SoraNews24 -Japan News-

In modern-day Japan, entering into the marriage or dating market without any prior experience puts ladies at a serious disadvantage from the start. With many women living with their parents until they get married, and with people getting married later in life, there’s a rise of women who remain virgins into their thirties.

Now, there’s apparently a service whereby women can hire someone to take their virginity in order to raise their market appeal to future potential husbands…

While in the past, virginity in a potential wife was considered not only an asset but an absolute necessity, times have now changed. It seems that many men would prefer their new life partner to bring some experience to the table, but what to do if you’re a woman in her thirties who has kept her bits and pieces to herself?

The “virgin woman in her thirties” has become a common trope in Japanese manga and anime in recent years. Kyou, Kaisha wa Yasumimasu (I’m Taking the Day Off) is a currently running manga series that was recently made into a live-action television series. In it, the protagonist is a 33-year-old woman who still lives at home, and, until a drunken hookup with a co-worker who later becomes her boyfriend, had never so much as kissed a guy before.

▼ It started with a kabe-don…

“Mid-thirties virginity complex”, it seems, affects women as much as it does men. Many women who reach their thirties with their virginity intact can feel unwanted, unable to keep up with the gossip of their girl friends, and anxious about a potential married future without any prior experience. Women who are currently mired in the “Konkatsu” process of attending arranged meetings in order to find a potential husband may at the same time be looking for a way to get some no-strings attached experience before settling down with “the one”.

As a result of this demand, a service has seemingly sprung up which purports to cater to the needs of women looking for a quick deflowering without any repercussions or risks. But how impartial is this service, really?

The service is run by Lost Virgin Cafe, which currently has a 2-3 month waiting list for new applicants, which it accepts through its official website. Applicants must be willing to pay up to 10,000 yen for a hotel “stay” fee, be in good health, and not be currently engaged at the time of the appointment. While looks and body type don’t matter, the service will turn away those who have any known sexually transmitted infections, those with poor hygiene, and those with severe body odour. While condoms will be provided, applicants are recommended to begin taking contraceptive medication in advance of their “appointment” just to make sure there aren’t any mishaps.

▼ Some ladies just don’t wanna walk down that “Virgin Road” (as wedding aisles are known in Japan) as a real virgin.

Flickr – Albert Hui

The website seems legitimate at first glance, but after doing some digging, we had to retrieve our eyebrows from the ceiling where they’d shot up upon reading that all the services would be performed by one the same one man – for free.

“Masa”, the proprietor of Lost Virgin Cafe, claims that he is doing his philanthropic duty by “helping” troubled women to cast off the shackles of their maidenhood. He compares inexperienced budding brides to “cell phones with no internet connection capability”, claiming that no man would want such a defective product.

“Would you go and get your hair cut by an amateur?” he asks on the site, going on to claim that “women over 170 cm tall are likely to still be virgins by marrying age, and will have a complex about that.” He also claims to offer specialized diet advice to women whose virginity status is apparently a direct result of carrying some extra chub. (What a guy…)

The website provides some helpful information about “Masa” so that women can know in advance who they’re about to do the horizontal foxtrot with, so let’s find out a bit more about him, shall we? “Masa” is apparently in his thirties, with only 14% body fat. Women who dislike hairy men will be pleased to find out that “Masa” is hairless except for his head, which apparently boasts a “normal” amount of hair. He stresses that he is NOT exceptionally handsome, but he apparently has zero body odour, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice. According to his profile, Masa works as a designer and website consultant, and runs the “Lost Virgin Cafe” as a non-profit on the side. He claims to have “helped” over 200 women lose their virginity, describing himself as the “Virgin Master” whose services are “100% guaranteed pain-free”.

▼ Bananas, anyone?

Flickr –  torbakhopper

We can’t imagine any many woman will be champing at the bit to take Masa up on his offer. Why not just ask a guy friend, if it’s that big a deal? Yes, there’s the embarrassment factor, but is that really worse than arranging to meet a total stranger in a love hotel? While finding a marriage partner in Japan has been increasingly reduced to a set of stiff, informal introductions and reliance upon go-between services, things hopefully aren’t so dire that there’s a genuine demand for this kind of “service”.  In an ideal world, we’d all be able to marry someone who doesn’t care that much about our experience, or lack thereof.

In case you were worried that anyone was actually taking this seriously, Lost Virgin Cafe has recently become a topic of mirth on Twitter in Japan, with quite a number of people howling with laughter over the fact that the entire thing is a one-man operation. “What a sad and pathetic individual!” stated one user. “He’s quite clearly insane,” decided another. Other comments ranged from “I thought this was real for, like, half a minute and then I started crying with laughter…”, to “What an opportunist!” and  “This guy makes me wanna puke!”

What do you think of this “service”?

Source: Naver Matome
Main Image: Flickr – sand_and_sky