Sex expert expresses concern about Japan’s lolicon fetish

In the January 31 issue of Shukan Asahi, Minori Kitahara expressed concern over the popularity of a male masturbation aid that attempts to simulate the feeling of sex with an underage girl.

Those worries were only amplified when Kitahara, a 43-year-old authoress of numerous books on gender and sexuality, discovered that a product called Innocent Younger Sister topped the Amazon.co.jp sales charts in the Adult Goods category for 2013.

(In fact, a similar “masturbation hole,” as the products are referred, named Seven Teen Bordeaux ranked number three.)

“An acquaintance of mine working in the adult goods trade says that Innocent Younger Sister utilizes special materials,” she writes in the March 14 issue of Shukan Asahi. “As you use it more and more, the feel and texture will change. Men describe this by saying that it is ‘growing.’ So they can make it ‘grow’ as they like.”

Kitahara then checked the Internet, which contains thousands of reviews of such products.

“When I was a student I purchased ‘disposable holes,'” said one review. “I was really impressed with the lack of trouble involved. It was very easy, but at the same time I felt lonely.”

That is, until he started using Innocent Younger Sister. The user claims that by its fifth use, the hole was indeed “growing,” just as promised.

“This is a happy feeling that I had never experienced with a disposable toy,” said the reviewer. “I really want to appreciate it.”

(The top review on Amazon.co.jp for Innocent Younger Sister jokes that the product is the reason for Japan’s declining birthrate.)

For Kitahara, who was seen on stage earlier this month at the Pink Tokyo adult goods show discussing vibrators, the large number of similar comments and the popularity of Innocent Younger Sister are reasons for anxiety.

“I don’t think it is wrong to have that kind of desire,” she says. “However, as a woman now, and previously a girl, I feel strange living in a society where the lolicon fetish represents the majority.” (Though it should be pointed out that basing such an assessment on the sales of adult goods might be a tad dubious.)

She continues by asking: Is the lolicon fetish specifically a problem with Japanese men? Is it part of Japanese culture? Or simply a matter of natural sexual desire?

In any case, says Kitahara, the situation is becoming more serious. “Is this now not a sickness?”

Source: “Nihon no otoko no ‘rorikon ha mohaya yamai de ha?” Shukan Asahi (Mar. 14, page 64)