<Translated from original Japanese article here>
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| Hohoemi |
In the 1970's Hideo Tsuchiya was working in an adult goods store where a lot of customers would complain about defective blow-up sex dolls. The dolls were nothing more than poorly made inner tubes that would often leak or collapse during use. Hideo recognized the needs among his customers for a well made love doll and established Orient Industry in 1975.
After two years of trial and error, Orient Industry released its first product in 1977, a love doll called "Hohoemi" or "Smile". The "Smile" love doll utilizes soft-plastic for the face, breasts and polyurethane polymers to reinforce the torso area. The doll sold for 38,000 Yen or roughly $380, but back in the 70's that was quite pricey for a sex toy. However, the Smile love doll still utilizes blow-up components for the arms and legs and still had troubles with air leaks.
In 1982, Orient Industry released its first non-inflatable love doll. The "Omokage" or "Facial Memories" was released in 1982 as the first fully polymer based love doll with a latex skin layer. The doll has no inflatable parts and was therefore able to withstand more weight without any concerns of leaks. The latex surface also provided a skin texture that felt much closer to the real thing. The Omokage also had detachable limbs for easy storage.
Back in 1982 a love doll like the Omokage was unprecedented and priced at premium 158,000 yen or roughly $1,580. Despite the high price, the Omokage sold very well and established Tsuchiya's company as the leader in the industry. This latex based love doll would become the standard for premium love dolls and the main product for Orient Industry.
The third artificial maiden exhibition was held in Tokyo, Ginza's Vanilla Gallery on October 8th 2012. This event coincides with Orient Industry's 35th year anniversary and the release of the movie "Love Doll - I want to Hold You" directed by Shinya Yamada.
The theme of the exhibition is "The Girl's Eroticism", displaying the latest examples of the evolution of love dolls. As described in the flyer for the exhibition: "...enjoy the dainty appearance of these lovely dolls who have been filling the void in our lonely hearts for all these years".
From the show's description of the company behind the event: Orient Industry has been focused on the same vision for the last 35 years, to create a love doll that is able to carry a relationship with humans. Their goal is to take these sexual objects and remove any "creepiness" people have with dolls, and instead add the warmth of humans into them while keeping their sexual charm. To create a girl that you can snuggle up to, a doll that will embrace you with their heart, that is the ultimate goal of a doll maker to achieve such a creation.
I can't help but try to defend this exhibition, I can imagine a lot of people being offended by such an event while others make fun of the exhibits in the show. Japan has always been a much more open society when it comes to sex, and they manage to look at certain acts and products with a surprising pragmatic view. They know some people need such a product, they recognized a business opportunity and they used amazing technology and skill to create what can be called a work of art. This exhibit is a celebration of this company's vision and achievements, but I admit that the items shown also have a unapologetic misogynistic vibe to it that cannot be ignored.
Also at the event were the owner and president of Orient Industry: Hideo Tsuchiya and movie director Shinya Yamada, enjoying a glass of wine served through the nipple of a love doll. Not creepy at all... It's hard to criticize an exhibit as objectifying women when the whole point of the show and the company behind it is to literally objectify women into the form of sexual love dolls. View this as a commentary on how a society deteriorates, or an example of how a civilization evolves and advances into the future. You are free to judge all you want.
