These Aren’t the Sex Dolls Your Parents Grew Up With

Is it possible to love a silicone doll? No, really?

It turns out, there’s a growing number of Japanese men who said sayonara to real relationships with women in lieu of rubber sex dolls. Yes, you read that correctly. Sex dolls.

If it’s any consolation, these sex dolls are more lifelike than they’ve ever been before. Hideo Tsuchiya, the managing director of doll makers at Orient Industry, says that they not only look but feel real, as well.

“They look incredibly real now and it feels like you’re touching human skin. More men are buying them because they feel they can actually communicate with the dolls,” Tsuchiya explains.

In fact, the technology has come such a long way since the early 1970s – when inflatable dolls were first introduced – that the rubber figures are no longer hollow or shallow looking. They look and seem real enough to these men that they claim to love their dolls and have full conversations with them on a regular basis.

You’re Joking, Right?

Some of these dolls are impeccably detailed.

No, this is a real thing and it’s popular. About 2,000 life-like dolls are sold each year in Japan. They can cost upwards of $6,000 and are painstakingly detailed with adjustable fingers, removable heads, moving parts, and yes, semi-working genitals. I hesitate to say working because the genitals of a doll aren’t, well, they’re not real.

In Daily Mail’s recent feature, you can read all about Masayuki Ozaki, a man who had a tough time rekindling his marriage. Instead, he chose to devote himself to a life-sized doll he named Mayu.

Ozaki says that most Japanese women are “cold-hearted” and “selfish,” uncooperative when it comes to listening about a long day at work.

“Whatever problems I have, Mayu is always there waiting for me. I love her to bits and want to be with her forever. I can’t imagine going back to a human being. I want to be buried with her and take her to heaven.”

That’s a pretty serious relationship indeed. But it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. Ozaki claims that after giving birth to their daughter he and his wife ceased having intimate moments, including sex. It made him feel lonely and turned him off to human interactions.

Sex Dolls Are All the Rage

I had a tough time finding doll pictures that weren’t NSFW.

Another man, Yoshitaka Hyodo collects dolls, like a game collector would collect video games or a car collector would collect cars. He has over 10 life-size dolls many of which he dresses up.

Like Ozaki, Hyodo says it’s about more than sex.

“It’s more about connecting on an emotional level for me now.”

The good news is that the technology is advancing at an alarming rate. It won’t be long before next-generation bots are available with personalities and more. Researchers are already working on bots that can laugh, talk, and even have simulated orgasms.

I have to admit, when I was browsing for images to use for the article I came across so many that looked real, it was definitely eye-opening. Seriously, don’t do a Google search for “Japanese sex dolls” unless you’re truly prepared to go down that rabbit hole.

Oh, what a world we live in.