Are you ‘coming soon’ to Japan? We’re so ‘excited’ to talk about TENGA, Japan’s top (self) love toy – there are lots of lovely latex gadgets and fantastic plastic gadgets that bring the male ‘members’ of Japan great ‘pleasure’.
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TENGA suction cups are a popular self-love tool widely available in adult shops and even Don Quijote stores, Japan’s largest discount chain. Tens of millions of TENGA products have been sold in over 40 countries worldwide too.
A mainstream adult-brand popular with the Japanese male population, TENGA is the ‘tip’ of the iceberg in terms of Japan’s self-love category.
The adult love industry is generally big business in Japan (not to mention Japan’s love hotels) and TENGA is a popular adult tool that doesn’t cost too much; perfect for those ‘tight-fisted’ buyers who are on a budget.
From suction cups to chocolates, vending machines to vast PR stunts, here is our guide to TENGA Japan.
This article was originally published on 13 February 2024.
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What are TENGA Products in Japan?
TENGA is a popular brand of adult aids to help promote self love amongst the male population of Japan.
Widely available in stores across Japan (including their own dedicated stores), this is one product that might be suited to solo male travellers.
TENGA products are basically disposable cups with a soft hole in the middle that one can put something in (we are trying to be polite about this). A very ‘holey’ experience, TENGA have a range of these adult aids aimed at men.
Various TENGA products are available including the “Disposable “Cup” line which are one time use (wham bam thank-you man) or the reusable and washable ‘Flip’ series (they are called this because you say ‘Flipping Hell” when you have to wash it – joke!)
There are also ‘travel’ cups which stretch and fold / elongate – just hope they don’t do a random bag search at the airport eh.
Other TENGA accessories include various lotions, potions and warmers to make the ‘experience’ more pleasurable.
To be honest, before going to Japan, the only disposable cup experience we’d heard about was One Cup Sake but this is something very different (and you definitely wouldn’t drink this afterwards!)
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The History of TENGA
TENGA began in 2005 and was founded in Tokyo by Koichi Matsumoto, a former mechanic and engineer.
Beginning with a small product range, there are now over 30 different types of TENGA Cup which are sold in over 40 countries around the world. TENGA has gone global and their w@nking wonders have gone worldwide!
Amazingly, TENGA cups have even won awards in the past including a German product design award – Germany is known for its engineering experience and expertise so this is high praise indeed.
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The cult of TENGA
These manly products have gone mainstream – such is the popularity of TENGA, they even release fun non cup products like edible chocolates shaped like TENGA cups.
New for 2024, TENGA have released cups made from chocolates in banana, strawberry and cocoa flavour, costing 800 Yen for a pack of 8 chocolates.
You can even get a TENGA chocolate and socks giftset for 2,000 Yen.
Where to buy TENGA products
TENGA products are widely available across the whole of Japan and popular with males of all ages. These TENGA ‘tunnels of love’ can be bought nationwide.
So where can you buy these products in Japan?
Vending Machines
Yes, as you would expect from a country that has weird and wonderful vending machines for everything (from hot sauce machines to cake in a can), you can buy TENGA’s products from automated vending machines.
Aimed at taking away the embarrassment from potential TENGA cup purchasers who might not want to browse the adult section of Don Quijote, TENGA booths and vending machines have popped up in the past, located in booths with curtains, so men can make discrete purchases.
These vending machines are open 24 hours a day (a bit like their disposable cups really) and are usually located in the more adult entertainment districts of Japan.
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Dedicated stores like Osaka’s TENGA Shop in Namba, and Tokyo’s Tengaland
Such is the brand awareness and appeal of TENGA, they have dedicated ‘shops of self love’ in the bigger Japanese cities. We ‘came across’ (sorry not sorry) such shops in the ‘throbbing’ heart of Osaka’s Namba District, and a brand new Tengaland store in the Harajuku neighbourhood in Tokyo.
Easy to spot and distinctive as hell, the store front of the Tenga Shop in Osaka was not only marked by a huge TENGA logo but also 10 foot tall TENGA cup!
Inside these dedicated store you’ll find loads of TENGA themed merchandise! We found hoodies and fans with illustrations of Mount Fuji that included a subtle TENGA cup!
Other fun items of merchandise we saw included toy robots, TENGA advert calendars, t-shirts, gachapon machines, backpacks and socks!
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Adult sections at Don Quijote
Yep, Japan’s most beloved discount chain store Don Quijote (loved by locals and travellers alike) generally has an adults only section in most stores (often huge in the big city stores) marked with pink curtains or tinsel, with an 18 only sign.
Surely one of the biggest retailers of TENGA cups in Japan, TENGA’s tunnels sit along other adult goods like outfits, ‘eggs’ and rockets (if you get our ‘grip’).
Adult stores
Japan is famous for its adult entertainment districts and areas such as Kabukicho in Shinjuku, Tokyo or Nakasu in Fukuoka are filled with avenues of adult shops. These are a treasure trove of TENGA and t1ts!
Online
You can also buy TENGA products worldwide online at platforms such as Amazon – we should probably be doing an affiliate link for this but our mothers wouldn’t approve…
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How much do TENGA cups cost in Japan?
We ventured into an adult secton of a larger Don Quijote store to check out the price of TENGA cups (a ‘research’ trip to Don Quijote is never dull)!
TENGA cups / products in Japan start from 500 Yen per ‘cup’ going upto to around 850 Yen for larger more luxurious yen.
So for the cheapest TENGA product, that works out to be about £2.70 / $3.40 USD / $3.10 per cup (or per w*nk if you put it another way).
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Other things to know about TENGA Japan
- Such is the popularity of TENGA in common culture in Japan, TENGA has even featured in Manga style comic books illustrated by comic artist Butcha U.
- TENGA even have their own Japanese space rocket programme, a 10 meter shuttle which was launched from the Hokkaido Spaceport (a very clever PR stunt methinks).
- In 2020, a 99.99% gold vacuum cup was made and valued at a whopping 10 million yen (US$96,547.50); we just hope it was reusable at that price!
- The ‘climax’ to this guide – the TENGA Pocket Hat was another cheeky stunt whereby they launched a trendy hat with a tissue dispenser coming out of the top (which they cheekily claim is intended to be used during hay fever season).
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