Sightless hooker keeps old tradition alive

Lance Rancier’s 1998 book “The Sex Chronicles: Strange-But-True Tales from Around the World” contains an account of a bizarre, and expensive, service allegedly offered by Japanese prostitutes who used to operate aboard sampans in Hong Kong harbor.

“The Sampan girl,” he writes, “working in a boat, leaned over the side of the boat and ducked her head into the water. The customer entered her from behind, experiencing exquisite vaginal spasms around his penis as the woman reacted to her near drowning. She pulled herself out of the water just before she lost consciousness, usually after the client had experienced an intense orgasm.”

Our advice to readers is to take this account of bawdy waterboarding with a grain of salt water.

It is certainly no legend, however, that the sampan girls existed. Their nautical trysts usually took place on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong harbor, in a district known as the Yaumati typhoon shelter — a filthy place that some years ago fell victim to land reclamation. Read more

Box office bust: ‘The Dark Knight’ dives in Japan

TOKYO - Not even the Joker can manage a grin: Japanese audiences have been underwhelmed by Warner Bros.’ worldwide smash “The Dark Knight,” the latest installment in the “Batman” series.

Now in its third week of release in Japan, the Christopher Nolan film, which sees the caped crime-fighter battling underworld figures and crooked cops in Gotham City, grossed a mere $1.6 million in its second weekend in Japan to bring its cumulative total to only $8.7 million. By comparison, it has already accumulated $14.3 million in takings over the same period in the smaller Korean market.

Industry observers believe the picture’s overly lengthy 152-minute running time, lack of the “Batman” name in the title, and dark theme are possible explanations for the disinterest by Japanese film fans.

“The story is very pessimistic,” explains Chika Minagawa, a film critic. “It has a dark and gloomy texture that Japanese movie fans do not find appealing in a ‘comic hero’ film.” Read more

NHK to launch 24-hour English programming

TOKYO - Public broadcaster NHK today announced the launch of Japan International Broadcasting Inc. (JIBtv), a company that will transmit 24-hour programming in English via the Internet and satellite.

The service, which will be a first for Japan and begin in February of next year, expects to reach 110 million households in North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and other areas of the world. Newly elected president and CEO Hatsuhisa Takashima wants to increase Japan’s international presence. Read more

‘Cosoa’ soap latest fad for keeping it clean

The term asoko is a euphemism commonly used by Japanese females when referring to their you-know-whats. Written backwards in katakana, it becomes “cosoa,” which is also the name of a new brand of feminine hygiene soap that’s been selling like hotcakes this summer, reports Nikkan Gendai.

It seems that in hot, humid weather, certain parts of the body generate odors that ordinary soaps can’t easily remove. Cosoa ingredients include jamu, which is used in traditional Indonesian herbal remedies, and soya isoflavone extract, a powerful antioxidant.

Cosoa is the most familiar, but not the only brand name for this type of product (another is “Deep Attraction”). Despite its relatively high price of 2,000 to 3,000 yen a pop, cosoa sales, mostly online via such channels as Rakuten and Beauty Motherleaf, have been brisk, thanks largely to word-of-mouth advertising. Read more

Site of notorious gangster playpen in Roppongi now vacant

TOKYO - Given Tokyo’s well-earned reputation as a metropolis of concrete, vacant lots typically do not stay empty for long. But the 3,800-square-meter site in Roppongi, halfway between Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown, might remain fenced off and covered with dirt for some time.

The infamous TSK.CCC Terminal building formerly occupied the property until its demolition was complete in April - just one chapter in a bizarre case involving gangsters, property rights, and fraud whose roots can be traced back to Korean mobster Hisayuki Machii (“the Ginza Tiger”), who made his fortune in real estate and operated a ferry service between Japan and South Korea. Read more

High brow trumps ‘High Touch’ in Roppongi

TOKYO - The date is March 6, 1989. The Yomiuri Giants are gearing up for what will be a championship season, the Nikkei index is holding steady at 32,000, the introduction of the nation’s first consumption tax of three percent is less than one month away, and Roppongi is now officially known as “High Touch Town.”

Among the dignitaries seated in chairs at Roppongi crossing with bouquets of flowers over their laps are the Minato Ward mayor and the Azabu Police Station chief. They are guests for the unveiling ceremony of a pair of red arch-shaped signs that have been affixed onto either side of the Shuto Expressway Route 3 rolling high above. The writing on both placards will eventually come to give the entertainment district its moniker. High. Touch. Town.

But in the two decades since there has been one problem. Read more

A new Bible for under-dignity

First it was “Kokka no Hinkaku” (Dignity of a Nation), the 2006 bestseller by Ochanomizu University mathematician Masahiro Fujiwara. Soon thereafter came “Josei no Hinkaku” (Dignity of a Woman) by Mariko Bando.

These days, books with hinkaku in the title are really popular in Japan. And now there’s a new one. Tabloid newspaper Nikkan Gendai (Aug. 21) introduces Mai Ohtorii, who claims to be the world’s first “undergarment concierge.”

Ms. Ohtorii recently published “Shitagi no Hinkaku” (Dignity of Underwear, Kanaria Shobo, 1,260 yen). Its subtitle goes: “Shitagi de hen shin! Tsuyoku, utsukushiku! Dekiru onna ni naru.” (Change yourself with your undergarments! Strongly and beautifully! Become a woman who gets things done.) Read more

‘Anti-Emperor’ group to protest at Yasukuni Shrine

TOKYO - The left-wing group Anti-Emperor Activities Network said this week that it will once again hold a protest march near the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on August 15th, the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II.

The group, which takes a firm anti-war stance, will provide an opposing view to the nationalist celebrations that take place on that day at the central Tokyo shrine, said the group’s representative, Tomoyuki Nomura.

“On this day, many events are held, such as memorial rites for the war dead,” said Nomura in an email dispatch to The Tokyo Reporter. “Most of them glorify the Emperor system and old Japanese military traditions. Yasukuni has become an important symbol for those who support these political points of view.” Read more

Will Japan become a society of half-breeds?

A rapid increase in the number of women in their 20s and 30s choosing foreign husbands may turn Japan into a land of half-breeds, or so says vernacular web news site J-cast.

The site refers to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare survey data that indicated that one baby out of every 30 is of mixed blood origin (konketsu no haafu). Moreover in the central wards of Tokyo, as well as in both Osaka and Nagoya, there is a high rate [of intermarriage] — one couple out of 10. According to an expert, over the past five years the number of [Japanese] women choosing Caucasian partners has increased more than tenfold. Is Japan, J-cast wonders, on the verge of becoming a society where [the presence of] mixed-breeds is taken for granted? Read more

Shinjuku gals going all-out for the gold

“The ‘box-type’ sex shops such as image clubs and seikan (sensuous) health emporiums have declined sharply, and outcall sex services have become the mainstream,” the editor of a specialty magazine tells Shukan Shincho (Aug. 14-21). “But shops pushing new ideas seem to have popped up just for the duration.”

In keeping with the spirit of the Olympic games, it seems, sex businesses in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district are showing a true spirit of creativity. As a hook to lure customers inside, the weekly magazine reports, some shops are offering price reductions or special deals on days when Japanese athletes win medals — especially a gold medal — or the day immediately afterward. Read more

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