Dakimakura

Dakimakura
A Dakimakura love pillow

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". From a semantic standpoint, dakimakura are no different from Western orthopedic body pillows, and are commonly used by Japanese youth as "security objects".[1] However, from a western perspective, the word "dakimakura" is primarily used to indicate the popularized image of love pillows with graphic illustrations of female characters of a bishōjo style.

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History

During the 1990s, dakimakura began to intertwine with otaku culture, leading to the production of pillow covers featuring printed images of Bishōjo from various anime or galge. 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.

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

In popular culture

The NBC sitcom 30 Rock featured an episode where American actor James Franco (as himself) is supposedly in love with a dakimakura. Jenna Maroney (played by Jane Krakowski) starts a fake relationship with Franco to counteract these rumors.

References

  1. ^ Galbraith, Patrick W. (2009). The Otaku Encyclopedia: an Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 

Further reading


External links