“Compared with 11 years ago, the situation for girls has improved greatly,” adult store owner Minori Kitahara said. Acknowledging the market is still geared mostly for men, she said that options for women have increased.
“It wasn't so long ago that a girl had to summon all her courage to buy a vibrator. Now she can choose an item that's friendly to the female body,” she said. “I specifically select items that are free from harmful chemical substances and do not make loud noises.”
Kitahara, 36, is a feminist activist who owns the SexPieceClub, a women’s adult retail store in Tokyo.
Appealing to the female consumer in Japan requires a delicate approach she said, so Kitahara’s display at the Expo featured mostly pastel-colored novelties and stylized designs with the most provocative item being a furry pair of handcuffs.
Though she said women have become more interested in adult novelties since opening her shop in 1996, out of 160 exhibitors her booth was one of the few at the “Sexpo” that targeted the female consumer.
Takako Kimura, manager of software provider Hotesseshop, said that videos made for men feature sex that is too aggressive for Japanese women, and often times women would resort to viewing gay videos to get a look at good-looking men.
Standard fare in the Japanese adult retail market is products that appeal to men, and most of the displays at the show were comprised of DVDs ranging from average to super-kinky content. One booth offered a lineup of sex dolls with youthful faces and large breasts, dressed in skimpy lingerie.
Plum Company adviser Koji Uchida said he was selling DVDs with amateur girls, not professional adult actresses.
“Of course the target is men,” Uchida said. “People like to watch these amateur girls because they show their virginal naiveté.”