Name: VIPPER 2005-02-08 20:53
Into this store, on the Chuo-doori in Akihabara, came a competitor last summer, a so-called "adult outlet" named Love Merci that towered across five floors of one building. "Around 30 to 50 percent of our products are self-manufactured," claims the owner, Yoshihiro Sakurai (44). The store is run by two separate adult-toy manufacturers working together. "These manufacturers work with machines, so they were familiar with Akihabara. Most of our sales are through wholesalers, but with enough available product, we figured we could create a store here." Within a month, they had a store open for business.
A peek around the store reveals the owner's promised low prices, such as 2000-yen vibrators. Porno DVDs, in particular, are cheaper the more you buy at once, with 100 discs available for 30,000 yen. "Akihabara also goes by the name of 'The City of Masturbation," says Sakurai, "and our artificial vaginas sell very well." The owner has several types, all molded and developed by himself from real women whose pictures appear on the package. For lonely Akiba denizens, it's a sight for sore eyes.
"A lot of people come to Akihabara in search of sex based off what they see in anime," notes Tetsuhito Fujiyama, 20-year Akihabara veteran and author of the guide Akihabara Maniacs. "People may not want to buy things like this in Shinjuku or Shibuya, but in Akihabara, they may see it as something they might as well get while they're passing by the electronics stores. As a result, over the past few years, all the packages for adult toys have turned into anime drawings."
A peek around the store reveals the owner's promised low prices, such as 2000-yen vibrators. Porno DVDs, in particular, are cheaper the more you buy at once, with 100 discs available for 30,000 yen. "Akihabara also goes by the name of 'The City of Masturbation," says Sakurai, "and our artificial vaginas sell very well." The owner has several types, all molded and developed by himself from real women whose pictures appear on the package. For lonely Akiba denizens, it's a sight for sore eyes.
"A lot of people come to Akihabara in search of sex based off what they see in anime," notes Tetsuhito Fujiyama, 20-year Akihabara veteran and author of the guide Akihabara Maniacs. "People may not want to buy things like this in Shinjuku or Shibuya, but in Akihabara, they may see it as something they might as well get while they're passing by the electronics stores. As a result, over the past few years, all the packages for adult toys have turned into anime drawings."