Aribai-ya (Alibi shops)
It doesn't really matter what you're doing, as long as no one finds out. In many parts of the world, this attitude is abhorred. In others, it prevails beneath the surface. In Japan, there's a whole industry dedicated to it. Alibi services ("alibi-ya" or "aribai-ya") do exactly what you'd expect - ...
Tentacle sex
The image of women being unwillingly violated by octopi dominates the Western perception of hentai (pornographic anime and manga). Our fascination with this small niche of Japanese erotica probably says more about the West than it does about Japan. Twisted as it might seem, the depiction of tentacled lady-botherers is just ...
Soaplands
Japan’s sex industry has a number of innovative variations on the brothel, but none of them seem as perfectly, hygienically Japanese as soaplands. They offer “assisted baths” that include the services of a prostitute. When a customer enters, he chooses his bathing companion from a selection of half-naked girls, who ...
Shibari (Japanese bondage)
Shibari, or kinbaku, is the Japanese art of bondage. It's a significant theme in Japanese eroticism and features in much of the culture's porn, which often dwells on themes of domination and submission. The approach and ideology of shibari contrasts slightly with Western ideas of bondage. In shibari, the aesthetic effect ...
Datch waifu (Sex dolls)
Shitagi dorobou (Panty thieves)
In every country, there are men who steal women’s underwear from clotheslines for sexual pleasure. However, they are particularly common in Japan, where they are called “shitagi dorobou”. Unsurprisingly, “shitagi” means underwear, while “dorobou” is thief. For women living in the apartment blocks of Japan’s most built-up urban areas, where clotheslines ...
Nyotaimori (Body sushi)
Nyotaimori, "female body presentation", is a service allowing restaurant customers to eat from the skin of a naked woman. Apart from her crotch, which is usually covered with some kind of garnish, the model's modesty depends on the (temporary) position of the food on her body. Also known as "body ...




