In Japan, every sexual fantasy or fetish has its outlet.

From so called image clubs where men can pretend they are in a train groping fellow passengers, and the "maid cafes" where clients are served and called "master" by girls dressed in French maid outfits, to a magazine dedicated to silicon "love dolls", the streets of Tokyo hide an incredible variety of business catering to sexual desires.

Japan is a country of apparent contradictions. Japanese people have very formal work and interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, there is an extremely kinky underground world.

Are these two spheres of Japanese society really as different as they seem? Or is one the direct consequence of the other?

Reporter Ilana Rehavia set out on a Japanese adventure to find the answer and understand what is really behind this intricate and highly specific sex industry.

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This programme is available as a podcast/download.

This programme was first broadcast in July 2007 and was produced by Ilana Rehavia of BBC's Brazilian Service.