Japan's used panty trade

[Faithless]

Searching google news for karaoke + crime info, and came across this really wierd article.

Japan Today man/woman on the street... (http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=popvox&id=452)
What do you think about the proposed restriction on panty trade and teenagers entering karaoke and Internet cafes late at night?

Hideyuki Kubo, 43, says:

"Shops selling used panties are a symbol of what Japan has become — a society totally lacking in morals. Those sorts of businesses must be banned. We can't just hold teens alone responsible for what they do, but also the operators of these establishments. Not all kids are doing bad things at Internet cafes and karaoke places. If adults are too worried about them, shops should install separate corners to observe all customers, although that may cause some inconvenience. Anyway, at this point, you can pretty much do anything you want anywhere in Japan. There are very few restrictions."



From yahoo, a detailed article:

Tokyo government to ponder panty trade clampdown (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040119/od_nm/odd_japan_youth_dc)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo's used panty sellers are among the targets of a raft of new regulations to be considered by city lawmakers in an effort to protect minors from the Japanese capital's thriving sex industry.

Finding a way of preventing the lucrative trade in young girls' underwear, which media say can command 10,000 yen ($94) a pair at sex shops, is among recommendations in a report presented to the city on Monday by an advisory body on youth issues.

Operators of sidewalk vending machines that dispense pornography are also likely to be asked to ensure that sales are not made to minors by requiring that all machines accept a drivers' license as proof of age.

Publishers, as well, may be asked to comply voluntarily with a proposal that they wrap sexually explicit magazines to prevent children from browsing through them at book shops.

The proposals also call for a ban on children under 18 entering Internet cafes and karaoke centers between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., to be enforced with a fine on business owners of up to 300,000 yen ($2,800).

"The aim of these proposals is to create a zoning system to keep the world of adults separate from that of children," said Tatsuo Mizuno, a Tokyo government official.

"It is the responsibility of adults to do this."

Concern about the sexual exploitation of minors, often in exchange for cash or gifts, has grown in Japan in recent years, with many offenders using Internet dating sites to contact children.

[haku]

Jeez, do they sell these in vending machines too? Seems like you can get anything out of a Tokyo vending machine.

[Faithless]

Jeez, do they sell these in vending machines too? Seems like you can get anything out of a Tokyo vending machine.
I guess the idea is to keep them at room temperature, so that they'll be sniffably fresh. (Or whatever else they do with them.)

Plus, the price tag is running about 10,000 yen, and I know that they'd probably be slipping that into a packinko machine, before they got it jammed in an undies vending machine. :rolleyes:

[younggiftedandblack]

There are stores that sell them.

[yangbahn50]

Ewww this is such a disgusting thing to talk about...yet the truth exists in terms of Japan's sexual mentality.

Selling USED panties? SIIIIIICCCKKK!!!

Speaking about Japan and its 'thriving' sex/porn industry....
it's so sad that it took a while for the government to ban CHILD pornography!
I think they did it finally...in 1997.

There are also places in Japan called "Soapland" where teenage females give oral sex service to male customers (usu. old businessmen) or simply have sex for money....sort of like regular prostitution rings.

And gosh! I didn't know that pornographic materials are sold in ...*gasp*..vending machines!! Any kid with a fetish for adult materials can get these stuf...and it's very immoral.

I've grown up with high moral standards....so I view this kind of stuff as disgusting.

[Ogumo]

Tokyo is the most filthy province. That place and the people disgust me. That is the only place in japan where this happens.

[>:^|]

They are sold in the U.S. as well.

[Faithless]

They are sold in the U.S. as well.
Imported or stolen locally? :frown:

[younggiftedandblack]

There are things Americans do that other cultures find disgusting also.

I don't think is no worse then any other country when it comes to sex.

[Faithless]

There are things Americans do that other cultures find disgusting also.

I don't think is no worse then any other country when it comes to sex.
You're so right. Like urban beach parties (http://www.ourpark.org/beachparty/album/)

[TB4000]

You're so right. Like urban beach parties (http://www.ourpark.org/beachparty/album/)
Never really been a fan of the baby pouch on the front like that.

[Faithless]

Never really been a fan of the baby pouch on the front like that.
Yeah, but it keeps the door from being slammed in your face. :frown:

[mr. x]

You're so right. Like urban beach parties (http://www.ourpark.org/beachparty/album/)

are u sure thats not Europe?

[deez nuts]

freaky deaky

[Faithless]

are u sure thats not Europe?
It maybe. But I read elsewhere where the trend is making a go of it in the states.

[teaz0r]

they sell it on ebay too.

[Ogumo]

I just don't understand the appeal of buying this.

[teaz0r]

well. maybe you're not a panty sniffer.

[Faithless]

Who buys your used panties? (http://www.amyspanties.com/faq.htm#whobuys)
I sell my dirty undies to everyone from high-profile corporate executives & attorneys, to college guys to regular, hard-working, husbands & boyfriends. I have shipped my goodies to 5 continents and more than 11 countries.

[Faithless]

It get's weirder:

A journalist's confession... (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/03.30.00/panties-0013.html)
To find out more about who was stocking and sampling eBay's adult cybershelves, I decided to join the sellers. Logging on with a fake user name and a free, anonymous e-mail account ("pntygrl"), I scanned in photos of my underwear and provided credit-card info, and my three-day auction was up and running. I held my breath and waited, as if a bidding war would suddenly burst forth onscreen over my cotton briefs. But nothing. I checked back hourly, but still, nothing. And silly as it was, each time the boldface zero popped up beside my auction, I felt a tinge of insult. Perhaps it was the competition, I placated myself--just look at them.

Other sellers featured glossy, professional color shots of slinky women in risqué positions modeling their wares. My auction sported a slightly blurry, crooked photo of my underwear lying neatly on a chair. And the others had themes: "Stewardess' Panties" and "Used Prom Panties." I hadn't thought "Journalist's Panties" sounded all that enticing, so I had gone with something standard, like "soft, white" in the description box. One prospective bidder e-mailed me: "Maybe you could put a little more info in your description? Makes me curious what your body is like." Fine, don't bid then.

Luke Ford, whose porn-gossip website has earned him the title "the Matt Drudge of pornography," reassured me over the phone that many of the underwear sellers are, in fact, professional entertainers. "Tons of porn stars are making their living that way," he says. "They make thousands of dollars a month selling personal belongings and funneling people to their own sites." Dave Michaels agrees, adding, "Not many are 'students/amateurs,' like they say. That's part of the fantasy."

Indeed, it's all about the fantasy. Jenna Jameson, the current "it girl" in porn, uses eBay to sell--among other things--audiotapes she records to order for winning bidders. "I'll act as if I'm having sex with them and say their name ... or talk about my feet--whatever they want," she says of the tapes, which go for $1,000 to $2,000 each. "But it pays my rent--and I have a very big house."

Other adult businesses push the illusion further. Many used-lingerie auctions I stumbled across turned out to be cottage industries operating behind a fake composite character ("18-year-old-student-who-needs-cash-for-books"). One seller, "Sarah," was actually a couple; the man and woman (who requested anonymity) provided sophisticated order forms allowing buyers to customize purchases (dotted/cotton/full-back? red/satin/thong?) They also invited customers to personalize fantasies by instructing "Sarah" what to do in the underwear before mailing.

Lane, the online-porn researcher, estimates that only 5 percent of the female adult sites are run by individual women; the rest of the panty ladies are marketing fictions devised by "cyber pimps."

One dominatrix emailed me that she uses eBay to lure people to the S&M dungeon she runs in New York City. (To avoid eBay's wrath, she also requested anonymity.) "I use [eBay] more as a way to get information to people than actual selling," she says. "It's a cheap way to do that, and I link to other websites."

And this is just one way sellers take advantage of eBay's self-policed cyberuniverse. Most panty auctions had a "cleaned per eBay standards" disclaimer. But I was told repeatedly, in phone interviews with eBay members, that once the auction is over, buyer and seller make their own arrangements. As one eBay merchant, "misterhoward," put it, "If you're paying $60 or more for a pair of underwear, do you really want them cleaned? I'm confident that there is not one seller on eBay who sells panties/underwear/jockstraps, where there are suggestive pics, who cleans them before mailing."

Another panty fetishist emailed me: "I took a gamble and bought some panties from this one girl's website. They arrived wet, smelly and with a few stray hairs. I was quite happy."

"There's a tremendous amount of overall trust and honesty that's built up," eBay's Pursglove says, "and with that, a high level of community expectation. So it's up to the users to tell us [about violations]." Still, he admits: "We're like a large city ... with people operating on the honor system. Every once in a while you'll find someone who wants to push the envelope. And they risk being removed."

Porno Dave has yet to cross that line. But he says many of his competitors sneak adult merchandise into the regular section, to reach customers who don't have credit cards. "They do a quick three-day auction and pull it before eBay sees," he says. "Go to the regular section and type 'XXX' or 'porn' and see what you get."

He was right: A quick search yielded 303 results. Granted, there were plenty of Super Bowl XXX posters, but also "Big Boobs Screen Saver SEXY Nude Adult" and "XXX stories from Penthouse magazine."

Meanwhile, my own auction had merely hours to go before closing. But still, not a bite. I was relieved--I had gotten in there and done my research, without ever having to get my hands dirty. But then, with only four minutes to spare, some guy in North Carolina snuck in a bid. I was standing there glaring at my computer screen when the winner emailed me a request: "Could you please wear them one last time before you mail them to me?" Suddenly, I developed a feverish attachment to my old Fruit of the Looms. I'd made $14, just enough to buy a fresh pack of panties at Kmart. I'd mail him one of those. But the question remained: How would I explain the check, which read "Panty Girl," to the bank teller?