Japanese nudie toy culture...what's the deal?

[enyawd72]

I just jokingly brought this up in another thread, but seriously...

What is the deal with all these Japanese nudie dolls of VERY young...dare I say school age girls?
They're popping up more frequently on Ebay...seamless anatomically correct silicone bodies with metal skeletons.
There's a ton of it in their anime art as well...it borders on child pornography and has been around for many years.
That kind of stuff would never fly over here...yet the Japanese seem utterly unfazed by it.

Anyone know why?

[palitoy]

I certainly can't explain it and even the most innocent searches on Japanese auction sites have caused my wife to ask "what are you looking at?".

It's all about cultural difference, our vision of normal, and what is taboo. It's something I find fascinating and it happens everywhere.

When I was living in Italy, there was a show where people stripped called "Chin Chin", it was two hours long and seemed to be on every night. Even weirder there was a teen version (no nudity) on every afternoon. It wouldn't fly in the US either but it clearly it was big old deal.

Similarly, in Canada, we got nudity on TV all the time growing up. As any Western NY kid with an aerial can attest to,

While I certainly am not a fan of the fetishes in Japanese culture (actually some of them bug me because they're characters I like) I know there are things in our culture that have Japanese folks wondering about us. It's all relative to where you are sitting.

[Mikey]

Didn't Japan make child pornography illegal in the late 1990's or early 2000's ? ---- and even after that they were still selling underage girl's used panties in vending machines.

Weird, wrong and scary

[enyawd72]

^Say whaaat?!

Please tell me you're kidding about the vending machines.

[palitoy]

^Say whaaat?!

Please tell me you're kidding about the vending machines.

The press really loves that story but yeah it was a thing in red light districts but isn't around anymore. I'm not sure who liked it more, perverts or US tourists.

I'm sorry to tell you but such commerce exists in the good ol' US of A as well.

[jwyblejr]

Are we talking about the just the doll bodies or ones with heads and bodies?

[LordMudd]

Japanese culture embraces sex and rejects violence, American culture embraces violence and rejects sex.


CC.

[cjefferys]

As mentioned, it's all about cultural differences. Youth and cuteness ("kawaii") are very valued commodities in Japan, so that leads to the kind of thing the OP was talking about. And nudity, sex and pornography are not taboo at all (as long as genitalia is censored, almost anything goes).

Didn't Japan make child pornography illegal in the late 1990's or early 2000's ? ---- and even after that they were still selling underage girl's used panties in vending machines.

Weird, wrong and scary

Yes, I believe that child pornography was legal to sell or purchase until about 1998, and possession was only made illegal several years ago, after international pressure. I had a very eye opening experience in a Japanese video store one of my first visits over there in the late 90's. Let's just say there was one aisle I wandered into that I got the heck out of very quickly! But virtually any other kind of porn is still ok there, including some really sick stuff! Interestingly, porn manga featuring children is still legal there, because as R. Crumb used to say, "it's just lines on paper" and the argument in Japan is that no child is actually abused with this type of media. The laws in most other countries disagree though (in other words don't try bringing some back as a souvenir unless you want to risk prison!)

The vending machine panties thing has become practically an urban legend at this point, but from what I've read it was basically an adult store that put a vending machine like that in front of their store, but after some negative press it was removed quickly. I've never seen a vending machine selling those in all my visits over there, and I've been in some sketchy areas.

[rykerw1701]

I certainly can't explain it and even the most innocent searches on Japanese auction sites have caused my wife to ask "what are you looking at?".

It's all about cultural difference, our vision of normal, and what is taboo. It's something I find fascinating and it happens everywhere.

When I was living in Italy, there was a show where people stripped called "Chin Chin", it was two hours long and seemed to be on every night. Even weirder there was a teen version (no nudity) on every afternoon. It wouldn't fly in the US either but it clearly it was big old deal.

Similarly, in Canada, we got nudity on TV all the time growing up. As any Western NY kid with an aerial can attest to,

While I certainly am not a fan of the fetishes in Japanese culture (actually some of them bug me because they're characters I like) I know there are things in our culture that have Japanese folks wondering about us. It's all relative to where you are sitting.

I grew up in Western NY and yep, there was a fair amount of skin coming across Lake Ontario via Canadian airwaves. And on a good day, you could get the french stuff, though the picture would frequently roll as you tried to watch it.

As for cultural differences, there was much more violence in US TV than Canadian or BBC. Probably still is. Is the sight of a boob really worse than seeing a guy get his head shot off? It's debatable, I suppose.

But that underage doll stuff being discussed on this thread...that's just creepy.

[Gzilla2000]

The 1/6 scale male and female "seamless anatomically correct silicone bodies with metal skeletons" are meant to be dressed and customized by the buyer. They make all kinds of outfits and accessories for them just like Mego. They even have outfits based on movie and comic characters. Personally I wouldn't buy them because I don't trust that material they use won't break down over time

[Confessional]

^^ Well that's *one* use for them… if you dig around a little, you'll find a whole lot of *other* applications/options. Most of which involve them being in various states of undress and bondage. Clearly these (especially the one with giant breasts and genitalia) are made to appeal to the fetish market.

[Gzilla2000]

^^ Well that's *one* use for them… if you dig around a little, you'll find a whole lot of *other* applications/options. Most of which involve them being in various states of undress and bondage. Clearly these (especially the one with giant breasts and genitalia) are made to appeal to the fetish market.

I've seen that stuff too. Collecting that stuff means you're a perv as much as collecting horror figures means your a serial killer.

[Riderfan]

^^ Well that's *one* use for them… if you dig around a little, you'll find a whole lot of *other* applications/options. Most of which involve them being in various states of undress and bondage. Clearly these (especially the one with giant breasts and genitalia) are made to appeal to the fetish market.

While I don't necessarily disagree with your opinion I think you're missing the point of some earlier posts. Different cultures look at things differently-what might be a fetish to some may be acceptable to others.

Myself I don't quite get why these dolls have 'genitalia' but for years Barbie had an anatomically incorrect body & nobody said anything.

Just saying

K

[Confessional]

^^ I'm well aware of the cultural discourse of Japan regarding sexuality and p0rn, and wasn't judging, rather just clarifying a sector of the target audience as it relates to the production of sexualized toys. There's a large market (not limited to Japan) for these that isn't being catered to by Entertainment Earth or TRU.