Himeka's erotic trivia
Himeka's Erotic Trivia...Fine. I suppose I'll teach you.
One new topic every day (12 so far)
- No.12
The pill: approved in the US in 1960, Japan's low-dose version in 1999
The US approved the oral contraceptive in 1960. Japan approved the low-dose pill for contraception in June 1999. Higher-dose hormone pills had long been available there as treatment for menstrual disorders.
- No.11
"Oiran" may come from "my big sister," and the kanji came later
The oiran, a staple of every Edo-period drama. The word started out as everyday speech, and its kanji were attached afterward. Where it came from is still debated.
- No.10
The G in G-spot is for Gräfenberg, a German gynecologist
Everyone's heard of the G-spot. The G isn't a shape or a fancy initial. It comes from a German-born gynecologist who wrote about an erogenous zone on the front wall of the vagina.
- No.9
The Kegel in Kegel exercises isn't a move, it's an American gynecologist
Kegel exercises train the muscles you use to stop peeing. The name doesn't describe the movement at all. It comes from the American gynecologist who published the exercise in 1948.
- No.8
Why guys can't go again right away: the refractory period, and nobody knows why it exists
After a man comes, there's a stretch when he just can't go again. It's called the refractory period. It lasts anywhere from minutes to hours, and why it exists is honestly still a mystery.
- No.7
"Aphrodisiac" comes from Aphrodite, the goddess born from sea foam
A love potion in English is an aphrodisiac. The "Aphro" isn't a hairstyle, it's Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love and beauty. And the foods long hyped as aphrodisiacs? Nobody has found anything in them that acts directly on the body.
- No.6
In the Kama Sutra, sex positions show up in just one of its seven books
People tend to think "Kama Sutra = sex position book." In fact it's a guide to "the art of living for pleasure," covering everything from finding a lover to marriage, affairs, the courtesan trade and love potions, and the positions appear only in Book 2.
- No.5
The vibrator's "hysteria cure" origin story? Zero evidence
"The vibrator was invented by doctors to cure hysteria." It's a famous story, but when you check, the evidence just isn't there. The real history is a device for easing pain, and a "health appliance."
- No.4
The clitoris isn't a little bean. It's an iceberg
Most people picture the clitoris as a tiny bean. In fact, only the tip is visible; the rest is a large organ that spreads deep inside the body.
- No.3
Shunga's "spring" was never about cherry blossoms
The erotic woodblock prints Edo people enjoyed as "pillow pictures" and "laughing pictures." From being confiscated and destroyed to an exhibition that drew two hundred thousand people.
- No.2
The condom started out as linen with a ribbon on top
That thin little rubber wasn't even rubber at first. It went from a medicated cloth pouch, to caps made of horn, to animal gut, and finally to latex.
- No.1
The man behind "onanism" never actually jerked off
Japan's everyday word for it, "onanie," and the English "onanism" both trace back to one man in the Bible. Funny thing is, what he actually did was something else entirely.
General trivia based on published sources. Sources are listed under each topic. All characters are adults.
Translated from the Japanese original. Sources are unchanged.