# Do Japanese Mothers Masturbate Their Sons To Put Them To Sleep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090 "2004-03-29T15:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/41 "2004-03-30T19:47:25Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > You make it sound like some bizarre culture-specific practice known only in Japan. Plenty of people around the world, including Americans, sleep in the same bed with their kids. Yeah, but here…we call it “co-sleeping”. Sheesh :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/42 "2004-03-30T20:14:16Z")
Now I understand the reference to the _House Of The Rising Son._ ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/43 "2004-03-31T05:28:15Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > What the hell’s wrong with a lullabye? You’ve obviously never heard me sing. :o ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/44 "2004-03-31T07:01:29Z")
If not laudanum or opium or alcohol, there’s always Benadryl or…jeez, what was the stuff my mom’s ped wanted her to give my little brother…phenobarbitol. Wanted to prescribe it for her, to give my little brother to shut him up. There’s a good chance his tummy hurt because he didn’t tolerate cow’s milk proteins, and of course he was getting homemade formula made from tinned cow’s milk, water and sugar. That’s what you _did_, in the 70’s. As for the family bed, it’s actually very common even in the US. My kids have all slept in bed with us until the age of 2 or so, and then as needed until older. They are still allowed to come in bed with us in the event of a bad dream, or whatever, but they exercise this rarely. Just occasionally we’ll wake in the morning and there’s an extra body in the bed. As for sex with kids in the bed…never with one old enough to ask questions, if they’re awake. They do tend to sleep like rocks, though (and of course the older ones are in another room now). If we were quiet, we could probably get away with it. If we were on a futon on the floor, much more so (no rocking/shaking/squeaking). We’ve never had any child walk in on us at an inopportune moment. Yet. They do sleep a lot like rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/45 "2004-03-31T13:10:36Z")
Mainichi as a source, eh? Well, let’s put the matter this way: Asking about this particular matter, given what the only “primary” source for the claim happens to be, is essentially identical to asking whether or not the Batboy featured in _Weekly World News_ is real. If the story comes from Mainichi, presume false until shown otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/46 "2004-03-31T15:55:38Z")
I didn’t read this claim in Mainichi, I read it in The Journal of Psychohistory- [http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/ja/history1.htm](http://www.geocities.com/kidhistory/ja/history1.htm) _"Childhood in contemporary Japan, although somewhat more Western than that of other Eastern nations, still includes masturbation by mothers “to put them to sleep.” Parents often have intercourse with their children in bed with them, and “co-sleeping,” with parents physically embracing the child, often continues until the child is ten or fifteen. One recent Japanese study found daughters sleeping with their fathers over 20 percent of the time after age 16. Recent sex surveys report memories of sexual abuse even higher than comparable American studies, and “hot lines” of sexual abuse report mother-son incest in almost a third of the calls, the mother saying to her teenage son, "It’s not good to do it alone. Your IQ becomes lower. I will help you, " or “You cannot study if you cannot have sex. You may use my body,” or “I don’t want you to get into trouble with a girl. Have sex with me instead.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Lando\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f17d59/32.png) [@Lando\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lando_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/47 "2004-03-31T16:19:34Z")
I’d take anything from that cite with a HUGE grain of salt, however. I find it hard to believe that a well-reputed, _credible_ medical journal would need to use Geocities for their website. In addition, only about half of the links on that cite worked for me. I got a Yahoo “page not found” message. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/48 "2004-03-31T16:49:58Z")
Also remember that “pyschohistory” was the fake science invented by Isaac Asimov in his Foundation books. There is a website for the [The Institute for Psychohistory](http://www.psychohistory.com/), which appears to be mostly one guy. I see no evidence that its journal is peer-reviewed. Although I’m not sure who’s a peer in this context. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/49 "2004-03-31T17:12:02Z")
Taking a look at one article in **Exapno** ’s link, “The Universality of Incest,” it looks like a whole lot of raving nonsense to me – indeed, little more than one cultural slander after another. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-japanese-mothers-masturbate-their-sons-to-put-them-to-sleep/237090/51 "2024-11-05T03:57:37Z")
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