The Doll House
SAITAMA 2018
1 Hunters and Gatherers
What should you expect from a private dinner invitation? A lot, perhaps, but definitely not this.
The dinner was arranged through a mutual friend who insisted that I had to see this mans house. A week and a gracious invitation later, we met at his place. We cooked tempura, a spread of fried vegetables and fish.
2 The House
As my friend had mentioned, the man was said to have married a sex doll. It turned out he wasn’t just married to one—he was an avid collector of them. I was too shy to ask whether he was actually intimate with them, but I assumed he was, as many men in Japan reportedly follow this habit. Alongside his 'unconventional' companions, his home featured an assortment of peculiar gadgets, all meticulously arranged throughout two living rooms to recreate the atmosphere of European fairy tales.
3 The Dolls
He must have amassed a collection of ten dolls in total.
These dolls are entirely manufactured in Japan by a company called Orient Industry. While most customers are based in Japan, there is a growing market in China. The price for a single doll with silicone skin starts at ¥400,000. The company previously offered customised dolls with faces modelled after a provided reference, but this service was discontinued due to ethical concerns.
Once, the man told me, someone came in the night and stole three of his dolls. Luckily, the thieve didn’t abduct the man’s wife.
