Those naughty Japanese are up to it again. I think they deserve a spanking!

Japanese are getting bored with normal sex and have largely turned their attention toward S&M for something with a little extra bite, claims Asahi Geino. "In the past, bondage goods weren't used so much between married couples or lovers, but something with an image that guys forced on mistresses or other women who weren't the main woman in their life. But light S&M products have gone through something of a boom over the past four or five years. Ordinary couples have started using handcuffs and the like to get some variation in their lives," Mariko Mitsui, a writer specializing in coverage of adult aids, tells Asahi Geino.

Peaches Brand, manufacturer of devices like PokoPoko, a vibrator with a huge ball attached to its tip, Fellatio sex incense and Body Odor perfume, has ridden Japan's S&M wave at its crest. Of particular success have been its fur-lined handcuffs, for those who want it rough, but not too rough.

"They were really supposed to be a product where you could restrain a partner's hands or feet while you went at them, but they look so good they've become a fashion item," a spokesman for the company says. "You can even see high schoolgirls walking through Shibuya while handcuffed to their boyfriends."

Other S&M supplies are also whipping up a storm. Erotape are Velcro restrainers aimed at beginners and said to work well in conjunction with inflatable Oshioki (punishment) chairs.

"A lot of the restraining goods being bought recently are used on guys," the Peaches Brand spin doctor says. "Even if the guy isn't an all-out masochist, it's become common for women to strip their partners and tie them up while they go on the attack." Writer Mitsui concurs. "More women want to take the lead in the bedroom," she says.

Purists are also apparently becoming more particular in their demands. "As far as whips go, most were entirely black until we started offering color-coordinated types, paying attention even to things like the color of tassels. We also provide customized whip handles, discussing with customers their ideal length, grip and decorative effects," Kazumi Matsumoto -- a man attributed with revolutionizing S&M in Japan and operator of S&M specialty store Sasori -- tells Asahi Geino. "Depending on the type of games you play, for the really hard-core types we can even attach a strip of leather to the whip. Leather on the underside of the whips most shops sell is usually rough, but we've put straps on both the underside and top of our whips so they feel good on the skin."

Whips, some of which can command a price of about 100,000 yen, aren't all Matsumoto's Sasori provides. "Our customized hand, feet and mouth shackles are fitted to the nearest half-millimeter. We can even make a strait jacket with a 55-centimeter waist for women whose waists are actually 63 centimeters," the carnal craftsman says.

Matsumoto can see plenty of changes afoot in Japan's world of discipline. "Now, there're loads of masochistic men, especially among middle-aged guys. But it's also a time when we're getting loads of orders for whips from women in their 20s. Plenty of women who became dominatrixes as a way to ride out the tough economic times have discovered they actually like this world," Matsumoto tells Asahi Geino. "And dominatrixes are getting younger all the time. I wouldn't be too surprised if we started seeing dominatrixes in their teens."


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