When it comes to anime conventions, you’d more or less expect the usual stuff, you got cosplayers, merchandise, fan art, and all that jazz. But one company brings in something new to the table.

Introducing TENGA, a Japanese adult toy manufacturer mainly catered to male audiences, has erected a booth over at Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2023.

Now you might be thinking to yourselves, having a booth that sells adult toys slapped right dabbed in the middle at a public event would raise concerns, Kwen Khor, the Business Unit Director at Blitzwerks, the Singapore distributor of TENGA, mentions that AFA is a place about celebrating Japanese culture, and that TENGA is also well ingrained in Japanese culture, where you’d easily see advertisements of the brand the moment you step out of the JR station in Akihabara, and products being sold at stores almost everywhere in between.

“Sexuality is a natural part of life. So it’s nothing to be ashamed of. So I really hope that people can perceive it in a positive manner. Ultimately, TENGA focus on a few things. They want to make it as accessible as accessibility is very important for them.” said Kwen.

It’s not to say that they’d let any Tom, Dick and Harry into the TENGA booth, as they’re very strict about who’s allowed to enter. There’s signage set up that states that you need to be of 21 age or above to enter, and the staff there would also do some age verification checks when necessary.

Despite that, Kwen and his team still have to respect the boundaries of every individual, so no one has to see a Mazinger Z adult toy if they don’t want to.

Heading inside the booth, you’d be able to see various TENGA products being displayed on shelves. The products come in all shapes and sizes for you to choose from, but the most prominent design being the canister-shaped toys; in which Kwen mentions that it’s designed to be as discreet as possible.

These adult toys aren’t just for men either, and the products also come in a variety of styles, sizes and functions. Staying true to their design philosophy, said toys are designed as everyday items such as lipsticks, jars, and so on, where it doesn’t draw much attention unless you look closely.

We also got to chat with a group of visitors outside of the booth, asking them their thoughts about seeing a booth like this at an Anime, Comics, and Games (ACG) event.

“I feel that it isn’t too obtrusive or forceful in the sense that the booth isn’t really big or located in a position where there’s a big crowd so it’s not a big deal” Visitor A said.

Visitor B had mentioned that these products are already in pharmacies, so they don’t see them as a big problem as long as they restrict only those that are above 21 years old that can enter the booth.

“These kinds of products are becoming more and more normal everyday and while it’s not really something you share about, you have to accept that it’s part of your daily private life.” Visitor C answered.

Ultimately, the act of self pleasure isn’t necessarily something that should be paraded about, but at the same time, it’s also not something that should be shunned either.

For those who are above the age of 21 and wish to visit TENGA’s booth over at Anime Festival Asia 2023, you can head over to Booth M30 and check it out.