The fertility/harvest festival held annually at Tagata Shrine in Komaki, Aichi, isn’t as famous as the Kanamara festival, held near Tokyo, but is another example of an ancient Shinto event in which phallic objects abound. Like with Kanamara, the Tagata Shrine honen festival makes for some very photogenic moments where a giant phallus newly carved…

The national age of consent in Japan is 13 — an age that many find surprisingly low. Japan is mulling raising the age of consent, according to media reports. A justice ministry panel last Friday proposed a major overhaul of sex crime legislation that would include raising the age to 16, along with clarifying rape…

The Japanese adult brand Tama Toys has carved out a well-deserved reputation for its awesome lineup, especially onaholes, pillow covers, crossdresser costumes, and anal toys. It is especially known for its consistently impressive manga-style box art, often made in collaboration with top hentai and doujinshi illustrators, or featuring its own catgirl mascot, Super Tamanyan. Not…

It seems that everyone is using AI these days to make art, photos, and even essays. The results are often very impressive. Perhaps even worrying. But here’s some AI that’s really worth getting excited about. Kanyon Industries, which seems to be based in Hong Kong, posts examples of AI art featuring sexy cosplayers — all…

Somewhat strangely and belatedly, this has become a controversial topic this month. The popular porn star Eimi Fukada had to backtrack with an apology after she attracted opprobrium for asserting that men should pay for women on dates, since the latter investing a lot of time and money into preparing for the date. And then…

Gravure photographer Seiichi Nomura recently sat down for an interview with Aera.dot in which he looked back on his five-decade-long career, during which he has photographed countless numbers of idols, actresses, models, and singers. “I’ve done more than 400 hundred photo books and thousands of covers for weekly magazines,” Nomura estimates. Originally an interior photographer,…

Japan is famous for its low crime, but it depends on what kind of crime and how you measure things. And it doesn’t mean that crime is not on the rise in certain areas. According to recent media reports, child abuse cases continue to climb, with police recording 2,181 in 2022 (up from 2,174 the…

Well, isn’t this just the pot calling the kettle black? A prominent lawyer known for his work to stamp out sexual harassment is himself now being sued by an actress he represented for, you’ve guessed it, sexual harassment. The complainant is a 25-year-old woman who goes by the name Chino. The stage actor wants the…

People bemoan the lack of women in Japanese politics but we suspect this is not the solution. The NHK Party, a fringe people whose aim is to “protect” the Japanese population again the titular public broadcaster, has gone through its umpteenth name change, now becoming the Seijika Joshi 48 To, or the Politician Girls 48…

You would think that a company as large and successful as Soft on Demand would have an army of lawyers and legal advisors on retainer, and that they would consult them carefully when launching a major and costly new project. Or perhaps they did and their team simply wasn’t doing their job right. Either way,…