Dakimakura

Dakimakura on sale
Dakimakura love pillow with an anime character.

A dakimakura (抱き枕) (from daki (抱き) "to embrace or cling" and makura () "pillow"), is a type of large pillow from Japan. The word is often translated in English simply as "hug pillow". In Japan, dakimakura are similar to Western orthopedic body pillows, and are commonly used by Japanese youth as "security objects".[1]

In the West, "dakimakura" is associated with a love pillow. Love pillows are a subset of dakimakura usually portraying life-size pictures of anime characters. Some pillows may portray anime characters or pornographic film actors in suggestive poses.

History

During the 1990s, dakimakura began to intertwine with otaku culture, leading to the production of pillow covers featuring printed images of bishōjo and bishonen from various anime or bishōjo games. Many of these early otaku dakimakura covers were released through Cospa, a character goods and apparel store which continues to release official dakimakura covers to this day.

Although sometimes called a Dutch wife, the original definition of this phrase is closer to the chikufujin.

In 2015, Ita-Supo will be the first talking body pillow with its mascot, Rina Makuraba. It was invented by former Kyushu Institute of Technology researcher, Koichi Uchimura.[2][3]

Dakimakura size

A dakimakura is available in two main sizes, 160 cm or 150 cm in length with a 50 cm width (100 cm circumference).

Prior to the mid 2000s, dakimakura were available in one size; 160 cm x 50 cm, which is considered to be the authentic Japanese sized pillow. Since the late 2000s, 150 cm x 50 cm dakimakura became available and increasingly popular due to shipping cost savings from being under the 2 kg airmail weight limit.[4]

References

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.