If by chance you are a child who has accidentally stumbled upon my blog please look away now- this is unsuitable for under 18 year olds.
Entering the love district is an experience of its own in Tokyo. Not just because of the kinky, wonderful and just plain weird things you can find on display in some places, but also because it’s a real eye-opener of the presence of moe in Japan. For those of you that don’t know, moe is a word used to describe feelings (emotional and/or sexual) towards the Japanese cartoon characters found in anime, manga and video games. Google it if you still don’t know what anime is but it’s basically the cute ones with big bambi like eyes, usually wearing something colourful and sexy- and which many of the cosplay girls from the previous blog base their outfits on.
Moe affects all ages and even genders and this includes middle-aged men. The Akihabara district in Japan, where you buy all the video games and memorabilia is full of men old enough to be my father and I have a sneaky suspicion that some of these men are the main target audience for the products in this blog.
Walking into the Victoria secrets of Japan I wasn’t expecting to find so many cartoon characters but they are everywhere, to the extent that you can buy sex toys modelled on your favourite characters. I have kept the photos as PG as possible as my number one fan is my mother but for more X-rated photos see me.
Now I am always open-minded and try not to judge on the blog so I will let you make your own minds about this one, although I will say that of all the things I’ve seen in Japan, grown men obsessing over cartoon girls is still a little difficult for me to swallow. And while Japan only banned child pornography last year, cartoon child porn is not included in this ban.
Many Japanese and western scholars have written about this theme and varied opinions exist. Whether it’s a Peter Pan complex, a sexual fetish or just a group of men who feel more comfortable with 2-D characters than 3-D women, it’s not clear, but the whole thing makes me a little uncomfortable to say the least. On top of all that, Japan is still a very sexist society and I can’t help but think how this isn’t doing anything to help promote healthy attitudes and respect towards women.
