (“tasteful” hair nude photo shoots, certain comedic scenes in films).

Igarashi has now written a book about her experiences.

“What is ‘obscenity’? Rokudenashiko, who was called ‘self-proclaimed artist’” (ワイセツって何ですか？-「自称芸術家」と呼ばれた私-ろくでなし子) refers to two main issues in the case.

Firstly, what is “obscene” and why is it only the police get to draw up the arbitrary definitions? Secondly, why did the domestic media belittle Igarashi by always introducing her as a “self-proclaimed artist”? The qualifier is indicative of the suspicion and lack of sympathy the mainstream media had for her plight. So much for freedom of expression.

Proving her critics wrong, Igarashi has even written the book as a manga comic — now is still a “self-proclaimed” artist?

Yoo Ra-seong is not one of the most famous Korean actresses but she has made a big splash in “Affair” (Mil-ae), released in 2014.

The erotic film is about a torrid love affair — no surprise! — between a curator and photographer.

Yoo Ra-seong also made headlines just before the film got its July release in Korea, when she appeared in a see-through black dress at the 18th Puchon International Film Festival. As we’ve blogged about before, Korean actresses have scandalized the film festival circuit with their dresses that leave little to the imagination.

First scene is a seduction on a sofa, followed by a session up against a wall and then from behind against a mirror. Nice.

The next sees Yoo Ra-seong seduce her man on a bed, where she undresses him and then sucks his cock. Then she rides him on the bed with some impressive close-ups of her sliding his cock inside her, and then her butt grinding on his groin.

The last scene is the most explicit.

Yoo Ra-seong is naked while she lies on her back on top of a man screwing her.

One odd thing is that she tends to leave at least one item of clothing on her. But don’t worry that changes soon enough. The moments when she is being screwed horizontally from behind, as filmed from above, are very nice.

Regular readers will recall the big fuss that was made when Yui Ichikawa appeared in a film last year called Umi wo kanjiru toki (When I Sense the Sea).

People got excited because it promised to have some nude scenes with the popular twenty-something actress.

She also stripped off for Anan, a women’s lifestyle and fashion magazine that occasionally likes to indulge in semi-pornographic photo shoots with various Japanese models.

Well, the film came and went, and now has been released on DVD, so the web is already full of screen grabs of the “sexy” scenes.

As we expected, the fuss didn’t really merit the results. There are just a few shots of the slim Yui Ichikawa’s body.

A few of her modest bust and one of her butt.

It’s hardly stuff to rival the Korean ladies’ cinematic achievements.

As we’ve written about before, very few Japanese actresses do nude scenes (called nureba, literally “wet points”), with the exception of the ever-reliable Rinko Kikuchi and Naoko Watanabe (and sadly just once, Yuriko Yoshitaka), and even films overtly sold as “erotic” are actually pretty tame.

Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and Yui does look lovely in the film.

Japanese TV is even tamer than mainstream movies.

However, Yui Ichikawa has previously tempted us with her body in the drama Last Cinderella.

A “trailer” for “Pizap Shake Your Body & Soul” by Marvelous Entertainment has been generating some horny mirth in Japan and overseas.

The virtual reality game parody video has been created by the “Department of Hyper Enormous Boobage Development” to showcase “New Rinjokan”, a game machine offering a more realistic experience.

The solution to the problem of perfectly swaying breasts was apparently “Pizap” (don’t ask us how this is different to what they call “New Rinjokan”).

To use the product, the player has to run on a conveyor belt to make the breasts on a mannequin shake. This will give you infinite pleasure.

It will extend your life and lead to a healthier life, “some scientists say”. And the more you play the more popular you become with ladies… apparently.

However, there is a “anti-crime system” that stops overly enthusiastic guys taking off the bra to see the bust.

Swaying and shaking giant busts (bakunyu) are a big fantasy in Japan, which has also inspired more than its fair share of parodies.

The “game” is supposed to be under development by Marvelous Entertainment (of course, not really), the publisher of “Senran Kagura”, a game loved for its busty female characters.

The new PS4 game “Senran Kagura: Estival Versus” has just come out so this is a neat marketing ploy.

The publisher also released another sexually themed parody last year, the Head Mount π-Play.

We all like to compare numbers, especially when it comes to the number of people you’ve slept with.

But we accept defeat when it comes to Yuhei Takashima, who has apparently admitted to sex with over 12,000 women.

That’s not a typo: more than twelve thousand!

The former Yokohama school principal was not just into the sex itself. He also catalogued his incredible feat.

Over 27 years he allegedly archived almost 150,000 photographs of his sexual exploits with prostitutes in 400 neatly filed red albums.

Takashima is aged 64 but his “career” goes back to 1988 when he went to work at a Japanese school in Manila for three years. A strong yen and a cheap sex industry made for an unhealthy combination.

Since his first encounter, Takashima reportedly went on three sex tours a year to the Philippines. His 65 visits totalled up to 12,700 sexual exchanges, which is an average of one per day for every day of his life since his first visit. Obviously he was in Japan most of the time so he must have been frequenting multiple prostitutes every day (and night).

These prostitutes were aged between 14 and 70, indicating the catholic nature of Takashima’s tastes. 10% were under the age of 18, Takashima is said to have admitted to police.

He has said he enjoyed the “strong feeling of liberation from the restraints of ethics”. The last photo in his collection is labelled “12,660″.

His downfall? He was arrested in January 2014 for having sex in a Manila hotel with a minor. Philippine police also gave the Japanese police information in September 2013 when they caught Takashima paying a girl aged 13-14 around ¥2,500 for sex. However, because they could not identify the girl, he was not charged with soliciting a child prostitute.

Police have now seized his amazing 147,600-strong catalogue of sex.

He faces charges of possession of child pornography because he took photos of what he did with the underage girl.

Kanagawa Prefectural Police can prosecute Takashima under special laws for crimes committed overseas.

He may also have to return his retirement bonus to the education board. Since his retirement as junior high school principal in 2011 Takashima had been working as an editor of an educational publication.

Tenga is having a massive year to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

It has continued its series of special new releases for the milestone with the Tenga Condoms.

While the condoms themselves are regular sleeves (natural color, natural-type tip), the packaging is awesome. Each of the condoms in the six-pack comes in its own mini case (common in Japan) with an individual pop art design.

The six are then stored in a round case that looks like it could house almost anything (sweets, snuff, a monocle) except condoms! As discreet and stylish as Tenga always is.

As usual the marketing is also fun, with lots of shots of young couples posing with the condoms.

This year is turning out to be a bonanza and it’s still only spring.

We have already seen the Tenga Vacuum Controller last month, which is Tenga’s first sex machine and works with the Onacup series.

And in January Tenga kicked off its celebrations with the special Premium Vacuum Onacup.

As you can see from these products and its past ones, the “Apple of the Japanese adult industry” still maintains its usual chic, yet minimal approach to the design of its products.

The new Tenga Condoms are more pop and playful, but this also isn’t new. In the past Tenga has released Keith Haring-themed products.

The Tenga Condoms also come at a time when Japanese condom makers are really doing interesting things.

Okamoto recently released its Zero One Condoms, which are a mere 0.01mm — the world’s thinnest possible condoms.

Cynics and/or enthusiasts will also spot that Okamoto’s ultra-thin contraceptives are a kind of rip-off of a much-acclaimed condom by Sagami, the Original 0.01 Condom (as the name suggests, also 0.01mm), though hopefully the Okamoto ones won’t be as hard to find as the notoriously rare Sagami model.

Japanese condom makers have to try hard, though, because a lot of (most?) couples don’t use condoms (Japan is ranked among the lowest in world for condom usage). As such, they are forced to employ unusual marketing strategies to draw interest to their rubbery products.

Art imitates life, as the aphorism goes, but life also imitates art.

Visitors to Japan are sometimes disappointed that the country doesn’t live up to the stereotypes: Where are the geisha? Where are the robots? Where are the hordes of anime girls?

Where are all the molesters on the trains? Wait, what? Yes, some people are actually expecting to see this.

Japan may be paying the price for being the empire of porn.

It’s overseas reputation is not quite as “cool” as the government might like. Instead, foreigners are seemingly coming to Japan expecting the nation to be like they have experienced it through porn. Naturally this leads to some problems.

A story, which we can’t verify, has been spreading that three Chinese foreigners were recently arrested in separate incidents (the source of the news is Chinese-language media).

They face up to six months in prison, possible 10 years if it is assault, or fines of ¥500,000 (over $4,000). All because they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.

What happened?

One suspect tried to snap a photo up a girl’s skirt on an escalator.

The second apparently touched a girl’s ass in an adult good store.

The third lifted up the skirt of a woman while on a train.

So it’s not just the Italians who commit sexual offenses on public transport in Japan!

One of the suspects is alleged to have expressed surprise at his arrest. He told police: “I watched Japanese adult videos and thought the people here were open about sex. I thought gropers were everywhere.”

There is an irony to all this. When US soldiers commit sex crimes in Okinawa, they are usually not even charged by the Japanese police (the jurisdiction instead likes with the US military).

Somehow we doubt the police will be so “generous” with Chinese tourists.

Some ladies on Twitter have amused us by trying to copy an anime character.

Well, there’s absolutely nothing new about that. But this is cosplay with a particular focus on one body part — one of our favorites.

The girls attempted to copy Hestia from DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) and her trademark costume: revealing white shirt and blue ribbon, which runs tantalizingly under her boobs and around her arms.

The TV anime adaptation of the light novel was shown on TV for the first time recently and it got some lovely ladies thinking…. Could I do what Hestia is doing?

Image: @aiya23mt08cos

Image: @keno_kasumi

Image: @keno_kasumi

Image: @keno_kasumi

Image: @sekaisouzousin

Were the girls successful?

Well, the response was fairly muted so I don’t think we have Japan’s next big meme quite yet.

Still, there are apparently male imitators too.

Anyone who has ever seen some of the more extreme or, ahem, unusual entries in the pantheon of Japanese adult video will be aware of ryoujoku (or ryojoku).

It’s where the woman is treated in a “degraded” way, as someone violated or disgraced — like a shamed woman. (The actual meaning of ryoujoku can be sexual assault, i.e. rape, or also “disgrace”.)

A common scene in Japanese porn will have the girl treated like a “human toilet” and phrases written on her body to “shame” her.

Here is Mika Osawa demonstrating the genre.

The graffiti might say things like “¥200 for one use”, “pervert urinal”, “slut”, “penetration this way” and so on.

The Ryoujoku Stockings allow you to indulge in this power fantasy without the hard work of doing the writing.

All you need to do is slip these tights on and you are instantly transformed into a degraded woman, with the insulting text written on the skin-colored stockings.

So put your pens away but get your darkest fantasies out.

It’s the Chinese turn to be Weird Asians of the Week.

An AFP-Jiji article doing the rounds promises that “high-end China sex dolls offer alternative to adultery”. Well, nothing wrong with that. Japan has been doing it for years!

Still, we think they need to do better branding. Apparently the “stand-in companion” is simply called “156″. Hardly has the same ring as “Candy Girl”, does it?

Named for her height, she is a high-quality sex doll made of thermoplastic elastomer, a rubbery material softer than silicone, with adjustable hands, a removable head and genitals, and available from specialist shops in Beijing for around $2,500.

Elastomer is used in Japan for many masturbator toys but the best dolls are actually made of silicone, as opposed to latex in America.

The article focuses on the clients for the Chinese dolls.

Liu has been married for more than a decade, and does not want to be unfaithful, but still needs to satisfy his sexual appetite.

“Honestly, it is very easy to just pay a little money to find a woman in China, but I simply cannot bring myself to cheat on my wife, so I have never considered it,” he said with a nervous laugh.

But a blow-up alternative was not an option.

“There was no way I would have sex with that kind of cheap inflatable plastic,” he said.

Instead he forked out 15,800 yuan, almost a month’s pay, for his more realistic Chinese-made 156.

Her removable parts make cleaning or replacement easier, but despite lengthy prior research — Liu can explain subtle differences between an exhaustive list of Chinese and foreign doll brands — he was disappointed.

“As an industrial designer I can’t neglect the lack of realistic details,” he lamented. “So I just used it a few times.

“The only way a doll is better than a woman is that it won’t resist, so people can do whatever they want with it,” he added.

Not realistic or detailed enough? He should have tried an Orient Industry model!

The article claims that sometimes it is even users’ wives who make the purchase.

“The Chinese sex toy market is estimated at up to 100 billion yuan per year,” it says, though that hasn’t been without pressure from the puritanical Communist Party.

The one-child policy has also led to too many men and not enough men.

“Many young men in China have difficulty finding girlfriends or socializing with women… That’s why they might use a doll as (a) replacement.”

Go into a kiosk in a station on the Tokyo Metro subway system and take a look at the drinks.

There’s always a colorful selection of beverages.

But perhaps none quite so colorful as this.

In fact, the energy drink is proving so popular you may not even be able to find a can of Ojo-sama Seisui, which translates as “fair lady’s holy water”. Since April 1st the drink has been on sale at Tokyo Metro station shops.

There’s even a catchy bit of copy: “The goddess inside me awakens”!

The drink is apparently full of healthy and beautifying ingredients, but the name is a jaw-dropper.

Of course, regular readers of this blog will know that seisui or “holy water” is a euphemism for urine or golden showers, and has inspired its own kinds of adult products.

Take a look at the brand’s ad, which seems more like an anime fantasy film, full of maidens on horseback.

According to the tabloids, Ojo-sama Seisui is getting popular with male commuters.

The product is actually part of a series of “beauty energy drinks” and other unusual cosme items marketed in the same moe way.

Still, wouldn’t you rather have some of the real thing?

Sometimes Japan, you defeat even us.

We love all its kinkiness and its vibrant sex scene, and we deplore the hypocrisy of the establishment that puts people like Megumi Igarashi on trial or who censor gay art.

We’ve seen a lot of Japanese porn — perhaps too much. Surely nothing can take us by surprise anymore.

Wrong.

Take this segment of a game show called “Tekoki Karaoke” (Hand Job Karaoke).

Mainstream entertainment, this ain’t.

The contestants have to sing karaoke while being jerked off by a girl. Who is wearing a hot nurse uniform (playing on porn tropes, natch) and whispering sweet things into your ear.

Obviously you don’t see the cock being tugged by the lady, so this might all be fake (we suspect it is), but one lady even has a go at giving her victim a foot job too.

Can they rack up enough points without letting their load go?

If they get over 90 points they stand to win ¥1 million… or something like that. We lost track of what the goal was, as we suspect also did the “unfortunate” contestants.

The three ladies in the TV show are supposed to be a trio of sex workers skilled at giving hand jobs to patrons.

The show is Tokui Chuck, presented by Yoshimi Tokui and the lovely Gravure model Risa Yoshiki.

The show claims to be the “adult entertainment you definitely want to see” and is broadcast on SKY PerfecTV!, a satellite channel. The same broadcaster (also called SKY PerfecTV!) gave us the 24-Hour TV: Eroticism Saves the Earth event (which includes the very worthy Boob Aid, where you can squeeze a breast to help raise money for charity) and the annual Adult Broadcasting Awards, which gives prizes to Japanese porn stars. Clearly SKY PerfecTV! is catering towards a certain demographic.

We have to take our hats off to the producers for their originality here. There is a precedent, though.

Another segment of a show called “Poko x Tate: Orgasm Wars” once had straight (and now disgraced) porn star Ryou Sawai being sucked off by oral sex expert (and gay bar owner) Takuya. The action itself was hidden in a box but the noises were more than enough to keep you entertained.

Still, compared to reality TV show “Susunu! Denpa Shonen”, which some have called inhumane, this is tame material!

We heard about this a few days ago but only now have nice pictures emerged.

And what pictures they are…

A new Fuji TV show called “Yoroi Bijo” (Armor Beautiful Girl) features hot Gravure models putting on and taking off suits of armor, known in Japanese as kacchu or yoroi.

As we know from a recent example, Japanese TV is not averse to some pretty risque and bizarre concept shows.

So if you have a thing for girls wearing shiny armor and other medieval costumes, then this is definitely the TV show for you.

The ladies wear the armor to demonstrate how nice and heavy it is. Then they take it off, piece by piece, while talking about history.

Finally, they write some calligraphy.

That’s it.

First up, we have Shoko Takasaki wearing Date Masamune’s armor. Okay, she does wear it — we promise!

Later in the year we can look forward to Yuka Kuramochi, she of the amazing butt, wearing the armor of Oda Nobunaga.

Kana Fujita is wearing Sanada Yukimura’s armor (but not for long).

And finally, the lovely Hitomi Yasueda is wearing Uesugi Kenshin’s suit.

A little while ago there was a craze for so-called reki-jo, female history buffs.

But this is different. It’s hot girls in historical cosplay heaven. Yoroi-moe!

There’s definitely plenty of other examples of this around.

The trope is called ikusa otome — a warrior maiden with a weapon.

Erotic fan art is full of these warriors, plus there are video games like “Ikusa Otome Valkyrie”. Here’s Rena Nonen (correct us if we’re wrong) in ikusa otome garb.

The fantasy has even inspired adult cosplay costumes too, not to mention its own masturbator toy.

Ladies, get ready for battle!

We know that Korean pop idols are way sexier than their Japanese counterparts.

They think little of grinding their bodies in ways that are more than just a little suggestive.

Sometimes it goes too far, as KARA have found out.

Dalshabet release their new mini-album “Joker Is Alive”, and with it, the music video for the title track, “joker”.

Unfortunately, the broadcaster KBS has judged the song to be too sexy and banned it.

Actually, it’s not the footage itself that’s the problem — though take a look below and you’ll be raising your eyebrows at the groin thrusting and legs on display.

Apparently it’s the lyrics that are too erotic for broadcast. The word “joker”, repeated frequently in the song, sounds like an “inappropriate” word.

Other offending lyrics included “Joker I want it / It’s getting hard to breathe / Baby goodnight.”

Talk about missing the wood for the trees!

Larger ladies can be cute.

Though few and far between in Japan, some degree of love handles come in very handy (literally) and make a nice contrast to the chopping-board flatness of many women.

Despite the lack, there is demand. We’ve even seen foreigners who deliberately wanted larger local ladies.

There are chubby girl idols, larger lady porn and sex clubs, and even fat girl-themed onahole sex toys.

The truth is a little bit pocchari is very sexy.

Naomi Watanabe is a comedienne and riding a popular trend right now for larger girls, who even have their own magazine. Needless to say, Watanabe was on the first cover.

People who are funny also never seem to have trouble finding lovers, no matter what they look like. Male comics in Japan and the world over usually have a hot lady (or two) on their arm.

Does this work for the girls too?

Well, we’re not qualified to say but we did hear recently that Naomi Watanabe had a fling with an older man — and a foreigner as well.

She was seen on a date with the dashing gaijin in Roppongi.

However, it all ended badly, it seems. She told the press that she wasn’t in touch with him anymore and that he was actually seeing other ladies at the same time. She didn’t elaborate if they were equally sized.

Naomi Watanabe is most famous for her imitations of Beyonce. We wonder if her brief foreign lover got to see her really shake her booty?

Japanese politics can be a dull affair.

That’s why when a candidate puts himself forward for consideration by the voting public in all his naked glory, people take notice.

Teruki Goto is standing in the April 26th Chiyoda ward assembly elections in central Tokyo. His campaign poster features his posing naked against a backdrop of imperialist iconography.

Images via GetNews.jp

His rambling website seems to place Goto firmly in the ultra-nationalist camp, though we wonder what the uyoku think about his nude antics.

The thirtysomething wannabe politico has stood before as an independent with the following English slogans:

I make Chiyoda-ku the best town. [sic]

In Tokyo 23 district [sic] I realize Chiyoda City Design.

I worship the Imperial Household.

I defend and maintain Yasukuni Shrine.

I restore Edo-jo castle [sic].

I make Akihabara a freak’s [sic] global holy place.

I redevelop Jimbocho and Ogawamachi.

I spread Edo Tenka Festival in the world. [sic]

I love Japan.

We’re not sure why a right-winger would fill his election poster only with text written (haphazardly) in a foreign language.

Note the weird spacing on his name: “GOT OTER UKI”.

What are the chances that Goto will be making a difference to the citizens of Chiyoda any time soon? Find out on polling day.

Japan’s most high-profile lesbian couple held a “wedding ceremony” on April 19th to celebrate their union.

The ceremony is literally just ceremonial, since gay people are not allowed to get married in Japan.

Ex-Gravure model and television personality Ayaka Ichinose (34) and actress Akane Sugimori (28) announced their “marriage” in December last year and have no followed through with the big day itself.

Same-sex marriage is finally becoming a major issue in Japan.

Hotel Granvia in Kyoto now offers gay wedding ceremonies, in partnership with a local Buddhist temple, as does Tokyo Disneyland.

Shibuya ward recently passed a landmark bill saying it will issue non-binding certificates effectively recognizing same-sex couples.

Ichinose and Sugimori opted for matching white dresses when they tied the knot in Shinjuku ward in front of 80 relatives and friends.

Despite having a vibrant gay history — do some research and you will very surprised how many famous samurai are allegedly to have been bisexual or gay — the Japanese government shows no interest in the rights of the gay community. Even though cross-dressing is a major part of mainstream and traditional culture, when it comes to confronting the particulars about sexual minorities, everyone shies away or shrugs.

Although overt anti-gay discrimination is probably relatively rare in Japan because Christianity and other moralistic religions never got a stranglehold, you usually have to venture to Nichome in Shinjuku if you want to see people really relaxed about who they are.

While parading a giant cock down a street in Kawasaki is fine, it’s not allowed for a gay photographer to show nude images in a gallery. Go figure.

“We held the wedding ceremony so that it might become easier for others to do the same in the future,” Sugimori told the media.

Apparently they are going to try to register their marriage with their local municipal office, knowing it will be rejected. However, doing this creates pressure at the grassroots (don’t expect the central government to give a shit any time soon).

For anyone interested, this is what Ichinose used to look like when she was a Gravure idol in her younger days.

This just goes to show that not all those busty models and idols who have to pose for the attention of the male gaze are actually interested in men!

Pepee has long been the top Japanese lubricant brand.

Their previous lubes include such classics as Pepee 360 Wankers Lotion. Many of the small lubes that come as freebies with onaholes are made by Pepee.

But this is a truly great innovation that offers something new for the market.

The Pepee Gelee is a set of powder sachets that turn anything into lubricant.

Beer. Wine. Juice. Milk. Water.

You name it, you can lube up with it.

Just pour in the sachet and stir. Obviously this opens up the possibilities for all manner of flavored lube.

Pepee have made this funny parody video in the style of a corporate product presentation event.

Regular readers will spot that the second man in this video is Takuya, the gay bar owner and blow job expert.

Here’s a second video where two “famous DJs” experience the Pepee Gelee.

Japanese television at its finest indeed.

Fuji TV have released a preview to “Yoroi Bijo”, the show we wrote about last week.

The concept is seductively simple: Gravure idols wear the suits of armor of famous samurai, then take them off piece by piece while talking about the history of the warrior. They are then revealed in their underwear beside all the shiny metal armor. That’s it.

The first show, which was broadcast on April 17th, features Gravure model Shoko Takasaki in the armor of Date Masamune.

Here’s the preview.

No prizes for guessing that this is aimed at men.

Cute women showing off flesh? Tick.

Armor and historical weapons? Tick.

Shoko Takasaki has an 87cm-bust and G-cup. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like for a woman as hot as that to wear samurai armor, then this is clearly the show for you.

Stay turned for Shoko’s next appearances: April 21st, April 22nd and May 8th. However, the episodes are being shown super late at night. What a waste of talent!

Every month there’s a different guradoru.

In May, it’s the turn of Kana Fujita, and then in June, butt goddess Yuka Kuramochi shows off her armored body. In July, it’s Hitomi Yasueda.

And if you’re curious, here is Shoko Takahashi sans her armor.

As we know, religion in Japan is traditionally not conservative or moralistic about sex.

Just look at the Shinto fertility festivals for a perfect example.

Shinto is full of raucous, erotic gods. The islands of Japan itself are said in mythology to have been formed out of sexual union between Izanagi and Izanami.

Shrines apparently have no trouble with people drawing on prayer plaques with bondage illustrations.

Religions run all sorts of non-religious businesses too, such as love hotels.

So we are not really surprised that Buddhism approves of Tenga.

Tenga recently published an interview with Jodo Shinshu Buddhist monk Junya Furukawa.

Furukawa first got his hands on a Tenga in 2012 when he heard at a seminar how Tenga was used as rehabilitation for people who have difficulty ejaculating inside a woman (a sexual dysfunction called chitsunaishasei-shougai in Japan, said to be caused by excessive masturbating with your hands, which makes the penis overly used to stimulation through rapid up and down movement).

“Tenga has a very colorful image so it’s really good for cover the areas where people find it hard to voice their opinions,” says Furukawa.

Furukawa wants everyone to be open about their difficulties, even if sexual.

“If I talk about Tenga in front of a group of men, people will open up to me because they feel like they can ask me for advice even about sex. It’s a great communication tool!”

Furukawa certainly seems like an unusual character. Besides his temple duties in Saga Prefecture, he’s involved with AIDs education and the Japan Society of Adolescentology.

Tenga, the “Apple of the Japanese adult industry”, is currently on a blitz to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

This involves lots of fun marketing, plus a batch of new releases: Tenga Condoms, Premium Tenga Premium Vacuum Cup Onacup, and Tenga Vacuum Controller.