A broken man living on dreams pulls Japan into Syria hostage drama

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text-decoration: none;">Japanese national feared captured in Syria</a></h2> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; 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float: left; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span class="focusParagraph"><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Reuters) - When Haruna Yukawa was captured in <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Syria</a></span> earlier this month, a video apparently released by his captors showed them pressing the Japanese man to answer questions friends say he had struggled with for years: Who are you? Why are you here?</div> </span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     In fact, Yukawa, 42, had first traveled to Aleppo four months earlier on what amounted to a hardship course in self-discovery, according to people who know him and his account.</div> <span id="midArticle_2"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Changes in Yukawa's life in suburban Tokyo had been fast and disorienting. Over the past decade, he had lost his wife to lung cancer, lost a business and his house to <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals/bankruptcy?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">bankruptcy</a></span> and been forced to live in a public park for almost a month, according to Yukawa's father and an online journal he maintained.</div> <span id="midArticle_3"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> The hard times led to soul searching. By his own account, he had changed his name to the feminine-sounding Haruna, attempted to kill himself by cutting off his genitals and came to believe he was the reincarnation of a cross-dressing Manchu princess who had spied for<span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/japan?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Japan</a></span> in World War Two.</div> <span id="midArticle_4"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> By late 2013, Yukawa had also begun a flirtation with Japan's extreme right-wing politics and cultivated a new persona as a self-styled security consultant, according to his <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/subjects/facebook?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Facebook</a></span>page and blog posts, though he never did any work as a consultant.</div> <span id="midArticle_5"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> He borrowed money to travel to <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Syria</a></span> and dreamed of providing security to big Japanese companies in conflict areas like the coast of Somalia. The Syrian civil war was a new start – and his last chance to make a success in life, he told friends and family. Later this year, he planned to head to Somalia "where the danger factor will be amped up".</div> <span id="midArticle_6"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "He felt his life had reached its limit," said Yukawa's father, Shoichi, 74.</div> <span id="midArticle_7"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Yukawa's capture by fighters believed to be with Islamic State has pulled <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/japan?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Japan</a></span> into a scramble by various governments to free dozens of foreigners held hostage in <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/iraq?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Iraq</a></span> and Syria. The incident marks the first hostage situation for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since January 2013 when 10 Japanese were killed by Islamist militants at a gas complex in Algeria.</div> <span id="midArticle_8"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Japan's Foreign Ministry has declined to identify the captured person or to comment on reports. "We are doing our best to gather information," a spokeswoman told Reuters.</div> <span id="midArticle_9"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> The picture of Yukawa that emerges from his writing and the accounts of his father and people who had met him in Japan and in Syria is at odds with the tough image he tried to cultivate in video posts from Syria in black t-shirt and fatigues.</div> <span id="midArticle_10"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "He was a very friendly, gentle guy. I hosted him at my house for five days," said Fadi Qarmesh, who met and spent time with Yukawa in Abril in northern <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/iraq?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Iraq</a></span> in June. Qarmesh showed pictures from that time of Yukawa holding a girl on his shoulders.</div> <span id="midArticle_11"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Two months earlier, Yukawa had been in Syria and was stopped and briefly detained for questioning by fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and he befriended an Asian member of the group, according to Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist who met Yukawa then. Reuters could not verify this aspect of the account.</div> <span id="midArticle_12"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> In Syria, Yukawa said he became particularly close to a part-Korean, part-Japanese fighter who had been born in Yugoslavia. Over time, Goto said, the FSA fighters took a liking to him, sharing meals and introducing him to their families in refugee camps. He was also given an Arabic nickname.</div> <span id="midArticle_13"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> For his part, Yukawa spoke of wanting to bring badly needed medicine and shoes to Syrian hospitals and developed an interest in Islam, according to his father and Yukawa's blog.</div> <span id="midArticle_14"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> After his first visit to Syria in April, Yukawa had a short stay back in Japan before returning to the Middle East, first to Iraq with Goto in June to observe the veteran reporter and learn how to work in a conflict zone and then to Syria again in late July after traveling through<span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/turkey?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Turkey</a></span>.</div> <span id="midArticle_15"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span id="midArticle_0"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY </div> <span id="midArticle_1"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Although he had never learned to handle a weapon and described himself as a "very gentle" person, Yukawa portrayed himself online as a soldier of fortune. A visit to the Tokyo address of his paper company, Private Military Company, revealed a building with numerous small, unmarked offices. The firm was set up for a range of businesses including handling pet goods, according to a company registry.</div> <span id="midArticle_2"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> In effect, it existed only on the Internet.</div> <span id="midArticle_3"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     In video blogs shot from Syria and loaded to the company website, Yukawa showed himself awkwardly firing an AK-47 in Aleppo. "My bodyguards are five minutes away so I keep this for protection," he said in one posting, picking up an assault rifle to show the camera.</div> <span id="midArticle_4"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     But it was his gentle personality that helped Yukawa win over FSA rebels, said Goto, who first met Yukawa in Aleppo in April. "Yukawa has this soft, non-threatening approach that makes people trust him and puts them at ease," said Goto. In his online journal, Yukawa talked about how he and the Asian FSA fighter talked until three in the morning.</div> <span id="midArticle_5"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "The friendship between the two was a big factor in Yukawa forming a bond with the other soldiers," said Goto.</div> <span id="midArticle_6"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> In a blog post from October, Yukawa said his cheerfulness was something he learned from being bullied as a child. "I would pretend to be happy even if I felt lonely or in pain so that others couldn't read my mind," said Yukawa. "Hiding my true feelings became my second nature. It also came in handy in business later."</div> <span id="midArticle_7"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Yukawa's road to Aleppo started in a sleepy suburb of Chiba, about an hour's drive east of Tokyo. After graduating from high school, Yukawa, then still known as Masayuki, started a military surplus store selling helmets, belts and other equipment.</div> <span id="midArticle_8"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     But Yukawa's store failed around 2005, leaving him in debt, his father said. Around 2008, Yukawa described an attempt to kill himself by cutting off his genitals, an act he likened to the ritual suicide of a samurai.</div> <span id="midArticle_9"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "I thought if I failed I would live as a woman and leave the rest to destiny."</div> <span id="midArticle_10"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Yukawa was saved by the intervention of his wife who rushed him to a hospital. She died some two years later, according to Yukawa's father, who said he was forced to sell an apartment he had bought for the couple to pay off his son's debts.</div> <span id="midArticle_11"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Yukawa did not return to his father's house until last year. When he came home again, he looked different, his father said. With rounder cheeks and long brown hair, he told his father that he had consulted a fortune teller and decided to change his name from the masculine Masayuki to Haruna.</div> <span id="midArticle_12"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Over the next few months, Yukawa attended events of the Japanese nationalist group Gambare Nippon – Stand Firm, Japan, which has made several trips to the islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/china?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">China</a></span> and Japan. The group wants Japan to stand up to China and the United States and promotes a return to what it calls Japan's traditional values, including reverence for the Emperor.</div> <span id="midArticle_13"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> Yukawa posted photos posing with Toshio Tamogami, a former Japanese air force chief of staff sacked in 2008 for saying Japan was not the aggressor in World War Two. Yukawa also persuaded a local leader of the nationalist group, Nobuo Kimoto, 70, to become an adviser to his company, Kimoto said.</div> <span id="midArticle_14"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     Yukawa was looking forward to his final, solo trip to Syria.</div> <span id="midArticle_15"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "It seems like the Free Syrian Army soldiers are all waiting for me. I'm very happy and I too want to quickly meet up with them," he said in a blog post from June. "I want to devote the rest of my life to others and save many people. I want to make my mark on history one more time." </div> <span id="midArticle_0"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     On August 14, the fighters with Yukawa were overrun by the Islamic State militant group. Amid the fighting, Yukawa suffered a leg injury and was captured, Goto said, citing information he had been given by local contacts. At the time, Goto was already back in Japan.</div> <span id="midArticle_1"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">     In a YouTube video uploaded by an unidentified person this month of an interrogation that followed Yukawa’s capture, he can be seen lying on the sand, his face bleeding as he is questioned by a group of unidentified men. Yukawa tells them his name. The men press him on why he has a gun. "You thief? Why you have gun? You kill soldier?," one of the men says. In the exchange, Yukawa tells them he is a photographer and "half doctor".</div> <span id="midArticle_2"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> "I am no soldier," Yukawa says.</div> <span id="midArticle_3"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span id="midArticle_4"></span><div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Additional reporting by Jiro Minier; Editing by <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=kevin.krolicki&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Kevin Krolicki</a> and <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=mark.bendeich&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Mark Bendeich</a>)</div> </span></div> </div>

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Weird News:Japanese Sex Dolls That Look Disturbingly Realistic

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <header style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These Japanese Sex Dolls, Known As 'Dutch Wives', Are So Lifelike They're Scary</span></span></h1> <div class="author editor" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="byline vcard group " style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="info" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; float: left; margin: 2px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="thirdparty-logo" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Huffington Post UK </span><span class="name fn" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> | By <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rachel-moss/" rel="author" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rachel Moss</a></span></span></div> </div> </div> <div class="headline group" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(223, 223, 223); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: -8px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="headline group" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(223, 223, 223); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: -8px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When we first heard about a</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/20/teddy-bear-sex-toy-vibrator-crowd-funding_n_5514186.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">teddybear that doubles up as a vibrator</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">we thought we'd discovered the most disturbing</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/sex-toy/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">sex toy</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ever invented.</span></div> </header><br /> <div class="content" id="mainentrycontent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But then we stumbled across a new breed of Japanese <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/sex/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">sex</a> dolls that are so disturbingly lifelike, they've given that poor little teddy a run for his money.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The dolls retail under the name 'Dutch Wives', an archaic Japanese term for sex doll, but, priced at $1,500 (£897), they are a far cry from the cheap blow up sex doll of yesteryear.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The dolls are made from high-quality silicon and their eyes and hair look startlingly realistic.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Behold...</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="sex doll kitchen" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1962720/thumbs/o-SEX-DOLL-KITCHEN-570.jpg?8" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The dolls also come with fairly supple moving joints, meaning the dolls can be placed in any *ahem* position their owner may choose.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Consumers can customise their dolls by choosing hair colour and breast size to their own taste. And if that's not enough they even come with their own line of clothing.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Adverts for the dolls even go as far as to claim that customers will never want a real girlfriend again.</span></div> <ul class="listicle" id="listicle" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none; margin: 0px !important; min-width: 570px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <li class="slide_4077942 image slide" id="slide_4077942" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077942_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> <li class="slide_4077943 image slide" id="slide_4077943" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077943_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> <li class="slide_4077945 image slide" id="slide_4077945" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077945_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> <li class="slide_4077957 image slide" id="slide_4077957" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077957_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> <li class="slide_4077962 image slide" id="slide_4077962" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077962_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> <li class="slide_4077963 image slide last" id="slide_4077963" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/362569/slide_362569_4077963_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Orient Industry</span></span></div> <div class="caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> </li> </ul> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2722779/Japans-sex-doll-industry-reaches-level-creation-perfect-artificial-1-000-Dutch-Wife-comes-realistic-feeling-skin.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">According to the MailOnline</a>, Company spokesman Osami Seto said in a statement: "The two areas we identified as really needing improvement were the skin and the eyes.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We feel we have finally got something that is arguably not distinguishable from the real thing.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The dolls are part of a high-tech industry in Japan, which is constantly looking at ways to make sex toys as realistic as possible."</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What do you think of the dolls? Let us know in the comments below...</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> </div> </div>

Weird News:Japanese Sex Dolls That Look Disturbingly Realistic

These Japanese Sex Dolls, Known As 'Dutch Wives', Are So Lifelike They're Scary The Huffington Post UK  | By  Rachel Moss...

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