The ever-reliable and diligent fintan (pinakotheca) has done it again. He assiduously seeks out old erotic art and photography books, buys them, scans them, resells the books, and then shares select highlights online. Whether due to personal preference or the quality of the material, he frequently features Japanese publications. After our previous showcase of some…

Some women are so lonely they need a man’s comforting arms around them all the time — even when they listen to music. Or so it would seem if you believe the latest clickbait. This time, the purveyor of the headline-screaming story is a Japanese company called Otome Yusha, which literally means “Hero of Maidens.”…

“Shibari is 90% emotional. The other half is technical.” Following our earlier article about Steve Osada’s online Japanese rope bondage learning platform, Kinbaku Academy, we sat down with the rope master for a conversation about his career and the state of shibari/kinbaku today. Steve Osada (also often referred to using the Japanese name order, Osada…

Saitama might well have a reputation as a boring suburb of Tokyo but some places aren’t as dull as they sound. Japan might also be a nation with 25% older population but the seniors can’t be accused of being anything but active. One man was recently arrested for being a little too vigorous, in fact….

University teachers are generally seen as figures of respect in Japan, like elsewhere, but they sometimes do things that seriously endanger that status. Who can forget the Taisho University educator who was found wandering the campus in the buff, having been ordered to strip off by his student lover? But the case of a 49-year-old…

A Japanese man has been arrested for public indecency after exposing his lower body to a woman on the streets of Hongo, Tokyo, in January. The 29-year-old Masaya Yamada was arrested in April, though the crime was only reported this week in the Japanese media. The incident took place on the night of January 18….

The results of the AKB48 Senbatsu “general election” event are in — and the participants for the band’s 32nd single, as announced at an event on June 8th in Yokohama. This year — the fifth “general election” — the AKB honchos changed the system slightly with “candidacies”. 246 idols stood, the most of any of…