Hihokan – The Original International House of Hidden Treasures

In April 1971 Japan’s first Erotic Museum called a Hihokan which stands for “House of Hidden Treasures” opened its doors in Awa, Okushima.
However, the exhibits were limited to phallic/vulvic altar symbols and intercourse themed antiques as you could see since centuries in bigger Shinto shrines anyway.

But later in the same year when the “Original International House of Hidden Treasures” opened its doors in October 1971 in Ise, Mie, the term Hihokan entered the Japanese mainstream.

Masato Matsuno, entrepreneur and the founder of the Original International House of Hidden Treasures became an instant celebrity as “Professor Sex” and appeared in various TV and Radio shows.

In 1982 he published a book “The Hihokan” (Tomu Shobo) where he described his obsession with collecting all things related to sex.

I heard about this place in 2004 and wondered if it still existed, so I made the 500km trip down southwest from Tokyo to see it myself…and I was definitely not disappointed.

What I found was a unique time capsule, a sex museum which practically never changed their exhibits since 1971 and allowed for some interesting time travel into Japan’s juicy past.

Judging from the condition of the place, I just knew that this place has no future and I was right…short after my visit it closed down for good. Where all the exhibits went to – I have no idea, but I would like to know!

Long before I came close to Mie, I saw already the faded mascot, Hiho-Ojisan, point the way to the once famous Hihokan.

The building which hosted the Hihokan was shaped like a (Disney version of a) Spanish castle. Coming closer, you could see the building was in very bad shape…

…Hiho-Ojisan saw definitely better days…

…and coming closer, the first of many exhibits was this giant more than 30 years old vulva of a whale. Just next to it was a male counterpart, but it was already so rotten, only some brown soup and a faded sign was left.

I instantly knew I hit a photographic goldmine as I saw the poster below…it was probably hung as they opened in 1971.

(Before I entered, I saw a huge banner hanging on the building which announced their speciality: A live horse mating show! Unfortunately the promised “Horse Sex Show” got canceled. Next to the exit was a big room which normally hosted the horses, but instead I found an old man telling me in an incredible hard to understand slang that the horses can not perform today. Headache? To find out if they actually had horses, I made a trip around the building (by ignoring some fences) and found only a single Pony. D’oh.)

Upon entering the premises, for a moment I wondered if the place was already closed…the ceiling was so wet, water dripped on the stairs and the ceiling looked like it wanted to smash me every moment. Usually I see these conditions in the many Haikyo I photograph, but this place was still open back then.

After paying about 25USD entrance fee to an older couple in their nineties, I could enjoy the solitude of being the almost only visitor and I instantly understood what the International in Original International House of Hidden Treasures stood for: I got greeted by a topless mannequin depicting actress Raquel Welch.

The Hihokan hosted hundreds of mannequins in interesting poses, like this acrobatic centaur…

…or these mannequins depicting a lesbian scene…

…followed by this frohlicking couple.

The installations all came with a groaning and moaning soundtrack controlled by a back-then in 1971 high-tech tape recorder. The moment you entered a room, a loud “clack” switched on the tapes. First we were guided through the history of sex, here Cleopatra who had – for some unexplainable reason – green hair.

Of course no erotic exhibition is complete without Salome and the head of her (hopefully former) lover.

The Hihokan was divided into several thematic exhibitions, we are still in the “classics” part…

…showing the typical things the vikings did all day long…

…when they were horny…

…or when they had a daikon (a large Japanese radish) available.

Next came some girls in a jail…

…and a mannequin showing pure passion.

Finally this looked more consensual!

After the classics room, I was greeted with the sex life of mammals…

…and a combination of monkeys and mannequins.

These animals were actually real stuffed animals … just in different poses than usually shown.

The sign says “the making of a milk cow”.

Other animals got inspired by the horses and cows.

It didn’t end here…

…also sea animals chimed in. The room had also more whale genitals and a huge collection of animal testicles behind glass, but I spare you the sight. Yuk!

We leave the animals behind and enter the horror and SM exhibition.

Yes, this is Frankenstein, a Werewolf and some other dude with just one arm staring at a tortured mannequin…

…followed by blood and bondage…

…an iron maiden…

…and other torture techniques.

One of the absolute peaks of the exhibition was this nightmare room, which made me almost live in celibate forever…

After I managed to survive the sex nightmare room, these depictions from historic Japanese brothels followed.

In 1971 they surely made genital mutilation look like fun…

…while eskimos delivered babies in igloos.

The sex journey around the world revealed this interesting technique…

…of a girl swinging and rotating in a basket while … uhm … use your fantasy!

This installation of the famous pearl divers of Mie had absolutely nothing to do with sex or erotic, but since the museum was located in Mie…

It all started 4 million years ago as seen in this installation, then a jump in time and we are in…

…the 70s showing depictions of European prostitutes.

Finally easy to understand instructions how to use these mysterious Japanese toilets!

Did I mention that the museum was rather huge? We are about to enter the medical department where nurses show their breasts, the doctors wear sunglasses and the patients look already rather slaughtered.

The medical department was probably the most weirdest exhibition of all, some real scientific information mixed with anecdotes and in between for no obvious reasons I found jars with dead snakes, monkeys and frogs preserved in Formaldehyde.

This sex chart shows how its done in Japan. From left to right: Pulse, Foreplay (30minutes), Insert (20minutes), Afterplay (another 20minutes). The first heart shows the “insertion point” and the second one the climax.

And no erotic exhibition is complete without a showcase of sexual transmitted diseases!

This exhibit was interactive, by pushing a button these … things started to wiggle in their own way. Fascinating!

I don’t know why, but a sex doll in Japan is referred to as Dutch Wife.

This exhibit used to be a realistic medical model of female genitalia. Unfortunately 30+ years of (ab)use by the visitors left their traces.

Leaving the medical department, we came into some kind of freestyle department…first they showed some mini statues in all kinds of intertwined positions…

…then there were mini-3D peepholes, where you could see for example this beauty…

…followed by a nekromantic scene…

…and some interesting games.

After I thought it cannot become any more weird, I entered this room. There were several installations and a private room to “enjoy yourself” (equipped with a condom vending machine and lots of tissues).

From totally harmless mannequins of famous actresses…

…to these 100yen “vibration chairs”…

…and this alien breeding station straight out of a X-Files movie.

Time for the last part of the museum, which was located just behind this, uhm, door.

The last part of the Hihokan was dedicated to Japanese and western fairy tales, were every character was busy masturbating, copulating…

…or peeing upside-down.

The highlight was this giant Snow-White, which definitely had seen better days.

I leave the last few uncommented, because latest now I am at a loss how to describe them.

We reached the exit! After I stepped carefully through this door I was in a shabby sex shop – today I regret that I didn’t buy some of the original in the 70s packaged paraphernalia, a collector would probably paid good money for them. Damn!

I took a last picture of a fertility goddess in the entrance, then…

…I left the Original International House of Hidden Treasures behind.

Short after my visit to this Hihokan they closed for good and my photos became historic documents. Too bad! It was an fascinating journey back in time and into the sexual mindset of people who could have been my parents!

I really liked this strange place and over the years visited 6 more Hihokan all over Japan, but none of them was as strange and exciting as this one. These days Hihokan are a dying breed and only a handful remain.