Julia Ayabe

Julia Ayabe is the head of Japan's "hardest core" underground fetish party, Tokyo Perve.

We talk with her about her recent birthday tattoo, the film Pretty Woman, and the craziest fetish shit, the likes of which you can only imagine.

Two words: family dog.






Chief Magazine: You work at Tokyo Perve, Tokyo's biggest fetish party organization. What do you do there?

Julia Ayabe: For Tokyo Perve, I'm one of the main organizers.  My main work has been as a show director.

Okay, what does that entail?

Well, basically, finding the place for events, doing the business side of things, creating the flyers -

You design flyers?

We have staff that design the flyers, I make sure it gets done. And for those flyers, we use photos of people that come to the events, and that's how the whole photo studio thing got started. [At every TP event, there is a photoshoot set up with lights and a photographer and anyone who wants can pose for the camera].  The most difficult is getting the show for the night planned, the performers, dancers, what have you... these performers might have gigs around town, and we organizers call each other up and make sure we're not overlapping or planning events with the same people too close and so on.

I thought the performances were amazing-- there were acrobatic dancers, pole dancers, bondage performances by a transvestite named Madame Mami...and it was really cool how the photo studio was just there for anyone.

Actually, at the party you came to, the TP photo studio was only about half the size it normally is.  It usually fills the room and has larger lights and so on.  That time, I was getting a tattoo in one corner, so we moved things over. And Madame Mami is post-op, so she's not really just a transvestite anymore.

I stand corrected. Tell me about the tattoo.

Well, it's a dolphin, with waves, and it's about balance.  I love Hawaii and that lifestyle.

Interesting. It's pretty different in Tokyo, isn't it?

Yeah, completely! But I'm still all about balance.

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I have to admit, it was pretty impressive that you were getting a tattoo from a hot girl in latex boots while lounging on a sofa and drinking rose champagne in the middle of a crazy fetish party.

[Little laugh] Well, it was my birthday.

Do you often refer to Tokyo Perve as TP...

Yeah, we usually just call it TP.  It's on the flyers and website as the logo, so--

“TP” is short for "toilet paper" in English...

[Laughs] Really? I didn't know that...really? That's terrible. [Pause]  Well, whatever! It's got IMPACT then! That's great. Well, you know, other organizations do a similar thing, like Goldfinger is GF, so I guess that's what's in... and you know, Japanese love to make things shorter, like -

Yeah, it never ceases to amaze -

Brad Pitt, we call BraPi. [In Japanese, "Brad Pitt" becomes: BU-RA-DO PI-TO. "BraPi" would be pronounced BU-RA-PI]

That's incredible.

Yeah. Japanese is fun.

So when did you start with Tokyo Perve?

Hmm... about eight years ago I got involved, with show direction, but it slowly got more and more and all of a sudden, I said, I'm only doing this for a year, but it's been six years since I've been a head organizer!

Time flies! And how many events do you produce in a year?

Up until now it had been about two a year, but with this year, including original TP events and events that we've participated in, such as the White Party, where we had one floor out of three, it's gone up to five or six events.

And at the White Party, which was a party at Club Womb where everyone was dressed head to toe in white, did Tokyo Perve put on any performances?

No, no. The crowd was a little more vanilla, so it seemed like they didn't want us to come on too... strong... with the fetish stuff. So it was more of a showcase of our customers, of the kind of things we wear, more than a real fetish event.  But it was a really great event.

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Yeah, it was really fun! Pretty much anyone could get in without too much preparation, so it was a really nice mix of people. Who started TP or how did Tokyo Perve get started?

The original organizers were Gita... a guy, a TS (transvestite) and then Buki, a transvestite, and then now there's Kyu and Yu--these four men, it seems like there were some issues between them but anyway--ah, wait, it was three... and then now there's Zil.  After Buki left, Zil joined. And the first parties they held were Mannya events so--

Mannyake?

Yeah, like Lover Fetish. Odor fetishes, leather fetishes, like that. They held their first event at a friend's restaurant, and I think sixty or seventy people came to that very first one. And those people asked for another event, and then it got bigger and bigger from there, started adding DJs, and then they started decorating, started making stuff for the parties--all-volunteer then, you know--handmade outfits and it really caught on.

Judging from the other night, it's really gotten a strong following.

Oh yeah, and I think that's ‘cause it's not about clubbers, it's not about regular clubgoers. It's Mannya, it's...

It's a specific niche.

Yeah, like that. And so you know, people can let go, people who wear regular suits during the day can come to our events and dress how they want... the people that come to our events are amazingly open-minded.

Yeah, it's really awesome. I've been to some New York fetish parties, and people often seem a little too serious, a little cold, but everyone at TP events is super nice and interesting.
 
Yeah, why is that?

[Laughs] Maybe ‘cause everyone's Japanese, so they're just more courteous?

Hmm, why... I don't think that's it. It didn't used to be as friendly, I think starting last year it got really friendly, maybe because of the high percentage of Mannya people, and everyone's open-minded.  They are strong individuals... they come by themselves, to make friends, they're not like, yeah, all of our friends, let's go together!--they come alone, expecting to talk to people--talk or do roleplaying--at TP.  Everyone's kinda out there but... peaceful.

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So are there a lot of regulars?

Yeah, I'd say 60% are regulars... a lot of first comers don't actually make it in, you know, because of our strict dress code, we have to say, “Sorry but you can't come in like that.” And so they have to come back a second time, and that requires a little more tenacity.  Now the dress code is slightly relaxed compared to before.  It used to be really, really strict.

And what is that dress code? I know you would turn away someone in jeans, but is it possible to go the other way, be too extreme?

Well, there's absolutely no street wear allowed, no casual stuff.  Got to be fetish.  And nothing hanging out - well, breasts are okay, butt is okay, you can be topless, but no bottom stuff. Ultimately it's fashion fetish, so it's like, you make an effort, you look good, and we usher you in.

What about on the flyer, it specifically says no dangerous objects, but I saw a lot of chains and whips and spikes.

It's more like, no knives, no swords, no guns, stuff like that.

So whips are okay.

Yeah, yeah, whips are fine. They're not dangerous.

Really? In the wrong hands...

Hmm, I guess that's true... but these are "love whips" so, it's okay.

[Laughs] "Love whips"?

Yeah. And you know, TP of course, there's a lot of play and stuff going on, sex in the bathrooms, roleplaying, whipping, but we bill it as a fashion event, and so there isn't really hard hardcore S&M--lots of play, though.  Although we've had to pay twice for our customers breaking the chandelier at one place.

They broke the chandelier?

Yeah, twice, from whips.  That was expensive! And we said on our website to please stop breaking it. But you know, they're very polite, our clientele, they come forward and say, “Oh I'm sorry, I think maybe it was me,” and so on.

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Wow, that's pretty unique.

And also people don't smoke very much, because it will cause the leather and latex outfits to stink. They're not like regular clubgoers.  And in fact, they often don't drink so much either, because normally, it's easy enough to pee or take a dump if you have to, but in these outfits, sometimes, they can't escape, they can't even get out of them by themselves, so they limit what they intake. I mean, some of them can't even breathe all that normally.

Wow, people are really considerate. So in eight years, you must have had some problems with people?

Never!

No crazy guy with whips attacking anyone?

Nope! Maybe because we're quite exclusive. We haven't really had any problems, it's amazing. TP people are polite, but they do leave shit behind. Condoms, jeans, underwear, cell phones, vibrators...

You'd think they'd remember their vibrators!

We sell them for cheap, so people just discard them.

Wow, you sell them right there?

Yeah, there's usually a stand with various toys and so on.

How thoughtful. So what would you say Tokyo Perve's goal is, at the end of the day?

WHAT? IT'S GOAL?? THE GOAL OF TP?

Yeah?

Huh. [Pause, thinking] If I had to think of it, I guess in the beginning, fetish was really not widespread, it wasn't fully it's own culture, it's own thing, you know? So then the goal was to provide a place for fetish, a place for it to grow... but now, it's grown, hasn't it. It's gotten there, it's around. So now...well, it's to expand, somewhat, but to have a good time, you know, to have a good time, with DJs, dancers.

It'd be sad if there wasn't any TP around though.

Yeah, you know, it fills a certain niche.  We used to have more hardcore stuff, like med-play, we did medical play shows, but slowly, we've taken that stuff out.

Med play? Medical play? What's that?

Like cuttings.

Like body modification and hooks?

No, more like, putting wide tubes inside the penis, using needles up the vagina or in the arms.

Damn. That is hard.

We did that for awhile, but eventually phased it out.

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And bondage and so on?

Well, you saw Mami's show at the last party, bondage and hot wax, so yeah, we have that sort of thing... I was worried it went on a little too long...

Oh no, I thought it was great, absolutely.

Oh good. We add those other things now, like dance performances, to keep everything fun and balance the harder stuff.

Now, they say that the more repressed the society, the crazier the fetishes. Do you think that's true?

Japanese people are totally the most hentai. [hentai means fetish, kinky, or sexually strange]. They're by far the kinkiest. Like really fucking kinky.

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So what are some common fetishes in Japan?

Most common?! I don't know! Well, TP is more--it's more lover, more fabric--people that have leather fetishes, latex fetishes, shoe fetishes, stocking fetishes... not so much sex itself but they get sex-like pleasure out of their fetishes... but kids these days? Who knows what they're in to. High school girls... Adrien, the organizer of Decadence, he thinks that there's a lot of really kinky high school girls with fetishes... they're really into makeup, you know. Like, bright orange faces and those big black and white streaks on their faces.  I don't get it.  But there's something for everyone. All kinds of shit.

What about all the pornographic comic books? Is that Japan only?

Yeah, I think so...it would seem so.

And it's crazy, that stuff's just laid out in regular bookstores for any eight year old kid to pick up and buy... if he has money... you know what I mean? Like video porn, that's all hidden away in a dark little corner, but this stuff is just out there.

Yeah, I think it's a cultural thing in Japan. I mean, like men can go to a love hotel, get a girl and a room for like $200, and that's like, totally okay.  I mean there are laws against it, but culturally, it's fine. Hidden, but fine. So I don't know, there's a two-facedness to it...

Like in those books, they can't actually draw the cock and pussy, right?

[Stares at me blankly] Don't they?

Well, no, not exactly, they'll draw the shadow of it, or a vague outline. It's totally blatant, but they don't actually draw lips or a penis head.

Oh, like it'll be the head of a turtle or something?

[Laughs] Yeah, or a seashell or a rose for the girl.

Weird. How weird. What I don't like, is that it's all fucking. It's all for men. It's all for the guys. I hate that. Maybe in America they have stuff for girls. It's always about little girls and their dirty little panties.

Totally! There's so much of that here, the middle-aged guy and really young girls. And there's incest. I bought a couple of those books recently to bring back to New York, and one of them I realized later was all about this hot mom and her young son getting it on.

That's messed up. That is messed up. Japan is messed up.

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Is that why you go by Julia? Move away from the Japanese a bit? You are full Japanese right?

Have you ever seen Pretty Woman?

Yes.

Julia Roberts is in it.  When I saw that movie, I thought I was a lot like her.  [Pause] I wasn't a prostitute, though. [Pause] But that character, all that energy, I was like her when I was younger.  Maybe I still am, actually. Energetic, sensitive, stupid...

Beautiful?

[Laughs] Yeah, beautiful, too.

And how did you learn English?

I lived in Hawaii for two years, went to school, to an English school in a university. Loved it. Love Hawaii, love dolphins.  That's why; my tattoo design is a dolphin, from living there.  

Does it hurt? [The tattoo is about three days old]

No.

Did it hurt then?

You know, it hurt at first, it hurt a lot at first, but slowly the pain melted away and it started to feel good.

Yeah?

Oh, yeah, I was starting to get really into it.  It felt awesome by the end. I just relaxed into the pain, it was great.

This was your first one, right?

No, I have one on my leg as well.

And you were drinking while you got the tattoo...

Yeah I know! You're not supposed to drink when getting a tattoo...

Usually the concern is more that you were drinking before you get the tattoo, I don't think the issue of drinking WHILE getting tattooed comes up that often.

Probably not... ah well, good times, good memories. I'm always so busy, this time, since it was my birthday, I was able to kick back a little and relax. "Balance and freedom."

Is that like your personal motto?

Yeah, I think that's extremely important. If it's all fetish, that's imbalanced.  But if it's all work, that's imbalanced too. To be in balance is to be happy.

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Like everything in moderation.

Yes, that's exactly it. One needs to have balance in life.

Maybe that's why the TP clientele is so nice--they balance their crazy side with their normal side.

That might very well be it! Yea, they're balanced. They do work, and then they let loose. That's good.  Yeah, yeah, you know what; maybe that's the goal of TP! [Laughs] To restore balance to people by giving them a barrier-free place to let loose. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, definitely!

Our clientele, they're people, I think, who have been through some sort of trauma, they have issues from some event, maybe, and that's maybe why, conversely, they're so open. And you know, someone might come up and say, hey, I hate stockings, and the other person might say, that's my fetish, that's what I love, but they can still have a conversation, you know, they can still connect, they don't mind. That's rare, I think, in this type of world.  I think as our clientele has gotten more regular, and as our standards get higher, the people get better.

So what are your plans for the future? Do you plan to stay with TP?

I don't know! I don't know... I don't know what the next trends will be, you know, but I want to eventually pass the torch to someone new, someone young but reliable.  Hard to find though! It's hard to find among Japanese youth someone who can decide for themselves what is good and bad, what is okay and what isn't it. They don't get it.

There's gotta be someone out there.

I suppose so, but I haven't found them yet! Right now, many of the head organizers around Tokyo are in their 40s or 50s, and it's time to... but so far, there hasn't been anyone.

It's hard to tell how old the clientele are, actually, because of the masks and the make-up.

It's a pretty expensive habit, so actually, they tend to be in their late 20s, 30s, people who can afford it. Often the clothes are handmade, you know.  We don't have the proper materials here, we used to import clothes from New York, or Canada, but now we often make them. Boots, masks, corsets, skirts--it's hard but rewarding.

Aren't there good fetish shops in Tokyo?

Yes, but it's best to have tailored stuff. In my case, there isn't my size! I have wide shoulders, and I'm tall, so there's never anything my size...

I've seen ads for girls who want to get smaller in Japan, like a girl who weighs 110 pounds going down to 90.

Yeah, Japan is so weird like that! You should make something; make a store for people like us.

Okay, I'll work on it! So how and when did you get into fetish in the first place?

It definitely started with clothes. In high school, the in-fashion was--well, Americans looking at it would think we looked like prostitutes--really short skirts you could see up, makeup, et cetera, and by 23 I had met people that were into Lover Fetish, clothing fetishes, odor fetishes, and I felt comfortable with them... I guess it gradually developed over the years.

What about as a kid? What were you into it?

As a kid? Sports? Just normal, I guess! Although I guess, I remember, even as a kid, I loved to touch stockings, love to feel them--for me it was really fabric that got me going. There really wasn't much going on in Japan as I grew up though, for that stuff.

No role models? What about like Betty Page?

Oh, I know Betty Page! Yeah, exactly, there weren't really any in Japan, but

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I saw that, saw some stuff, and I just thought it was so cool - they were never naked, you know. But skintight, shiny stuff, latex--I mean, so cool looking you know?

Yeah, sexy.

I was super thin then, no stomach stickin’ out, and I would wear stuff I couldn't get into now. [For the record, she's stick-thin]. [Laughs] I really looked like a match! Broad shoulders and then just bones covered in shiny stuff.

You don't work for Tokyo Perve every day, so do you have any other projects going on?

Yes, I do, actually. So, I've managed to help fetish lovers in Tokyo find a place here, and I thought, why not help handicapped people, too?

Sure...

So, I started to want to have the same sort of events for handicapped people.  

Fetish events?

Parties and so on.  In Japan, they - disabled people - have some protection, laws, but those laws only isolate them more, make it more difficult for them to live fully.  But there's normal people, straight people, as well as gay people, fetish people, among the handicapped, so I wanted to do something for them. And after meeting several people, and like - for example, in high school, there was a guy in a wheelchair.  He was a guy, and he once got a blow job from another man. So now he's an adult, and he's only been with guys.  But he himself has no idea whether he's straight or gay, because he's only been with guys. He has such a complex about his situation that he has never been able to be with a girl.  For people like him, I want to create events that would allow him to get out there and you know, do it!

Wow. You'll have to let me know when you get this started!

Yeah, so that's what I'm working on now.

Can you tell me--and it doesn't have to be related to fetish--what's the craziest thing you've ever seen or done?

Craziest?  Well, recently... okay, well, up until recently I thought this was normal, but I really like dogs.

I like dogs?

Yeah, well, maybe there's many women who, well, I don't sleep with dogs. But in terms of massaging, well, when I was younger, middle school I guess, for two years, well, we had a pet dog and, and, well, I really like dogs! [Laughs]

Sure...

And well, I always thought our pet dog was really cute, you know. And he really looked halfway like a human. Of course, I never slept with him, but he really looked human, so it was almost like he wasn't a dog, and well, I sat on him, and...

The family pet?

Yeah, and I got him off, you know, I masturbated him, and you know, I let him cum.

Right on.

So then, it was like, well, now that we're here, why don't you do me, you know?

Wow.

So we went out for about two years.

Two years?

But it wasn't that crazy, I mean there was love, we really loved each other.

[Speechless]

Yeah, I guess everyone says that was really kinky.  What else? Hm, I don’t know, I don't think I've done anything crazy lately. Yeah, I mean occasionally, but I live a pretty healthy life.  It's important to have balance.

Balance is very important.

I mean, I have sort of naked parties with my friends. Naked parties, and we just are laughing, having a great time. Not serious, you know, it's great fun.

Sounds like a good time. Is it like a swinger's party?

Yeah, but if you want that, there's tons of bars in Roppongi and so on that do that.  But it's illegal, so those bars are always opening and then getting shut down again.

Oh, weird, it's illegal?

Oh yeah. Open, close, open, close. They're legal in the States?

Swinger parties are totally legal.  Never been though.

Huh.

So, as a final question, what's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?

Embarrassing? Well, oh, I know! My parents found out about the dog!

Oh shit! What happened?

My mom walked in and we were sort of... engaged...and she was like, “What the hell are you doing?!” I mean, I wasn't embarrassed about it per say, but that's not something you tell your parents. I mean, I knew it wasn't something I should talk about.

I wouldn't tell mine. So what happened afterwards? What'd you say?

Oh, she yelled at me, but I don't think she knew what to do!  I just pretended like nothing happened, like what? We're not doing anything!

Wow. Well, thank you so much for your time! This has been a really interesting conversation. I think you're really beautiful and wonderful, and I loved all the Tokyo Perve events I went to!

Thank you!

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Website

www.tokyoperve.or.tv

Photos

Scean Mitchel
Jun Zee Myers

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