Japanese Women Paying for Gigolos, but Staying Sex-Free
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Many unsatisfied Japanese women are turning to "rent-a-fling" gigolo services, but these lonely ladies aren't looking for sex.
They just want to cuddle.
The demand for daytime male escort services in the Asian nation has been growing, and one Japanese agency claims to have 1,500 registered escorts in one area alone, reported the Mainichi Daily News.
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According to Haruki Kamisato, the head of Precious escort services, the company has seen an increase in housewives in their 40s and 50s as customers.
Women pay a basic fee of 10,000 yen ($83) for a two-hour session, but some women will pay more to have the escort give them a sensuous massage.
While escort services are often assumed to be sex-for-sale, most women are really just paying for the company.
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"Just seeing the faces of people who notice you walking around with a gorgeous guy on your arms is enough," one 40-something housewife said. "I might get the occasional sensual massage, but we never have sex."
The companies stress that they are not selling sex.
"We strictly forbid sexual intercourse," Kamisato says. "We make our escorts write notes promising not to go all the way."
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Kamisato adds that another unique feature of the rent-a-fling service is that they offer men of all shapes and sizes as escorts.
"Host clubs usually only employ really good-looking guys, most of who are in their 20s," he told Shukan Post. "But we realize our clients' needs are more varied. Escorts on our books include men who resemble young students, others who look like ordinary salary men and men of more advanced age who look like typical old guys."
Gnomes Are People, Too!
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Wanted: perpetrators of the "gnomesville massacre."
Australian workers are seeking the villians who viciously beheaded several pot-bellied gnome statues residing in the famous "Gnomesville."
The gnomes were a part of the 1,000 statue tourist attraction, located in a forest south of Perth, Reuters reported.
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“We are incensed by the damage done to the gnomes and willing to pay a reward to catch the culprits,” said State Emergency Service Volunteer Association President Phillip Petersen.
Six orange gnomes depicting emergency workers were among those destroyed, Petersen said, adding the reward was $390.
The population of Gnomesville has grown from a few statues placed in the forest a few years ago, making it a popular stopping point for tour buses visiting nearby vineyards.
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And You Thought It Only Happened in the Movies...
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A man who acknowledged a sexual fetish for female-shaped mannequins was sentenced Thursday to more than a year in prison after repeatedly breaking into storefront windows.
Ronald Dotson, 39, of Detroit, was sentenced to 18 months to 30 years on charges of breaking and entering and being a habitual criminal.
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He was arrested in October after police in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak spotted him near a smashed storefront window containing a mannequin wearing a French maid outfit.
The arrest came less than a week after he had been paroled for his sixth breaking-and-entering conviction in 13 years.
Some of the previous cases also involved mannequins. Police once found him in an alley behind women's clothing store with three mannequins dressed in lingerie.
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"I've never been able to take care of myself," Dotson told Judge Denise Langford Morris at sentencing.
Morris acknowledged that Dotson had never assaulted a person but said his behavior "strikes fear in the community."
Fire Is No Match for These Suckers
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Firefighters have been forced to abandon a busy station because it's infested with bedbugs.
The pests were first discovered in November after two firefighters reported bites, spokesman Dennis McKone said.
Station House No. 2 downtown was vacated for a week and sprayed, but that didn't solve the problem. Four subsequent sprayings still have not killed the bugs, McKone said.
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The department is removing carpets from living quarters and installing linoleum. All beds and bedding have been swapped out.
Officials believe a nearby homeless shelter, where firefighters and paramedics are often sent, may be the source.
"Our understanding is they've had quite a problem with bedbugs," McKone said.
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Bedbugs hide in mattresses, bedding, crevices and even behind loose wallpaper. The flat, wingless creatures get no larger than ladybugs and do not carry disease.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Hannah Sentenac.
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