Categories: Legal

Why the Japanese Created Tentacle Rape

Japan brought us many things: Sapporo Ichiban ramen, Ayumi Hamasaki, anime, Ninja Warrior, and finally a thing called tentacle rape. This is an odd fetish amongst the Japanese crowd, and believe it or not, its roots aren’t sexual in nature. American crowds think the Japanese have officially ‘lost their marbles’, but this genre wasn’t created because they had an octopus fetish — in fact, it was used to avoid breaking the law. But what law would make Japanese artists create tentacle rape for?

The Historical Roots of Tentacle Rape
If there’s one person you can thank tentacle rape for, thank Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai was a painter and wood craver in the early 1800s, mostly known for his dramatic landscapes. He was also known for one other minor thing — erotic woodcuts. Who knows what drove him to create erotic woodcuts, but he engraved many, many erotic woodcuts. One special piece from his erotic collection, called “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”, featured a giant octopus with its tentacles wrapped around a naked woman, mouth suctioned on her you-know-what. This was the start of tentacle ‘rape’ (octopi usually force themselves onto a woman, hence the term rape). Tentacle rape wouldn’t be revived until a century later, thanks to Japanese artist Toshio Maeda.

Tentacle Rape Revived to Avoid Breaking the Law
Thanks to Toshio Maeda’s creation of Urotsukidoji in 1987, tentacle rape was revived — and this time for good!

When Maeda intended to create this super phenom in the late 80s (his intention was to create an animated porn movie, called hentai), he realized he had a slight problem. To everyone’s shock, Japanese law forbade anatomically explicit creations of a sexual nature, which basically translated to animated penises. People aren’t sure why this Japanese law didn’t extend to female genitalia, but law was law, so Maeda had to find a clever way to dodge it. In order to dodge it, Maeda looked to the sea — and Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai — for inspiration. So after careful thought, Maeda replaced penises with large octopi. Problem solved!

When Urotsukidoji was released in 1987, it was instantly brandished a cult classic. It became so popular that Maeda release two more sequels, both featuring slimy octopi appendages. Maeda explained in one interview that he wanted to create a sensual scene in bed but in regards to Japanese law, he didn’t want to create a ‘normal’ sensual scene. Killing two birds with one stone, he inserted tentacles into the mix. Maeda went on to say that the tentacle wasn’t a penis — it was part of the octopus. Since an octopus isn’t sexual in nature (Maeda considered it a creature), it didn’t violate Japanese law. Therefore the tentacle was perfectly legal in his eyes, causing a new genre to sweep the hentai phenomenon.

Tentacle Rape After Urotsukidoji
After Maeda’s cult classic Urotsukidoji premiered in 1987, tentacle rape became very popular in closeted Japanese circles. The theme of tentacles penetrating a woman’s you-know-what sweeped Japanese porn, opening up new possibilities for the stiffened genre. One legendary hentai featuring tentacle rape was La Blue Girl. The storyline goes that a young girl (when there’s tentacles, there’s young girls also) battles tentacled demons in outer space as a super sex ninja. One special ninja move involves turning her pubic hair into needles, which are shot at adversaries. This hentai became so legendary that it was turned into a live-action movie…no word on how popular that was.

The Future for Tentacle Rape
Future trends? Tentacle rape isn’t going anywhere — except to defenseless young girls — so don’t expect this genre to die soon. Remember, if you’re not happy this exists, blame Katsushika Hokusai and his woodcut “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”. One man’s dream can form the mold for future generations.