Maniac Training of Lolitas

Although Japan is one of the most sexless societies in the world (a WHO report released in March found that one in four married couples in Japan had not made love in the previous year, while 38% of couples in their 50s no longer have sex at all), it has launched one of the most bizarre and yet kind of sweet trends in the last few years. Yes, "elder porn" is all the rage in Japan and the old goat who's most well known (and who works his magic on female porn stars aged between 20 and 80) is 73 year old Shigeo Tokuda who's famous films include Maniac Training of Lolitas and Forbidden Elderly Care.

Ryuichi Kadowaki, president of Ruby Productions, a specialist in Elder Porn, says they started producing adult videos with people in their 30s to good sales. They crept up to 40 year old actors and they sold even better. Kadowaki says they went up to actors in their 50s, then 60s, and now they're producing an entire line of adult videos with actors in their 70s.

And their star, says Ruby, is Tokuda. "To be honest, I don't understand why people are buying these videos," he says. "I think our older customers must feel a sense of security by watching videos with an actor who is in the same generation."

Ruby says it's targeting the elderly audience and considering selling videos in retirement homes. Ruby also says it's just completed a deal to release some of Tokuda's movies in the U.S.

Japan does have a higher percentage of people over the age of 65 than any country in the world. Ruby Productions says it's just meeting a demand of an aging Japanese society.

Tokuda says his friends are envious, because he's in a job where he's valued, something many seniors lack. "Seniors get depressed because they don't have anything to do. They go crazy," says Tokuda.

How it all started was when Tokuda retired from the workforce he found himself at a loose end and decided to take the plunge into elder porn with the blessing of the wife he'd been married to for 44 years! And they say romance is dead. The guy's such a sweet old grandad, seriously.

And well, good on him. It certainly beats playing bridge or golf.