Hihokan – The Original International House of Hidden Treasures
January 20, 2010 by Juergen Specht · 5 Comments
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.
Hiho-Ojisan was the mascot of the Hihokan in Ise, Mie.
Finally the real deal!
January 12, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
Guy in German Nazi Uniform spotted in Tokyo
To finish off my series about German Nazi occurrences in Japan, here is finally somebody who really was into it and knew what he was doing – I met him at August 15th, the yearly anniversary of Japan’s surrender in WWII.
I followed him around a while and tried to talk to him to actually get a permission to take his photo, but he basically run away…so I took the liberty to shoot him without.
He was wearing something like a free style version of a German WWII uniform, complete with swastika on his arm, SS insignia on his collar, an iron cross on his chest and a selection of other related Nazi paraphernalia, none of them are allowed to show or wear in public in Germany. And he definitely was in another league than the Fashion-Nazis, the Nazi Cosplayers or the people in the shop who sell Hitler masks.
Talking to the girl wearing the swastika T-shirt, it came out that she actually knew what she was doing and wearing and she did it for the shock effect, not for her political agenda. This can be interpreted as tasteless or revolting, decide for yourself. The Nazi-Cosplayer had actually no idea what this particular version of the swastika stood for, she was just a fan of one of these Japanese bands who used to wear it on stage also for the shock effect – turning it unknowingly into a short lived fashion trend among their fans.
Am I the only one who finds this ironic?
January 11, 2010 by Juergen Specht · 1 Comment
No comment…
Sign on a Canon Booth
Danger Zone!
January 7, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
This is a snake. Nothing too unusual with that, but…
On a Thursday morning in Japan…
January 7, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
Just another traffic jam…
No Japanese Blog is complete without a monster!
January 7, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
Strange Japanese behavior can probably simply be explained by looking into a typical Japanese toy shop and what they sell to children. Like this “toy”. Of course, I also could not resist buying it.
The Bee Paradise
November 18, 2009 by Juergen Specht · 1 Comment
I just love cheesy tourist attractions, over the years I must have seen and photographed hundreds of them all over Japan.
This particular place is called Bee Paradise and is located near Nagano and shows more than 600 different exhibits…all made out of bee hives.
There is no other place like this on earth and even the Guiness Book of Records acknowledged the uniqueness of a 4 meter tall Mt.Fuji made out of 160 bee hives.
This particular exhibit was also submitted to the Guiness Book of Records, it’s 6.5 meter long, made from 20 individual bee hives.
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