Being Trend: 'My Doll Much Better Than My Real Wife'

TOKYO - This Japanese man bounced back when the spark went out of his marriage — by starting a new romance with a rubber sex doll he swears is the love of his life.

The ultra-realistic silicone dummy, called Mayu, shares his bed under the same roof as his wife and teenage daughter in Tokyo, an unusual arrangement that triggered angry rows before the family declared a delicate truce.

“After my wife gave birth we stopped having sex and I felt a deep sense of loneliness. But the moment I saw Mayu in the showroom, it was love at first sight. My wife was furious when I first brought Mayu home. These days she puts up with it, reluctantly," Masayuki Ozaki (45) said.

“When my daughter realised it wasn’t a giant Barbie doll, she freaked out and said it was gross — but now she’s old enough to share Mayu’s clothes,” he added.

Masayuki, who works as a physio, takes his doll out on dates in a wheelchair and dresses her in wigs, sexy clothes and jewellery.

He admits to being turned off by human relationships, adding during a seaside stroll with his rubber companion: “Japanese women are cold-hearted.

“They’re very selfish. Men want someone to listen to them without grumbling when they get home from work," he said.

Around 2,000 of the life-like dolls — which cost from $6,000 and come with adjustable fingers, removable head and genitals — are sold each year in Japan, according to industry insiders.

“Technology has come a long way since those nasty inflatable dolls in the 1970s,” noted Hideo Tsuchiya, managing director of doll maker Orient Industry.

“They look incredibly real now and it feels like you’re touching human skin. More men are buying them because they feel they can actually communicate with the dolls,” he explained.

As Japan struggles with a plummeting birthrate, a growing number of men — known as ‘herbivores’ -- are turning their backs on love and traditional masculine values for a quiet, uncompetitive life.

Yoshitaka Hyodo, a military buff who lives alone but has an understanding girlfriend, owns more than 10 life-size dummies — many of which he dresses in combat uniform to play out wartime fantasies. But he claims to have cut down on doll sex.

“It’s more about connecting on an emotional level for me now,” said the 43-year-old blogger, whose curiosity was piqued at a young age when he found a charred mannequin in the street.

“People might think I’m weird, but it’s no different than collecting sports cars. I don’t know how much I’ve spent but it’s cheaper than a Lamborghini,” he said.