While some idol groups make a lot of money, the idols themselves are not getting rich per se. The management companies keep them on salaries representing their worth and this is a policy reflected across the Japanese entertainment industry.
That said, this is the first time we've heard of a Japanese idol group deliberately launched in poverty.
Japanese idol culture has been accused of moral bankruptcy in the past but The Margarines have a combined debt of ¥127.7 million (over $1 million). Aged from 19 to 30, these ladies are floundering in financial woes due to student debts, a failed ...
No sooner had we blogged an odd story about a bus driver trying to kiss his lone teenaged passenger in Tokushima, then along comes another peculiar tale of groping on the subway.
Two Chiba residents have been arrested by Tokyo police on suspicion of trying to grope a woman on the Tokyo subway during the morning rush hour.
The men -- a 24-year-old Tokyo court assistant and a 39-year-old Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank employee -- are accused of both groping the same woman on a subway train at around 8am on September 25th.
It is unknown if the two knew each other or how they came to ...
We all know that trains are far from the safest places for women in Japan, so full of would-be gropers the train companies have had to introduce women-only carriages in recent years.
Well, now you can add buses to your list of danger zones.
Why? Because police arrested a middle-aged bus driver for trying to kiss a female passenger.
The 54-year-old Kunihiko Nakanishi apparently attempt to plant a smooch on the forehead of a teenaged girl in March this year. Nakanishi is alleged to have stopped the bus he was driving mid-route while there were no other passengers on board except ...
Who says otaku can't be book worms? After all, they certainly read a lot of manga. And obsession can be a form of erudition.
An otaku magazine is currently offering a freebie for readers. Nothing special in that, though. In Japan this practice is known as omake and has become a staple in fashion magazines. But we'll take this freebie over any brand bag.
It's a book cover -- and one with breasts!
The boobs in question are supposed to belong to Rias Gremory, the main heroine in the light novel, manga and anime "High School DxD".
Needless to say, as you read you ...
While the Tokyo Game Show last weekend ultimately did not feature Sony's divisive "Summer Lesson" demo for the Project Morpheus HMD headset, it did have some virtual boyfriends instead.
One booth at TGS 2014 showcased virtual dating and romance apps so women could get their perfect partner. The only snag is that the man in question does not exist in reality.
Voltage Romance Apps features a series of smartphone social apps with fake boyfriends for lonely women. They even have English-language versions adapted for North American audiences.
The average user is a 30-year-old Japanese ...
It's high time we talked about otoko no ko (also written otokonoko) (男の娘). The name of course is a play on the word for "boy" but whose characters mean "male daughter". As we know, the word for daughter (musume) is also employed a lot to mean "cute young girl", and that's the nuance here.
The phrase has been used since the 2000's. A otoko no ko is a cross-dressing cosplayer, who dresses as a girl for certain occasions. It's an unusual combination of cosplay culture, sexuality, and (in a way) otaku culture (it's quite geeky as subcultures go). It took the world of men dressed as ...
Last summer photography Manabu Koga delighted us with his series of sexy photographs of slinky girls swimming underwater in various states of undress.
Now he's back with a follow-up, Underwater Knee-High Girls plus, released this October.
Sexy Japanese girls in knee-high socks, diving underwater. The concept is unchanged -- when it ain't broke, don't fix it! -- though this time the slender maidens having some incongruous props like umbrellas and raincoats, meccha gear, and even rabbit ears.
The models include Shimarisu Mashima and ...
Bandai's Sailor Moon franchise has created a second set of its limited edition lingerie, with help from Japanese sexy lingerie maker Peach John.
The previous sets were all almost impossible to get your hands on, selling out very quickly. This new series promises to be just as popular, not least because of the way it is being marketed.
Peach John knows all about picking the right sexy models with the right bodies. Last time they had the likes of Rei Yasui looking very nice indeed in the lingerie.
This time round they have Peach John favorite, AKB48's Haruna Kojima, dressed up like ...
A civilian group has been formed for dealing with the problem of stalking among sex workers.
Following several high-profile murders, the issue of stalking by men in Japan has been big news recently.
The creation of SWASH in Osaka would be important in that respect alone but it's actually aimed at helping protect the working environments of sex workers, which is very rare. Although prostitution per se is not illegal in Japan -- only profiting from prostitution -- it is nonetheless almost unheard of for sex workers to be acknowledged in this way.
However, prostitutes working in ...
As we know, Tenga take their sex toy design very seriously and have a good eye for marketing stunts.
They also make some of the best quality (and best-looking) sex toys in Japan today.
And it seems even their internal corporate modus operandi contain a clever tactics that make an impression and advertise their products.
Business cards are very important in Japan. You cannot work without them. But Tenga have done something pretty awesome. As IT Media discovered when they paid a visit to the Tenga HQ a little while ago, Tenga employees are now using the Pocket Tenga as an integrated ...
