We love it when an interesting fetish gets some mainstream attention. Sure, sometimes this can be sensationalist and tread a fine line between mockery and awe, but anything that opens up the conversation about alternative sexuality is got to be a good thing in our book. Especially if it involves Japan.
Zentai (literally “complete body”) is the name of a fetish where people wear skintight all-in-one Spandex body suits. Everything is covered, including the eyes.
Zentai practitioners have recently been featured in an Agence France-Presse article that has been republished in numerous media, including the Japan Times.
It focuses on one “mild-mannered” office lady who leads a double life as a zentai fetishist.
“With my face covered, I cannot eat or drink like other customers,” said the woman, who is in her 20s and says her name is Hokkyoku Nigo (North Pole No. 2).
“I have led my life always worrying about what other people think of me. They say I look cute, gentle, childish or naive,” she said, her lips ruffling the tight, red shiny material. “I always felt suffocated by that. But wearing this, I am just a person in a full body suit.”
Hokkyoku Nigo is part of a small subset in Japan with a fetish for wearing outfits called “zentai” — an abbreviation of “zenshintaitsu”, which means “full body suit” — who say they are seeking liberation by effacing the physical self.
Some meet through Internet forums and through gatherings like the Tokyo Zentai Club, whose 10 members get together every other month, just like any other group, to hold barbecues or parties. Unlike any other group, they are covered head-to-toe in skintight Lycra.
Zentai has its roots more in superhero pop culture than bondage, it seems. The fans grew up watching Power Rangers et al and it gave them a fondness for such costumers.
It is, of course, sexual, though.
“I like to touch and stroke others and to be touched and stroked like this,” said a 36-year-old teacher, Nezumiko.
“Once you are in one of these suits, you can feel the person, instead of looking at them. I am not a lesbian, but I wouldn’t mind being with a woman like this … In zentai, it is a completely different kind of sensation from straight sex.”
Dressing up is a huge part of Japanese subcultures and sexuality, especially for the role-playing and anonymity it provides. There is also a healthy subculture of kigurumi full-body costumes that transform you into an anime character or animal.
Zentai is also different because it involves specific materials, though there are also balloon fetishists in Japan and Spandex fetishism is common outside the country as well.
