We fondly remember the days when it was relatively easy to visit happening bars. Sadly, those times when such establishments were widely known and could be frequented in central areas like Shinjuku or Shibuya now feel distant, largely due to a police crackdown that closed many down or scared others off. Further proof that the…

There’s a reason that a lot of love hotel rooms have mirrors installed. Who doesn’t want to watch themselves having sex? Following on from our popular post last year about leaked sex selfies by amateur couples at Japanese love hotels, we present another roundup of nude sex selfies by couples taken in front of a…

People have arrested the CEO of famous Japanese secondhand book store chain Mandarake as well as four employees in connection with the sale of obscene material. Best known for manga but also offering collectibles, doujinshi, and anime toys, Mandarake was selling so-called “vinyl books,” a term referring to pornographic photo books from the 1970s and…

After much legal wrangling and media speculation, Japan is apparently set to approve the abortion pill, but it would still require women to seek their partner’s consent beforehand. We have to be careful here to draw a distinction between the morning-after pill (which is already available in Japan, but a prescription from a doctor is…

Our post yesterday featuring the confessions of a foreign female about compensated dating in Tokyo led us to this case study (from early 2021) on legal website Bengo4, which sets out to answer a curious question: What happens to your assets if you divorce your wife for compensated dating? According to the author (a lawyer),…

Maki Makie (マキエマキ) has been working since the early 1990s as a freelance commercial photographer. Now aged 56, she gained a whole new following when she began taking self-portraits in 2015 and repositioning herself as a “selfie jukujo” (自撮り熟女) model. This fame has had some unexpected consequences, as she revealed in a long interview with…

Papakatsu, the buzzword that refers to compensated dating for sugar daddies, is in the news again. Takeru Yoshikawa, a politician with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has been accused of drinking with an 18-year-old girl. House of Representatives member Yoshikawa, who is 40 but frankly looks a but older (perhaps it’s the jowls), has a…

Remember the awesome dinosaur-themed love hotel in Machida, Tokyo, we wrote about last autumn? It looks like it was seriously damaged by fire recently. On the evening of June 9, flames were seen coming from the roof of the dino-inspired Hotel Artia, making it look even more like a scene from Jurassic Park than it…

The trial of former KAT-TUN member Koki Tanaka over possession of drugs has now begun in Nagoya. The 36-year-old musician and actor, who was a member of the boy band until 2013 and then a solo artist, has admitted the charge of methamphetamine possession. Nagoya police arrested in February this year. It follows his previous…

Feti Fes is Japan’s top fetish festival. We have attended before and previously posted photo reports that readers seemed to like. It’s the kind of event where every little room, cubbyhole, or booth is dedicated to a whole other fetish. Participants include chika (underground) and gravure idols, ero-cosplayers, fetish service providers, and goods and merchandise…