Upon the commencement of my most recent dakimakura purchase, Cospa's Nodoka Haramura from Gonzo's bishoujo-mahjong anime Saki, I decided to try and shed some light on the history of this otaku staple. Please, be gentle...

Among the many forms of anime merchandise, dakimakura reserve a unique reputation, both illustrious and notorious. Coming from the combination of the words "抱く" (daku) meaning "to embrace" and "枕" (makura) meaning "pillow", dakimakura is often literally translated as "hug pillow" in English. While orthopedic hug pillows designed to correct injuries and alleviate back pain in pregnant women have existed for years, dakimakura as we know them today began to appear in the mid-90's along with the bishoujo boom supported by the genesis of genre-defining galge and related media. Popular first among the doujinshi or fanzine movement, according to Kunio Muto, a technology reporter for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper⁰, bishoujo dakimakura soon moved into general otaku territory when Cospa opened its doors in 1995¹. The prime mover in the chara-goods game, Cospa is responsible for the vast majority of both anime and game based dakimakura on the market today, finding modest competition in rivals such as Chara-High. In addition to being a relative monopoly since their inception, Cospa also popularized many dakimakura features taken for considered standard among current releases, including the presence of metallic zippers, original artwork, and a "naughty and nice" dual image. As they now stand, dakimakura are more prevalent than ever before. They're growing in tandem with the chara and moe goods industry, a market refusing to loosen its stranglehold over the Japanese economy, riding a wave that shows no sign of flat-lining.

Like many things in contemporary Japanese culture, dakimakura have their roots in the passage of history, however convoluted and (at times) inaccurate its records may be. The origins of modern dakimakura lie in "chikufujin" or literally "bamboo wives²", oblong tubes of interwoven bamboo cane used by many cultures throughout East and South East Asia, especially Korea. Applications for bamboo wives were said to range from masturbatory to orthopedic, the strange funnel seeming more utilitarian than a modern Swiss Army knife. Practical among a bamboo wife's use was its nature as a rudimentary air conditioner. A user would would fall asleep on one of his sides while embracing the stack of bamboo, thereby exposing a larger surface area of his body to the cool night air. Leaving practicality for a dip in the mythological, bamboo wives were said to be made exclusively by a man's wife to keep him "company" during his travels³. In reference to their nature as a substitute companion, modern dakimakura are often paralleled with the chikifujin of antiquity. Whether or not this comparison is warranted, or even accurate, can be debated. Regardless, at some point, Bamboo Wives were exported to Japan where their usage remained largely the same.

During the 250 year timespan known as the Edo Period, the Japanese experienced a cultural explosion, as many were no longer preoccupied with the civil war plaguing the island nation years earlier. One product of this new-found leisure time was ukiyo-e woodblock printing. Separate from the widely endorsed prints depicting Japan's natural splendor and cultural narratives was a more deviant style of art known as "makura-e" (pillow art), or "shunga" as it is more commonly referred to in modernity. Depicting levels of debauchery on par with even the most explicit modern ero-doujinshi, shunga was available in both ukiyo-e and scroll form. These pieces of art were thought to retain many different uses, such as good luck charms, in addition to providing ancient Japanese males an onanistic outlet. Popular artists of the Edo period, including Katsushika Hokusai (creator of the term "manga"), periodically dabbled in shunga, much like the mangaka of today starting their career in ero-doujinshi. According to the popular dakimakura blog "Everyday Is Dakimakura" (毎日が抱き枕), body pillows featuring erotic shunga had a noticeable presence in Edo period Japan and were used in much the same way their modern counterparts are today. The above picture taken from a Edo period collection of shunga depicts one such coital engagement. Everyday Is Dakimakura mentions Edo dakimakura, though extremely rare and expensive, were roughly 4 feet in length and handmade from silk. Though I could find no supplementary resources to confirm the presence of 18th century body pillows in Japan, the idea that the average pervasive Edo male humped piles of silk in order to reach orgasm isn't so far-fetched considering the lengths at which ancient Japan expressed its sexuality.

It may be difficult to imagine how exactly giant Chinese finger traps and 18th century pornography led to the creation of dakimakura but these obfuscated roots, more novelty than direct ancestor, only serve as tiny, singular pieces to a large puzzle depicting the history and identity of modern otaku culture.