Why the Japanese Created Tentacle Rape

Japan brought us many things: Sapporo Ichiban ramen, Ayumi Hamasaki, anime, Ninja Warrior, and finally a thing called tentacle rape. This is an odd fetish amongst the Japanese crowd, and believe it or not, its roots aren't sexual in nature. American crowds think the Japanese have officially 'lost their marbles', but this genre wasn't created because they had an octopus fetish -- in fact, it was used to avoid breaking the law. But what law would make Japanese artists create tentacle rape for?

The Historical Roots of Tentacle Rape
If there's one person you can thank tentacle rape for, thank Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai was a painter and wood craver in the early 1800s, mostly known for his dramatic landscapes. He was also known for one other minor thing -- erotic woodcuts. Who knows what drove him to create erotic woodcuts, but he engraved many, many erotic woodcuts. One special piece from his erotic collection, called "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife", featured a giant octopus with its tentacles wrapped around a naked woman, mouth suctioned on her you-know-what. This was the start of tentacle 'rape' (octopi usually force themselves onto a woman, hence the term rape). Tentacle rape wouldn't be revived until a century later, thanks to Japanese artist Toshio Maeda.

Tentacle Rape Revived to Avoid Breaking the Law
Thanks to Toshio Maeda's creation of Urotsukidoji in 1987, tentacle rape was revived -- and this time for good!

When Maeda intended to create this super phenom in the late 80s (his intention was to create an animated porn movie, called hentai), he realized he had a slight problem. To everyone's shock, Japanese law forbade anatomically explicit creations of a sexual nature, which basically translated to animated penises. People aren't sure why this Japanese law didn't extend to female genitalia, but law was law, so Maeda had to find a clever way to dodge it. In order to dodge it, Maeda looked to the sea -- and Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai -- for inspiration. So after careful thought, Maeda replaced penises with large octopi. Problem solved!