Tentacles. Is it Pornography or Art?

  

Japan has always had this outrageous title of being the land of Hentai and tentacles. Sometimes, the two would even mix together and you would get this production of women with tentacles or having sex with them, or even eating them. A lot of people especially in the western world either finds this exciting or, just plain creepy. After all, in most cases, the Japanese will still eat the octopus or creature that they used for the pornography photos.

Now, Tentacle porn itself is this fascinating mix between the traditional pornography but, with added horror and science-fiction themes like what you would commonly see in movies. It is usually non-consensual but, consensual tentacle porn can be found. Tentacle rape or Shokushu goukan is in a lot of hentai and horror animation where the octopus like creature is with a female character. This is so popular in Japan because the Japanese has this obsession with cute things and anime. Thus, they love the idea of having sex with a female character whom is completely and totally cute. This genre is also becoming popular in the United States and Europe, along with parody’s of it as well.  Although, tentacle porn is still considered more of a fetish topic and most of it is animated. (Some real-action stuff can still be found regardless. 

Honestly, tentacle porn is barely even an outline for Japanese erotic. Lots of hentai frequently use non-tentacle rape and other sexual violence. Plus, they have the oddest of fetishes involving humans, animals, supernatural beings, robots, aliens and hybrids of all of this. People baffled by this either think this is just artistic world unrestrained by western notions of morality or, it’s the rigid of conformism of Japanese society which, offers lots of options for the inner pervert.

 

Tentacle creatures showed up in Japanese erotica was before animated pornography came to be. One of the most famous pieces of early instances is the novel Kinoe no kimatsu of 1814 by Katsushika Hokusai called the Dream of the Fisherman’s wife. It’s the most amazing example of Shunga and has been reworked several times. David laity of Australian even took the design into a painting of the same name and Masami Teraoka took the image up to date into his 2001 work “Sarah and Octopus/Seventh heaven”, part of his waves and plagues collection.

It has been known that most of the western world sees Tentacle erotica as purely rape but, Japanese audiences of the Edo period would have viewed it as consensual sex. The Japanese of the Edo period saw the Tentacles as part of the legend of a female abalone diver Tamatori. In the story of Tamatori, she steals a jewel from the Dragon king. During her adventure, the Dragon Kind and his Sea-life minions (Which include octopodes) go after her. During which, the diver and the Octopodes express mutual enjoyment.

There is a censorship in Japan that dates back to the Meiji period. It was an influence of victorian culture that was a catalyst for legislative interest in public sexual morals. Post-WWII the allies took on a number of reforms on the Japanese government which included the anti-censorship laws. While exposes genitalia (and until recently public hair) in Japanese pornography is illegal, the range of permissible sexual acts is now wide in compared with other legal democracies.

In the 1980’s even sensual scenes in bed were unacceptable. Thus, leaders of the tentacle porn industry came up with another idea to avoid all those laws against sex to make it more of an art form so the people can see it clearly. The animator Toshio Maeda states the following: “At that time [pre-Urotsuki Doji], it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a normal sensual scene. So I just created a creature. [His tentacle] is not a [penis] as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature. You know, the creatures, they don’t have a gender. A creature is a creature; So it is not obscene – not illegal.”

Another great artist, Daikichi Amano took even the most odd or impossible types of scenes into his work. The link to all of his art is below which, I cannot post a lot of the photos due to some nudity but, his work includes and is not limited to Fish, tentacles like octopus and squids, worms, frogs, etc into his art. He finds angel-faced women and pairs them with snakes and earthworms while contorted and interlaced eels slip into every orifice of the human body. Live toads are sucked on, cockroaches and larvae crawl and interweave into this mix of sensuality. Every animal possesses it’s own form of beauty Amano has made it his calling for their smooth and shiny surfaces.

Despite his work looking almost sicking, Daikichi Aman’s work is celebrated internationally. He composes insects and animals from nightmares and visions of frozen images of almost surreal beauty. He goes far beyond the realms of erotic imagination with an obsessive and perfectionist eye for detail. He is furthermore, inspired by the Dutch still-live painters as well as Japanese mythology and the great Ukiyo-E woodcut masters of the Edo period and in particular the erotic shunga prints.

NOT SAFE FOR WORK/SCHOOL!!!! 

http://opium-fields.blogspot.com/2009/09/daikichi-amano-genki-and-art-of-eel.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentacle_erotica

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2968/whats-the-deal-with-japanese-tentacle-porn

The Beginnings of the Wonderful World of Powered Suits!

Back in 2007 when I was a junior in high school, I scoured every resource available to me for the latest news on robotics. I found out about several different projects, one of which was the HAL 5 (Hybrid Assistive Limb) exoskeletal suit, developed by Cyberdyne Inc. It was revolutionary, as it was a suit that truly gave increased strength and capability to those with crippling muscle deficiencies and paralysis. On a normal person, it offers increased strength in lifting capability.

Now, the next step has been taken. Students at Tokyo University have developed a cybernetic “muscle suit,” made not with motors but pneumatic air muscles, a technology that was first developed in the 1950s. The muscles offer a power-to-weight ratio 400 times greater than any other exoskeletal suit currently on the market, including the HAL 5 system.

For example, the HAL 5 weighs in at 23 kilograms (50 lbs) for the full suit compared to this latest suit weight in at a measly 9.2 kilograms (20.28 lbs). In addition, the construction of the suit allows it to sit on the body as though it were as light as a feather. While there are not listed statistics for the HAL 5 system, the “muscle suit” has been reported as effectively reducing the weight of a 40 kilogram (88 lbs) bag of rice to next to nothing.

This tremendous boost in strength was once a feared factor in these exoskeletal suits, as when early models of other suits were used purely for strength enhancement, the wearer had a tendency to tear their muscles. The “muscle suit” seems to completely ignore this concern, having apparently been designed to specifically negate this one particularly dangerous side effect.

The “muscle suit” is stated to likely be ready for commercial use and is expected to see release next year at a monthly rental fee of 15,000 yen ($186), 90% of which is covered by Japanese health insurance in most cases.

I’m very excited for this, as I always have been for the latest advancements in the field of robotics. This advancement in particular is a breakthrough in reducing the weight of exoskeletal suits and the advancement of artificial muscle technology. It is quite amazing to see so much advancement in a six year time period.

The HAL 5 was sleek and terrifically advanced for its time and was at the front of field in full-body cybernetics, with uses in multiple fields, hindered only by it’s weight and battery life. The “muscle suit” takes everything so much further, offering greater strength at less than half the weight.

It is not inconceivable now to think that fully enclosed robotic suits will be developed within our lifetimes now. Robotics have begun advancing at a rate that seems almost seems similar to the growth of computer technology. And to think that both suits are controlled by reading the signals of the nervous system, allowing even a fully paralyzed person to move, it’s quite amazing. Superbly amazing.

This was David and I’m out.

http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/robotsuithal/

http://www.dailyonigiri.com/2012/04/cybernetic-muscle-suit-makes-heavy-objects-seem-as-light-as-a-feather/

Danganronpa: The Animation (No Spoilers)

Danganronpa: The animation is a newer anime series that is based off of the PSP original game by the name of Danganronpa. As of now they only have the first game an anime series, but it is heavily hinted at the end of the last episode in the series that they will be making the second game into a second season of the series. The series, as well as the first game, is about a group of elite high school students that have been accepted into a prestigious high school known as Hope’s Peak Academy. Anyone who graduates from this academy is almost guaranteed any job that they can dream of, however graduating is not as easy as just taking classes and passing with stellar grades. This school functions a little bit different than that. In this school you have to get away with murder in order to graduate. If you are caught, though, you are the one who ends up with a “deadly detention slip”.

As stated above, this series is fairly new to the USA. Though, since it has gained a pretty good sized fan base they are going to be releasing a English translated version of the game here in America in the money of January 2014. They are a bit skeptical, though, because they do not know how Americans will feel about the concept of the game. They feel that it will not do as well here in America as it did in Japan. As far as i am aware, they are not going to be making very many changes to the game, except for the language of course, but as far as the story line and the games concept it seems that it will still be the same as the Japanese one.

My thoughts on this series is that it is absolutely fantastic. I know that there were some people who commented on the site where i watched the series that it was so predictable, but they were also the people who admitted to having played the game before watching the series. I thought the series was very suspenseful and i usually was never able to guess who it was when it came to having to guess the killer, and I’m usually pretty good about picking up on clues and figuring things out. When i first heard about the series i was just like a lot of other people i have described the series to, i thought it was a pretty messed up idea to be making a series out of. The only reason why i started watching the series was because i saw a picture of one of the characters and i wanted to cosplay as them. So i went into it with a very closed mind and was not really expecting to enjoy the series. However, after watching the first episode i was hooked. It reminded me of the tv series like criminal minds and CSI in a way. I got connected to the characters and it shocked me each time to find out who the killer was and don’t even get me started about the ending. The ending was something that i would have never guessed before. As far as the game coming to America in a translated version, i am beyond ecstatic. I literally squealed out loud when i read the article that announced it. I was thinking about getting a PS Vita, but now that it is going to be just on the Vita i am definitely going to try to get one. As far as Americans accepting the story concept i am not too sure how they will take it. I mean the Hunger Games series is vastly popular here and it has the same concept of kids killing other kids, but then again it is set in a high school so many may think that it is taking lightly of high school killings and trying to turn it into a game. I would think, though, that if it is taken badly then they will not be re-doing the second game, which i hope they do, but who knows i guess only the future will tell. I do hope, though, that they do a good job on translating the game and that they don’t censor the game immensely so.

http://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-the-animation

http://nisamerica.com/games/danganronpa/

What the Vending Machine?!

 

When it comes to foreign countries, the last possible thing you’d think of seeing are vending machines. In fact, vending machines are usually related to things like candy or soda when it’s spoken about in the United States but, it’s actually a very popular thing all over Japan. Popular enough that there are at least one vending machine for every twenty five people. Sure, that doesn’t sound like a lot but, when you consider the entire population of Japan- vending machines are pretty much on every corner; kinda like how Mc Donald’s is in America.

Vending machines began to show up in Japan around the year 1950 and then only began to increase in popularity as the years went by. Today, Japan holds record for the highest per capita rate of vending machines in the world. American has the highest amount of ‘machines’ in general with a majority of them being mainly for soda or candy. This tells you a lot about the culture and the people in the states. Over the years, people seem to put anything they want in vending machines ranging from fresh flowers, bread in a can, hot or cold drinks, cups of soup, umbrellas, live lobsters and even pornography.

Some of the popular things Japan has in vending machines are;

(Besides Candy, Soda and Coffee)

Fresh Eggs, Bags of rice in various sizes, Fishing line, fish hooks, and fish bait, Toilet paper in small packets — most public restrooms in Japan charge a fee for toilet paper, Fresh flowers,  Frequent flyer miles — Japan Air Lines (JAL) has a machine that reads a credit card and boarding pass and issues frequent flyer miles, Beer in cans or two-liter jugs,  Film and disposable cameras, Pornographic magazines,  Designer condoms,  Batteries,  Live rhinoceros beetles — a popular pet for Japanese children,  Kerosene — for home space heaters, Dry ice — sold at supermarkets for keeping frozen food cold until the customer gets home,  Sake in preheated containers, Cups of hot noodles, Fortunes — found at shrines and temples and Umbrellas — for both rain and shade.

Although, the only thing that you won’t find in Japan is used little girl’s underwear. There’s a strange fascination in the western culture with Japan’s underwear vending machines. In fact, Japan is known by foreigners as the land devoted to technology and sexuality. Although, most of the vending machines that are located in Japan are usually either drinks or cigarettes. Sure, there’s a large list of other items that Japan has in their vending machine like alcohol, food, flowers and even batteries but, the used underwear is just a myth. 

The main reason why this is; Began from the late 60s throughout the 80s where vending machines popped up everywhere for convenience and easy shopping for the fast paced person. Most of the time, they offered adult goods which, was seen good for business. Even to the point where up till 2002, mushrooms were legal and could be bought in vending machines. Around the time of the world cup however, they were made illegal and quickly taken down.

Since a person could buy almost anything from a vending machine, it made perfect sense that someone would decide that selling used underwear would be a good idea. This all began around the 1990s where there where teenage girls selling their worn panties to perverts all over the place. Finally, someone decided that they would put those in a vending machine too but, the main way panties were sold were in adult stores. Until of course, they came under scrutiny for obvious reasons and a group was finally busted in 1993 for selling schoolgirl underpants; now, this business is illegal.

Luckily, it’s still perfectly legal to sell new underwear in vending machines which, can be spotted in some places in Japan. Although, a vast majority of Japanese people don’t even know they exist because they have never seen one. The machines are not exactly out in the open of course; there are not a whole lot of them. They ones they existed were in old, sketchy vending machines in sketchy places. Besides, people just aren’t completely interested in buying underwear from a vending machine. That should be the last thing a person needs to worry about when visiting Japan anyways. It’s just a urban legend that was blown out of proportion. 

 

Cited:

http://kotaku.com/5988536/the-wild-and-wonderful-world-of-japanese-vending-machines

Nihon no uma

http://japanese.lingualift.com/blog/japanese-horse-breeds/

Most people believe that there are no horses in Japan or least horses that are native to Japan, but there are in fact eight breeds of horses native to Japan. Most those breeds are only ponies.

Historically, they were used for war, work, and pleasure just like other breeds around the world. Nowadays these breeds have become pretty rare. I suppose due to the fact that horses these days are mostly just used for pleasure. Thankfully for these breeds, there organizations fighting for there survival.

Kiso 

This is a breed that some people believe is indigenous to Japan.

This breed was originally used for military purposes like farming and war mounts. Now they are raised for riding in Nagano and Gifu.

Noma

This is the most known breed from the Noma region of Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. They were bred from Mongolian stock in the 17th century. The Noma Uma is the smallest of the Japanese breeds. It’s most valued for its gentle personality and strength. They were used for riding, light draft work, and as packhorses on the steep mountainsides in the rough Noma region. Now, they are mostly used as riding horses for children and as study subjects in local schools.

In the early 17th century, the breed grew in popularity when Lord Hisamatsu of Matsuyama Han charged local farmers with breeding his warhorses until the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, when the Japanese army were caught off guard by the much larger horses of their enemy. This led to a Japanese military breeding program and introduction of several breeds from abroad.

While this had many positive side effects, such as an increase of interest in breeding and racing horses, it also led to the near-extinction of native Japanese horse breeds. The newly formed Japanese Agency of Equine Affairs banned all breeding of small horses and by 1970 there were just six purebred animals remaining. It is thanks to the stubbornness of a handful of farmers who illegally kept native horses for farm work that we still have the Noma ponies today. As of 2008, there were 84 purebred ponies in existence.

Dosanko

Another popular breed is the Hokkaido Washu more commonly known as the Dosanko. The Dosanko were brought to Hokkaido by fishermen from Honshu during the Edo period. They were used for transportation, but were left in Hokkaido when the fishermen returned home in autumn. The ponies were expected to survive in very harsh weather, in a land with very little vegetation, covered with snow, which is how the Dosanko developed its exceptional enduring strength for which it is known today.

Unlike the Nanbu breed, of which the Dosanko is considered to be a descendant of, and which no longer exists, the Dosanko is the most plentiful of the remaining ancient Japanese ponies, numbering at around 2000. Today, it is still used for heavy transportation in the mountains unreachable by truck. Some ranchers in Hokkaido even continue to winter the horses in the mountains, maintaining the breed’s hardiness.

The Dosanko feed mainly on bamboo grass and wander around in the mountains in search of it till spring when they return to the ranches without assistance to escape bears as they awake from hibernation and start to prey on the foals.

Misaki

Misaki is of pony height, but it has horse characteristics and proportions. It was first identified in the historical record in 1697, when the Akizuki family of the Takanabe Clan rounded up feral horses and developed a pool of breeding stock. However, following the end of World War II, the Misaki were designated as a National Natural Treasure and nowadays they have returned to feral life, mainly in a designated National Monument on Cape Toi at the south end of the Miyazaki Prefecture, attracting many tourists to the region.

Miyako

Miyako uma originated from Miyako Island in Okinawa, a prefecture known as a horse breeding area for centuries. In 1055, population of the breed peaked at around 10,000. Unfortunately, the increase of motorization caused this number to decline, and by 1983, there were only seven head alive. The population grew to 25 horses by 1993, but had dropped back to 19 by 2001, despite the great efforts to preserve this breed of great antiquity. The Miyako resemble Mongolian horse and nowadays they are mainly used as riding ponies, and sometimes for light draft work.

Yonaguni

The Yonaguni uma is a breed native to the southwest of Japan, specifically the Yonaguni Island. In 1939, when all local breeds began to be improved to produce larger war horses, the Yonaguni on their remote island were excluded from the plan, and the breed has been preserved. Still, due to the mechanization of agriculture, their number progressively decreased. Today, fewer than 200 are known to live in Japan.

Taishu

Taishu uma , also known as Taisu, originated on the Tsu Island of Japan. It is an ancient breed, believed to date back to the eighth century. In 1920, there were more than 4000 of them, but only about 65 head remain. Due to their gentle nature and strong willingness to obey, Tiashu are often ridden by farmers’ wives and children. Nevertheless, they are also known for endurance and ability to survive on little food and in severe weather, and may even be used for light draft. While in 1920, there were over 4000 Taishu on the Tsu Islands, fewer than 70 of them remain today.

Tokara

Another horse breed believed to be indigenous to Japan is Tokara uma, raised in the Tokara Islands, a chain of Island in Kagoshima. They are known for their tolerance to heat and have been used for agriculture.

The pony were found in 1952 by Shigeyuki Hayashida, a professor of Kagoshima University. When the Professor checked first, there were 43 ponies kept, however this number gradually decreased because of agricultural mechanization. There are now 107 Tokara ponies, some of them on display at Hirakawa Zoo in Kagoshima.

VOCALOID

http://www.vocaloid.com/en/about/

Vocaloid, though started out in Japan, has become widely popular around the world. Even now there are many companies that are using the more famous of the Vocaloid “characters” in their commercials ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaA2liN9LKM). Toyota is only one of the may companies that has used Hatsune Miku, who is widely considered one of the most easily recognizable, even among people that are not fans of Vocaloid or the ones that do not know what Vocaloid even is.

Before i go any further though i’m sure there are alot of you wondering, “What is Vocaloid?” “Is this just some other anime or what??”

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesis and the name of the software application created by Yamaha. It allows the user to inert melodies and lyrics in order to create their own songs without needing to sing their own lyrics or find someone to do so for them. The singing synthesis is produced by a library of voices that can be changed for each song in order to get the pitch that you want for that particular song that you are creating. Vocaloids such as Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, and Megurine Luka are all “pre-made” Vocaloids that can be used for your songs, as well as making your own pitches. The voices of Vocaloid come from clips of many singers. So this software is pretty nifty for someone who loves to compose music, but does not want to hire someone to sing their songs that they compose. The software is a bit pricey, but once you have it is yours.

Now that we know a little bit about what Vocaloid is let’s talk a little bit about the fandom. Vocaloid has an ever growing fanbase and is becoming quite popular here in America. Some of the more well-known Vocaloids are Hatsune Mike, Megurine Luka, Kaito, Meiko, Megpoid Gumi, and of course the Kagamine twins Rin and Len. Though these are not all of the Vocaloids these are just some of the few that seem to be the most heard of. Though, out of the ones listed Hatsune Mike is by far the most recognizable to fans and non-fans alike.

Vocaloid, though started out as a software program, has so much more merchandising in the world than just the software itself. Plushies, keychains, shirts, cups, costumes, etc; anything that you can think of, you can find it somewhere with a Vocaloid on it. They have even expanded to having live concerts with holographic projections of the singers on the stage backed up by a real live band (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwozsLeKqwM). Thousands of people attend these concerts, so it is safe to assume that they are widely popular. Some people think it is odd to go see Holograms perform, but i mean come on that kind of technology isn’t something you see everyday. They look like they are right on the stage and not just on a projector screen. I know i would pay to go and see it if i had the chance.

The future of Vocaloid is looking pretty bright. The technology just gets better and better with the ever growing expansion of computers and the advances in computer software technology. Yamaha is hoping to make the Vocaloid software as “easy as playing a piano” someday. That way all composers can easily use the software to create their own works of art. Also, Yamaha is always making new “pre-made” Vocaloids to be used in order to adapt to a wider variety of audiences. Like i stated above, the future looks bright for this software and fandom.

I think that just about covers what i have to say. if i say too much more i will be just simply gushing about how much love i have for the Vocaloids. So this his been your short history of Vocaloid, hope you enjoyed. Sara out.

The Wonderful World of Touhou

http://www.cracked.com/funny-1750-touhou/

Touhou Project, while relatively unknown to those unfamiliar with the ever evident spread of Japanese culture across the internet, is a massive sensation in the world of doujin games and manga. It is created by Team Shanghai Alice, which is actually just one man who goes by ZUN. He started the games on the Japanese PC-98 during the 90s and is solely responsible for all the work in the series (with a few particular exceptions). The games have since moved to Windows.

The games are in the danmaku genre, more commonly known as “bullet hell” in the west. They have a reputation for having beautiful and absolutely lethal and sometimes unfair patterns of bullets swarming across the screen. Perhaps even more than this, the series is known for having an all female cast easily numbering over 100 characters.

The fandom takes everything in the games and greatly expands upon it in every imaginable way. Conventions, fan fiction, hand-made plushies, cosplay and even fan made anime; the Touhou fandom has produced content of a quality to rival commercial content from major corporations. For example, there are many dozens of groups that make remixes and arrangements of the music from the games (which is already considered quite good to begin with). Some of these fan albums have even become available outside of conventions and can be ordered from Amazon Japan.

I can really only think back to my cross-cultural studies class last semester and think, you know, this isn’t really a big part of Japanese culture. It’s just a really small subset of anime and game fans. Still, it’s Japanese, so I guess it counts!

The article summarized above is not the same one that I had originally found (it was much less silly), however, this article does provide a good explanation of what Touhou is and more or less what the fandom does. As a fan of the games and fan content myself, I can say that it is pretty accurate in describing everything (though I’ve never actually talked to a Japanese fan, the fandom in the West seems to be little different than their Japanese counterparts). In describing everything, though, they did bring up the inevitable adult content that plagues every fandom. I wasn’t too thrilled about it, and while the images in the article are censored, I was admittedly worried when I couldn’t find another article that was fairly truthful about Touhou.

I do want to elaborate on Touhou just a little bit. It is set in a fantasy world where all the demons, monsters, what have you, go when fantasy disappears in our world. It is inhabited western vampires, Japanese youkai, and all manner of humans with ridiculous magical power.

It makes an interesting gateway into Japanese mythology and even has elements of Chinese mythology present in the two Chinese characters, one of whom is a jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire or zombie, depending on your preference.)

…I’m really just gushing over the series. Well, there is a lot of content and with some groups releasing manga at every convention, the amount of fan content really is staggering. It’s gotten to the point where the fanbase would probably exist without the games at all now. I have been a fan of it for some years now; I began playing the games when I was 16 because a friend of mine said I couldn’t beat them.

Fan groups based in Western culture seems to be really subdued outside of the Trekkies, Star Wars nuts, and recently My Little Pony fans. While Touhou is a huge thing, other articles I’ve read over the years seemed to suggest that some anime and other shows go and spawn massive subcultural followings.

I think that’s all from me. David out.

Dōnyū! どうにゅう

Konnichiwa!

Hello, my name is Stacey Terwilliger. I am twenty one years old and just bought my first house in Murfreesboro, TN. I am a Biology major with a double minor in Japanese and Psychology. I am an alternative tattoo and piercing model but, love to volunteer and help out my local humane society as well. I was born in Naha, Okinawa Japan and moved to the states in late 2000. ^-^

The rest of you guys need to introduce yourselves here.