Sex toys...

This weeks topic is sexuality and gender in Japan, and I have chosen to discuss the sexualized figurines and toys which are available in almost every populated area of Japan that I have traveled to thus far. In Japan women are objectified and sexualized, often to the point of ridiculousness, this can be seen in hundreds of media formats including magazines, T.V. shows and advertising, but the thing that shocks me the most is the hyper-sexualization of figurines found in gacha gacha (capsule toy) vending machines and figurine shops.
The normal looking gacha gacha, at the top of the page is located at the back of a figure store which sold a huge variety of Anime figurines such as dragonball z, evangelion, hello kitty etc. However, after I looked past the bargain box of dragonball figures I was shocked to see these "porno toys", some depicting women in bondage chains, labelled "2d Dream Heroines" others which I found slightly more disturbing.

These figures on the right are 'super cute' versions of sexualized school girls, and would be instantly demonized as peadophelia, and banned if they tried to sell them in Australia. I recently asked one of my Japanese friends why pornography is so common in Japan, and her reply was that maybe Japanese people are too shy to have sex with each other, so they need another form of indirect sexual experience to fullfill they're sexual urges. I suppose that considering Japan is the land of the cute item, applying that 'cuteness' to pornography is a natural progression.

I cant help but think of how these readily available and accesible sexual images are influencing the minds of young, impressionable children who must surely see these kinky dolls every so often as they try to find their favorite Vegeta or Goku. Having these sexual images and toys as commonplace items will surely help perpetuate the ideology of female sexual objectification among Japanese men and women. I also wonder how long it will be until we start seeing sex robots and what effect that will have on population growth. Who knows maybe that could have a positive environmental outcome? I just hope they dont look anything like the figure below...