Approximately 40% of women working in broadcasting in Japan said that they have received "sexual advances," according to a new survey.
A research team including the University of Tokyo Graduate School surveyed men and women who have worked in the broadcasting industry via email and other means, and found that around a significant number of women had received "sexual advances," and some had even been forced into sexual relations.
The open survey was conducted between May 2025 and January 2026, targeting people with experience working at a broadcasting station, regardless of employment status ...
Lady Gaga sang of bad romance. Was she singing about Japan?
For the fourth consecutive year, Japan's "romantic satisfaction" rate has ranked among lowest in an international poll.
According to a survey by the Paris-based Ipsos, 51% of people in Japan are satisfied with "feeling loved," significantly lower than the 29-country average of 77%.
Only 33% of Japanese respondents were satisfied with their romantic and sex lives, a 6-point decrease from 2025 -- and the lowest satisfaction rate among the 29 countries (the 29-country average was 60%). Only 6% of respondents in Japan said they were ...
Japanese contact lens maker Ace has just launched a new brand called Cunte.
Yes, that's not a typo. Ace really did decide to call its new brand of one-day color lens Cunte, and to advertise it with music idol Amu Nigemizu (of Kyururin te Shitemite and Team Strawberry)
There's nothing quite like seeing publicity photos with a cute young Japanese woman fronting a campaign called Cunte.
Even better, the lineup is described as "Cunte special charms." Indeed, cunt does have special charms aplenty.
Apparently, it's meant to be a combination of "kyun" and "cute," the former an ...
The gravure idol and actress Rio Teramoto is to make a comeback after five years.
In the intervening time, she has focused on her acting career, including teasing us with an almost-nude scene in the Netflix drama Sanctuary, in which she played a hostess.
Incredibly for someone who seems to have been around so long, she is still only 24 but hasn't released a photo book in six years.
Teramoto's second release comes out on April 1 and was shot in Perth, Australia. "This is my first gravure shoot in five years," she wrote on Instagram to her fans. "I'm grateful to everyone who waited for ...
A Small Love Story: The World of Mameban Shunga is a new exhibition of erotic prints in Tokyo.
It focuses on mameban (literally, "bean format") shunga, referring to palm-sized prints that were distributed privately in the form of pictorial calendars and given to people like greeting cards. It is the world's first such showcase of shunga in this format, and features around 300 examples.
"These palm-sized prints contain intimate, humorous, and tender love stories," the organizers say. "Though small in scale, they are rich in expression."
The exhibition runs, aptly, from Valentine's Day on ...
A college student. A pachinko parlor worker. A hostess. An influencer. What do all these young Japanese women have in common?
While not as famous (or perhaps infamous) as a place like South Korea, plastic surgery is not uncommon in Japan among models, idols, and porn stars, and also sex workers and social media influencers.
Some female celebrities spend millions of yen on multiple surgeries, though few admit it.
Which is why it tends to make the news when someone does break the taboo and talk about this industry secret.
On a recent edition of the Abema TV show Hyena of Love Season 5, ...
Who watches the watchers?
While the regular cop in his koban substation on your local street corner seems like a friendly and useful member of the community (and for the most part, is), police officers are human beings, and so subject to temptation like the rest of us.
According to a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun, the National Police Agency announced on February 5 that the number of police officers and staff members nationwide who received disciplinary action last year rose to 337, an increase of 98 from the previous year, and the highest number in the past 10 years.
Of the 337 officers, ...
The morning-after pill is finally available in Japan after years of campaigning and a trial roll-out in 2023.
The pill (NorLevo, made by ASKA Pharmaceuticals) is available to purchase over the counter since February 2 at pharmacies in Japan, priced ¥7,480 per pill. A prescription is not required but you must buy the emergency contraceptive pill in person (no online sales allowed).
It's needed in a country where unprotected sex is arguably the norm (as the number of shotgun marriages attests, as does the recent prevalence of syphilis), much to the chagrin of Japan's superb condom ...
The model Nana Suzuki has made a big confession to the whole nation: she hasn't had sex since her divorce four years ago.
In fact, since couples are generally not intimate with each other in the period leading up to a breakup, perhaps especially a divorce, she's probably been celibate for even longer.
She made the confession on a TV show, My Love Hell, on January 29 in which she chatted with former porn star Mihiro and model (and close friend) Tsubasa Masuwaka -- all divorcees.
When Mihiro said she had had only one romance since her divorce seven years ago, Suzuki suddenly went further. ...
It was a rather sad and pitiful end for such a large enterprise. The Marin chain of soaplands came to end on January 30, announced by just a single message on the app LINE.
The chain of around 30 soaplands was run by Morishita Group, a giant in the nightlight and adult services sector in Japan with huge interests in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. This included soaplands in Ikebukuro and Kabukicho, such as the foreigner-friendly soapland Barubola. The Marin Palace (also known as Marin Blue or Marin Mito) was probably the best-known location, renowned for its luxurious-looking and kitsch facilities. It ...
