Perverted pics providing peeks at particular private parts proving popular in Akihabara

A new erotic photo book is achieving brisk sales in spite of not revealing any of the faces of the female models nor full nudity, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (Sep. 8).

The magazine says that the book emphasizes the subtle aspects of swimsuits and uniforms: The skirt of a sailor suit gently rises to expose high up a thigh; a sock is visible just before a change into a swimsuit; and an exercise session gently reveals a bare midriff.

The book “Natsufuku Joshi (Summer Clothing Girls, 夏服女子),” by Million Publishing, is recording tremendous sales, having ascended to the top of the photo book section of Amazon.jp at the end if July (and still holding that position now).

“Over the last year or two, it’s become something of a trend for this type of book to appear on shelves,” says Shunichi Kamada, manager of the Aratama book shop, located in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. “By not showing the faces of the models, the reader’s imagination and fantasies can be expanded. This particular title has become its own genre.” Read more

Osaka’s otaku oasis favoring fuzoku frolic

Maid-themed establishments have become so prevalent in Osaka’s Nipponbashi district that the only means for a proprietor to make a buck is for the gals to offer increasingly intimate services, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Jitsuwa (Feb. 17).

Nipponbashi is said to be Osaka’s rough equivalent of Akihabara, the famed quarter frequented by aficionados (or otaku, in this case) in search of electronics, erotic anime DVDs, and a chance to be attended to by a gal attired in a frilly costume in a cafe setting. Yet in Nipponbashi the trend for the latter has reached saturation.

“Struggling arcades and video game shops are converting into maid cafes because it is a simple job from an interior point of view,” explains an Osaka-based reporter, “and this is the right time in the business cycle to make money.”

Maid establishments vary in services rendered: simple coffee and snacks, erotic massages, ear cleaning, or casino games. Read more

Gaijin shitamachi: Kinshicho a low-cost alternative to Kabukicho

The warmth of spring may have finally arrived but the chill of the wave of recession is still readily apparent throughout the metropolis. Yet Takarajima (May) finds the entertainment area of Kinshicho, located three train stops away from Akihabara on the Chuo Line in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, to be surprisingly indifferent to these economic difficulties.

A visit one evening in March starts with a stroll down a street called Derby-dori, situated behind the Marui department store and outside the South Exit of the station building. After just a few meters, street touts in black suits quickly approach.

“How about for 4,000 yen? For three, it will be 10,000 yen.”

The club is named Eden of the World’s Beauties.

“It’s a Filipino pub. Lots of young girls are there. Russians, Romanians, Slovaks and Ukrainians, too. Hey shacho, are you interested? Wanna hang out with some young girls from South America?” Read more

Odious maid cafes put the squeeze on unwary Osaka otaku

One of the least pleasant words in the Japanese language is bottakuri, which means a ripoff. When the word bottakuri precedes such words as bar, kyabakura, casino club, massage parlor, etc., it indicates places where unwary patrons get taken for a ride.

And now, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Dec. 31), the maid café can be added to the list of such disreputable establishments in, of all places, Nipponbashi — Osaka’s equivalent of Tokyo’s famous Akihabara Electric Town.

Nipponbashi is no longer the friendly, innocent place it once was — if it ever was.

“Like Tokyo’s Akihabara, this place is a Mecca for otaku (geeks) from Kansai and beyond,” the operator of a maid café tells the weekly from within the electronics wholesale district.

Along a street nicknamed “Ota-dori” (geek street) interspersed with computer shops, girls in maid costumes stand out on the sidewalks soliciting customers. These places had best be avoided. Read more

Dolls or dildos no assurance of safe sex

“But she was so nice!” It’s an oft-heard moan that inevitably follows a speaker’s being informed he tested positive for an STD.

For this reason, much has been made of masturbation as a healthy substitute. Assuming your own hands are clean, there’s very little likelihood of coming down with the clap. And you can’t beat the price.

Wanking has caught on in a big way, observes Nikkan Gendai (Aug. 7). Across the street from JR Akihabara station the 10-story Otona no Omocha (adult toy) Building brims with autoerotic gadgets, attracting throngs of customers of numerous nationalities and both sexes. Read more

Shunned customer stabs Akihabara ‘ear cleaning’ employee

A stabbing incident on Monday has left a female employee at an “ear cleaning” salon in serious condition and her grandmother dead, reports entertainment Web site Zakzak (Aug. 4) and the Asahi Shimbun (Aug. 5).

Seventy-eight-year-old Yoshie Suzuki was killed and her 21-year-old granddaughter, Miho Ejiri, a worker at Yamamoto Mimi Kaki Ten in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, was rendered unconscious following an attack by 41-year-old company employee Koji Hayashi at the family’s private residence in the Nishi Shimbashi area of Tokyo’s Minato Ward.

The suspect was a regular customer at Ejiri’s shop, where ladies attend to the ears of customers as they lie in their lap. He spent roughly 300,000 yen each month. From April, however, he was banned from the premises after pressing for friendship with Ejiri. Police quoted him as saying that she had refused to see him again last month.

Zakzak notes that these types of shops have increased in number recently and can also function similar to kyabakura (hostess club) establishments in which sexual services are dispensed. Read more

Akihabara idol showcase venue to shut

Entertainment news site Zakzak is reporting that a legendary idol event space within the electronics district of Akihabara will close next month.

Known as the “Idol Holy Land” for showcasing gravure stars in bikinis and costumes on a weekly basis, the third-floor venue within Ishimaru Denki Soft 1 has featured appearances by Aki Hoshino, Yuko Ogura, Aya Ueto, Masami Nagasawa, Shoko Nakagawa and Mikie Hara.

The Apr. 8 article says the appeal of the 300-person-capacity space had been the intimate setting it offered to everyone, from otaku to salarymen, for viewing the idols of their affection and purchase their latest photo DVD titles.

Ishimaru Denki has multiple outlets in Akihabara offering consumer electronics, CDs, and DVDs. The retailer will shut all three floors of Soft 1 that it occupies within the Daido Bldg. Read more

CoFesta unites film, TV, gadgets, and games

TOKYO – Japanese pop culture exports – from Gundam robots to “Godzilla” pics to Sony PlayStations – have never been promoted as a single entity. Until now.

Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Japan Intl. Contents Festival (CoFesta) has brought together a series of events from such industries as manga comics, animation, broadcast programming and videogames to promote the latest in Japanese coolness to the world. It also includes Tiffcom, the Oct. 22-24 Japanese film market. Read more

I spy with my miniature camera

TOKYO – As casually as any one of the millions of Tokyo train commuters may, Kazuo Ozaki, manager of Y.K. Musen in Tokyo’s technology hub of Akihabara, flips open his mobile phone and stares at the screen. A camera lens is mounted in the hinge. Nothing too special thus far; most phones have such a feature these days. But in truth, this is really no phone at all. It is only a micro lens contained within a phone’s body. A remote wireless digital recording device receives and stores all that is filmed.

“You can place the recorder within a 300-meter range,” he boasts of the gadget’s versatility. Read more

Evolving anime films follow new inspirations

TOKYO – Akihabara, the Tokyo district that’s paradise for purchasing electronics and toon-related DVDs and costume wear, has recently been undergoing a makeover. The smaller specialty shops that have made the area so appealing to legions of nerds and geeks (who are known as otaku) are slowly being squeezed out by mainstream emporiums.

But the Akihabara Enta Matsuri (Entertainment Festival), running concurrently with the Tokyo Intl. Film Festival from Oct. 20 to 28, might give these otaku a reprieve. Read more

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