In Japan, sex is becoming a luxury for the working poor, according to Spa! magazine, which claims that a ‘sex gap‘ is being producing by decreasing full employment and the growing ‘income gap,’ which in turn, is a relatively new phenomenon for a country that has long prided itself on equally shared rising prosperity.
Surveying 300 men, aged 25-39 earning ¥2,000,000 (about £9,500) a year or less, Spa! finds 65% of them dissatisfied with their sex lives and just 15.7% satisfied, whilst the remaining 19.3% had simply given up on sex, claiming to have no interest in it. A fact which could explain why more than 20% of the respondents reported they were still virgins.
According to Spa! “Men who give up on love, put the human race at risk.” And further commenting on Japan’s low birth rate and aging, shrinking population, Gynaecologist Tsuneo Akaeda, Director of the Akaeda Roppongi Clinic claimed:
The low birth-rate problem is a Freeter problem.
A Freeter is the Japanese term for someone who is part of the estimated 3 million people (excluding homemakers and students) that lack full-time employment or are unemployed. Many of these are people who found themselves locked out of normal full-time employment by the hiring freeze of the recession-bound 1990s. Most are now into their 30s, still struggling to survive on part-time or temporary employment, in a hand-to-mouth existence, where sex is a luxury.
Akaeda says:
Give these young people stable employment, and you’d solve the birth-rate problem.
Some 78.7% of Spa!’s respondents still live with their parents, and sex is hard with Mum and Dad in the next room. There are love hotels, of course, but who can afford them on 2 million yen a year? At that economic level, even basic dating becomes difficult. However, Spa! says that nowadays working women don’t mind paying their share; but its difficult for proud young Japanese men to propose this arrangement without losing face, and the men in question aren’t socially experienced enough to pull it off.
The magazine continues, it’s typical for men to exclaim “I can’t ask a woman to pay,” so they stay at home instead. But, there’s a tragicomic misunderstanding at work here, because:
Lately, career women actually tend to favour Freeters. Unlike male full-time company employees, Freeters are not too overwhelmed with work to be available when they’re wanted. And with men who don’t make much money, there’s not the constant worry that they may be playing around when your back is turned.
In fact, their ‘playing around’ is largely confined to solitary relief. With Internet porn sites and a proliferating ‘adult video’ industry, these men can comfortably (and economically) take care of their hormonal urges, which in normal circumstances would drive them to seek female company.
This masturbatory surge has Dr Akaeda worried:
An increasing number of men who indulge in immoderate and continual masturbation, suffer a diminished ability to ejaculate with a live sexual partner.
However, Economist Takashi Kadokura has an interesting suggestion:
Sex volunteers.
There are sex volunteers for the elderly and for the handicapped. Why not for the working poor as well?
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 12:01 AM EDT
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This final article is a collection of various strange aphrodisiacs which do not seem to fit elsewhere, as well as some clearly fictitious material.
Cantharidin and Spanish fly
Even in modern times, the legend of Spanish fly as a powerful aphrodisiac persists, and urban folklore sometimes gives it a prominent role.
Spanish fly is the emerald-green blister beetle, Cantharis vesicatoria or Lytta vesicatoria which is found in southern parts of Europe. The body is usually 15-22mm long and 5-8mm wide, with a strong smell and a burning taste. The dried and crushed body of the beetle was used medically as an irritant and diuretic, but was also regarded as a potent aphrodisiac, especially for elderly gentlemen. The Latin name of the beetle derives from the Greek word ‘Lytta’, meaning rage, and the Latin word ‘Vesica’, meaning blister. This indicates the main effects of poisonous doses: mental illness and blisters.
The beetle, which thrives on plants of the families Oleaceae and Caprifoliaceae, contains 0.5-1% of the active ingredient Cantharidin. Cantharidin must be handled with extreme care, since it is highly toxic by ingestion, but can also be absorbed through skin and mucous membranes. This poisoning is called Cantharidism, and can consist of severe gastrointestinal disturbances and nephritis, with collapse occurring in severe cases and a risk of death shortly afterwards. Consumption of 1.6 grams of pulverised beetles has led to death after 26 hours, and ten milligrams of pure Cantharidin has resulted in fatality.
Cantharidin is excreted by the kidneys, and during excretion will irritate the entire urinary tract. Irritation of the urethra will increase blood flow to this region and might result in priapism. It is quite likely that this priapism is the origin of the use of Spanish fly as an aphrodisiac.
The earliest descriptions of its use as a medicine date back to antiquity. The drug is mentioned by Hippocrates, Celsus and Pliny. The Roman empress Livia purportedly slipped it into the food of other members of the imperial family, to encourage them into committing sexual indiscretions that could later be used against them. (Livia was originally the wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero, but was given by him to Octavianus, later known as Emperor Augustus, as a part of a reconciliation agreement).
In 1772 the infamous Marquis de Sade doctored some aniseed sweets with Spanish fly, and offered those to some prostitutes who took part in a flogging orgy. There were no aphrodisiac effects, but the girls became very ill, and the Marquis was brought to trial for poisoning.
Precious stones and pearls
These have long been associated with powers to stimulate the sexual desire, not only when presented as such (imagine the effect of being giving a diamond ring), but also when consumed.
Crushed agate is reportedly especially effective, and Cleopatra would dissolve pearls in vinegar and drink this mixture as an aphrodisiac. Since she managed to get both Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony as lovers, the potion may have a little truth behind it…
The Persians made pastilles out of crushed pearls and rubies, gold dust and ambergris, and ate this as an aphrodisiac, too.
Satyrion
Judging from Greek and Roman accounts, Satyrion must have been pretty close to the perfect aphrodisiac. According to Theophrastus, it is produced on one occasion every seventy consecutive acts of coitus. Another Roman author suggests that it is sufficient to use it on the soles of the feet to produce erotic arousal. And, yet another source suggests that it was sufficient to hold a part of the plant in the hand to produce the desired erotic effects.
Unfortunately, the precise identity of Satyrion is not known today. It was a plant with reddish leaves and a double root, possibly similar to the salep producing orchids. The most common way of using it was to pulverize the dried root and add it to wine.
However, the popularity of Satyrion led to its eradication, a fate it shared with Silphion (laserpitium), a plant known to be richly nourishing, a delicious spice and a powerful medicine.
Scents as Aphrodisiacs
Small, volatile organic molecules are of extreme importance among many animals and insects, for the transmission of information about sexual availability, to members of the opposite sex. Such molecules are called pheromones, after a Greek word meaning “to transfer excitement”.
Female butterflies of the genus Bombyx release a chemical called Bombycol, and as little as 100 molecules are sufficient to evoke a sexual response from a Bombyx male.
Some flowers also fool insects by using pheromones. The orchid Ophrys insectifera releases a mixture of chemicals that attracts male Hymenoptera (insects of the genus Argogorytes). Because of the odour, the males believe the orchid flowers are females of their own species, and attempt to copulate with them. Naturally, they are unsuccessful, but pollen grains from the orchid attach to them, and the next time they try to copulate with an orchid flower, the pollen grains are transferred and thereby pollinate the flower.
Even large animals can make use of pheromones. Two researchers from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science in Portland, Oregon, USA (Nature, 1996), analysed 4,000 litres of elephant urine, looking for a substance released by female elephants just before ovulation. Apparently, this substance lets bull elephants know that the time is right for romance. Surprisingly, it turns out that this elephant pheromone, cis-7-dodecenyl acetate is the same compound produced by some insects.
The human body also secretes several compounds with strong smells, as well as compounds which can be transformed by bacteria into chemicals with a strong odour. Volatile aliphatic acids occur in normal vaginal secretions of many primates, including humans, and this strong odour (butyric acid, with its smell of rancid butter) has been shown to increase stimulation of sexual activity in male monkeys.
Humans have glands at the base of the hair follicles, especially in the armpits and genital region, which produce as yet unidentified chemicals, the odours of which might possibly affect members of the opposite sex. These chemicals are spread over the hair surface, which would allow for efficient dispersal. One interesting phenomenon in this context is “Women’s dormitory syndrome”, a condition in which women living in close proximity to each other begin to synchronise their menstrual cycles, after a short while. This has been attributed to the effect of a pheromone present in the underarm sweat of women.
An old American custom, quoted in “The Scent of Eros”, was for the man to keep a handkerchief in his armpit while dancing. After the dance he would present it to his partner, supposedly the anticipated effect was that of an aphrodisiac. Thus, perhaps the arrival of easily available soap and perfumes has changed the perception of human pheromones?
Perfumes as Aphrodisiacs
Probably, mankind has always used various odorous preparations to increase his or her attractiveness to the opposite sex. And, is it just possible that this is an attempt to mimic “human pheromones”, although it could just be an attempt to create an atmosphere of positive association. One of the most popular perfume smells is that of Musk, which has been shown to closely resemble the smell of testosterone.
The Romans used perfumes lavishly, including perfumes based on Civet and Ambergris - the former is derived from the secretion of the civet cat, and the latter from the sperm whale. Ambergris is more a carrier of scents than a perfume of its own, so it has been used to restore vital powers to those exhausted, for various reasons.
Other smells
Even the smell of food can act as an aphrodisiac. Neurologist Alan Hirsch rated male responses to various smells, by measuring changes in penile blood flow, and found that foods outperformed perfumes. In some cases the average increase of penile blood flow was 40%.
The foods highest on the rating list included cinnamon buns, roast meat and cheese pizza. Also, less surprisingly, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and peppermint.
Other foods
Burchard I, bishop of Worms (1000-1025), describes an interesting approach to aphrodisiacs. When the wheat had been harvested, but before it was threshed, a woman would undress and roll around over the wheat, which was then threshed and taken to the mill. After milling (counter-clockwise) the flour was used by the woman for the preparation of “love breads”. Apparently, any man eating such bread would immediately desire the woman.
Do numbers have aphrodisiacal properties?
Yes, if you believe some Arab numerologists, as quoted by Martin Gardner in his ‘Mathematical Magic Show’.
All numbers have divisors (smaller numbers by which they can be divided), with the integers being whole numbers. For example, the divisors of 6 are 1, 2 and 3 and the divisors of 28 are 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14. Since the sum of the divisors of 6 and 28 are indeed the numbers themselves, 6 and 28 are called Perfect numbers.
Friendly numbers are pairs of numbers such that each number is the sum of the divisors of the other number. Friendly numbers, however, are not common, with the simplest pair being 220 and 284:
Sum of divisors of 220 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 10 + 11 + 20 + 22 + 44 + 55 + 110 = 284
Sum of divisors of 284 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 71 + 142 = 220
Three other pairs are 1,184 and 1,210, 17,296 and 18,416, and 9,363,584 and 9,437,056.
Thus, according to the Arab numerologists, you should carve one of the friendly numbers on one of a pair of fruits, and the second number on the other fruit. Eat the first fruit yourself, and offer the second fruit to somebody whose love you are desirous of. If that person eats the fruit (or, more likely, if that person is skilled in mathematics) you can hope for success.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 12:48 PM EDT
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Running a sex and seduction related website, one often comes across various titbits of information that are interesting, but not immediately useful, or applicable to anything specific.
So, using a combination of information from the American Urology Association, The Kinsey Report and Wikipedia, here are ten unusual facts about sex that you might not have known before.
- On any given day 400,000,000 people around the world (1 in 17 of us) will have sexual intercourse. Broken down further, about 4,000 people are having sex right now.
- Sex cures headaches: Endorphins released into our bloodstream when we have sex not only give us pleasure, but also act as painkillers. That’s useful information to whip out the next time your partner uses a headache as a reason for refusing.
- The average lovemaking session lasts around 15 minutes: Consisting of roughly 10 to 12 minutes of foreplay and around 3 to 5 minutes of intercourse.
- Forget global warming and turn up your thermostat… Orgasms can be more intense in warmer conditions. The degree of vasocongestion - reddening or darkening of the skin known as the “sex flush” - is both more common in warmer temperatures and an indication of how intense an orgasm was.
- Humans aren’t the only members of the animal kingdom that have sex just for fun. Dolphins and Bonobo chimps have also been observed engaging in sexual activity, when they are not in their natural reproductive cycles.
- Homosexuality is not unique to humans: Many species have been observed engaging in homosexual activity; and male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality in all mammals.
- If a woman experiences an orgasm during sex, she’s more likely to become pregnant, since orgasmic spasms in pelvic muscles can help move sperm up the vaginal canal to the uterus.
- Many elderly people can and do have frequent sex: At age 70 — 73% of males are still potent; and 30% of women aged 80 or older still have sex.
- Viagra has made erectile dysfunction (affecting 10–12% of men) a household phrase, but the opposite problem, premature ejaculation (affecting 24–27% of men), is actually more common. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently reviewing a drug called Dapoxetine as a cure for this problem.
- 70% of women would rather eat chocolate than have sex.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 4:11 AM EDT
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Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men’s penises, Reuters reports. The attacks happened after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, and quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.
Police also detained 14 purported victims, who claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.
Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs - The men have since been released.
Kinshasa’s police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, said:
You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We’ve had a number of attempted lynchings. [...] You see them covered in marks after being beaten.
I’m tempted to say it’s one huge joke
But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it’s become tiny or that they’ve become impotent. To that I tell them, ‘How do you know if you haven’t gone home and tried it?’
Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.
Alain Kalala (29), who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station confirmed:
It’s real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 3:10 PM EDT
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Fortune-tellers, mediums and spiritual healers marched to Downing Street on Friday, to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister, and to protest against new laws they fear will lead to them being “persecuted and prosecuted”, since the new rules will shift the responsibility of proving they are not frauds from the prosecutors and onto themselves.
Organizers claimed that replacing the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 with new consumer protection regulations will remove key legal protection for genuine mediums.
They believe that sceptics may bring malicious prosecutions, to force spiritualists to prove in court that they can really heal people, see into the future or talk to the dead.
Psychics also fear that they will have to give disclaimers describing their services as entertainment or as scientific experiments with unpredictable results.
Carole McEntee-Taylor, a healer who co-founded the Spiritual Workers Association said:
If I’m giving a healing to someone, I don’t want to have to stand there and say I don’t believe in what I’m doing
By repealing the Act, the onus will go round the other way and we will have to prove we are genuine
The government said the new regulations form part of a European Union directive that is meant to harmonize unfair trading laws across the EU, and will introduce a ban on traders “treating consumers unfairly”.
The British Humanist Association, a charity which campaigns against religion and supernatural beliefs, said stricter regulations were overdue because the current laws don’t work.
Chief Executive Hanne Stinson commented:
It is misleading for spiritualists to claim that, as religious practitioners they should not be regulated under consumer laws
The Psychic industry is huge and lucrative and it exploits some very vulnerable, and some very gullible, people with claims for which there is no scientific evidence.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 8:13 PM EDT
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This time last year, we noted that famous seducers have often enjoyed a spot of speculation; and in the same spirit, we attempted to predict the winners of the UK’s biggest and most well known horse race - which takes place this Saturday (4.15pm, Aintree).
This year, there seems to be fewer quality horses in the starting line up, so we are confident that we have made good selections. Therefore, just for fun, here are the horses backed by Seduction Labs for the 2008 Grand National.
To win
Comply Or Die - Currently showing 10/1
Each way
King Johns Castle - Currently showing 20/1
Snowy Morning - Currently showing 20/1
4.35pm - 5/4/08 - Jonathan Updates
Congratulations to anyone who backed our recommendations this year, especially if you had a tricast.
Predicting the 1
st, 2
nd and 3
rd places is quite impressive, even if I say so myself.
I now have the hosting fees for Seduction Labs sorted out for quite a few years into the future.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 9:27 PM EST
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It’s amazing what a little makeup (and good lighting, a good hairstylist, expensive clothes, good photography and a lot of digital retouching) can do…
So, some people need to take a step back, ignore media propaganda, and get a little perspective, since not everyone is perfect. Celebrities and models aren’t all that much different from the rest of the world, as this clip demonstrates.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 12:30 PM EST
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The Singapore Government is offering students lessons in Seduction to boost the city state’s low birth-rate.
Students at two Polytechnics can earn two credits towards their final degree by choosing the love elective. Activities include watching romantic films, holding hands and “love song analysis”.
Isabel Seet, an 18-year-old mechanical engineering student, was quoted as saying:
My teacher said if a guy looks into my eyes for more than five seconds, it could mean that he is attracted to me and I stand a chance.
Besides “love and sexuality”, the curriculum also deals with the importance of family life.
The “trainers” are provided by the Social Development Unit, a government match-making agency.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 1:14 AM EST
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I’ve been reading through the Sex and Society advice over at Pravda.ru recently. And a few of the articles there have left me asking “Just what was the point of writing that?”
The translation isn’t too amazing, however it is understandable, although unfortunately I don’t have the time to correct it properly. Anyway, see what you think… The Russians point out:
It is generally believed that the difference between men and women is enormous. Women and men differ in almost every imaginable aspect of human life, especially when it comes to psychology.
- A woman does not have a man’s habit to scratch her noggin when she thinks of an answer to a confusing question, for example. Women do not like to show they are confused. They never want to ruin their hairdo with that gesture either.
- Women will never understand why footballers stand in a line with their hands crossed before a penalty kick during a match. In addition, women never shudder when a male character gets kicked in the groin in a movie.
- When a woman yawns she covers her mouth with the palm of her hand, not with a fist.
- After taking a bath, a woman grabs a towel and makes a turban on her head from it, at least for one minute. The reasons of such a weird Oriental ritual are unknown.
- A woman does not get mad when her underwear gets stuck between her buttocks. Women joyfully wear those items of torture called bikinis.
- Many women worry about their looks when having sex.
- Women open bottles with bottle openers.
- A woman feels awkward if she does not carry anything in her hands. That is why they always carry their handbags around.
- Women are absolutely indifferent to their genitals; they hardly know each other. Women do not talk to them, they do not give funny nicknames to them and they never get angry with them.
- Sitting down in public transportation, women keep their legs together. That is why men often prefer to sit next to a woman because in this case they can sit spread-eagle.
- If a woman finds her fly unzipped in a public place, she does not seem to care too much about it.
- When a woman dresses up to go out, she puts on a blouse first. Pants come second. Men work it vice versa.
- Finally, when an act of love ends, women do not feel like sleeping. They feel like talking and kissing.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous, Psychology at 1:15 AM EST
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When I think of Japan, a number of unusual images come to mind: dubious whaling practises, a people obsessed with gadgetry and comics, who wear unusually cut clothes, and even surgical masks while in the streets, etc.
Similarly, self-proclaimed seduction experts, with their over-hyped claims, are an even more bizarre and often mind bogglingly wacky group of people; generating pseudo-scientific ideas about how to meet and shag women, and then attempting to sell their theories to more gullible, lonely members of the public. I suspect that these people and their notions are more use in helping people with too much spare cash fit their wallets into their pockets, rather than assisting anyone in enjoying a high quality sex life.
But, what if we could merge these two ideas together? The result would undoubtedly be a weirder, crazier outcome than most people could possibly imagine… And yet, that’s precisely what Wired magazine reports has happened in Tokyo, where apparently something called Nanpa (the act of picking up women) has become rather popular; with the opening of “at least half a dozen Nanpa schools“.
The founder, a gentleman by the name of Satoshi Fujita, a 48 year old balding Magician, has clearly learned a thing or two from the “Your life experiences are worth more than a postgraduate education” fake degree mills (favoured by charlatans such as John Gray), since he is asserting that he has invented a proprietary “science” based on “a decade of careful research.” This in turn has purportedly allowed him to become “Japan’s most sought-after dating coach for geeks.”
By Mr Fujita’s own claim (and with a charge of ¥30,000 each), he says that he teaches more than a hundred geeks per month; who predictably have very little interaction with women, except through online porn; and not enough intelligence to realise that having real life sex means meeting real life people first of all.
Perhaps, dear reader, you think I’m being harsh on the Director of “The Pickup School for Men Who Can’t Get Any” [it really does have that name], after all, it provides a (somewhat overpriced) service to socially inept people. So, let’s look at some of the students that were mentioned. After all, I would expect that Mr Fujita would spotlight the achievements of his star pupils, who in turn, will demonstrate the efficacy of his new “science”.
Firstly, we have the splendidly named Hachioji Robocop, a 27 year old Civil servant, who has been taking the course since 2004. Mr Robocop has had sex five times in the past three years, and it only took six months worth of lessons for him to lose his virginity.
Details of the other trainee’s successes are sketchy, but there’s Jay, a 39 year old Executive at an electronics manufacturer, who was publicly accused of stalking his assistant. Jay also spent ¥2,000,000 to get the Yakuza to go after a girl, before deciding that it wasn’t his best idea. Jay has studied under Satoshi Fujita for three years, too.
Most impressive however is T-Univ Grad, a 22 year old recent hire at a big corporation. Mr Grad has recovered from an early belief that smiling women were conspiring against him, and can now sleep with a woman in just two hours and twenty minutes, by using a magic trick that “makes women horny”. Unfortunately, we aren’t told how long it takes to reach this level of proficiency, or if T-Univ Grad uses a stopwatch.
Analysing the report in more detail, the secrets of their successes seem to depend more on proficiency with Thaumaturgy, rather than any new branch of “science”; since we are told “Women like laughter, compliments and magic tricks” (although I suspect that the students might not be being taught the difference between someone laughing with you, and someone laughing at you.)
So, the “science” part would seem to consist merely of ‘reading signals’ and ‘timing’, which, unless I’m very much mistaken, are both topics that have previously been studied quite adequately by Psychologists and Horologists; on the other hand, a deck of “Psychoanalytic” cards, flaming wallets, talking ferrets and animated algae balls are also listed as props.
Maybe my lack of understanding of Japanese culture is showing here, but I can’t help wondering what these gentlemen do when faced with a beautiful woman, and a lack of magical tricks. Personally, I wouldn’t want to carry a talking ferret about with me throughout my day-to-day life, since I’m certain it’d draw unwarranted comparisons with the antics of footballer, Paul Gascoigne.
Finally, Fujitasan has also had a book published, “Zura Ga Kanojo Ni Bareta Toki” (The Time My Girlfriend Discovered I Was Wearing a Wig), in which he describes how he learned what it feels like to be a women who has just gotten breast implants.
Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 10:35 AM EST
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