I’ve had a girlfriend or two who’ve raved about body pillows, but the whole thing seemed a little unmanly, at best.

Not my thing at all. I’ll sleep flat on my back on my very uncomfortable futon sofa/bed the way nature intended single men to hit the sack. It’s good for my back or something.

But in Japan, otaku (loosely translated as the kind of guys you would meet at sci-fi conventions, anime fan club meetings and Britney Spears concerts who seem to know way more about the subject material than what’s healthy) have find love with pillowcases featuring anime characters. In body pillows, of course.

Now, I love anime. And it’s ok to love anime, with the giant robots and women who shoot guns. But I don’t LLLOOOVVVEEE anime. And that pillowcase is going to need a lot of washing, lest the “strange stains” give away how much you live that pillow.

Even more shocking, considering stories of nude sushi bars and AV stars being truly part of the mainstream media, is that quarter of the population between 30 to 34 are virgins, and half of them don’t have friends of the opposite sex — which is one way to make sure the women in your life don’t see you as “just a friend.”

The New York Times: Love in 2-D

Gizmodo: Japan’s 2-D Lovers: Falling In Love with a Body Pillow [Japan]

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