The business has made national headlines, and at least dozens of similar establishments have sprung up across China since 2018. Some stores even offer virtual reality headsets for customers to watch porn as they use the dolls, according to a December report by state media, which called for tighter regulations on the sex doll boom.

Sex dolls made in the image of porn performers are their own market—lifelike, realistic dolls can be made of anyone. But in those cases, the performers give their consent, and the for them.
Similar to the myth of the origin story, the term has come to represent the imagined origin of sex dolls. In this narrative, the Dutch either sold dolls to Japanese people during the period, or vice versa. This concept derives however from the more banal which is a cooling device historically found throughout East and Southeast Asia. This idea comes to stand in for Orientalizing and colonial fantasies of European men’s sex with Asian women. The term is still sometimes used in Japan to refer to sex dolls.
In Japan one can purchase inflatable or stuffed love pillows or that can be fitted with a cover printed with a life-size picture of a porn star or anime character. Other less common novelty love dolls include overweight, intersex, and dolls, which are usable for pleasure but also tend to be given as gag gifts.
Sex life… and death: Japanese artist offers funerals for love dolls (overseen by a porn actress) and lets customers live out fantasies as a murder victim, blow-up doll or dead girl



















