CARNAL NATION

Reuters reports that Shigeo Tokuda, Japan's oldest porn star, has begun production of his latest film in which he portrays a master of sex. Clad only in a loincloth and silk kimono, the 75-year-old man was waiting to film a scene in which he has sex with a woman younger than his own daughter. In the unscripted scene, he used vibrators, whips and candle lights to show the master satisfying a 36-year-old actress. Mr. Tokuda said of his career, "I debuted at 59, and have played in more than 200 porno movies since then." He moved into the porn industry late in life, having lived a typical Japanese office worker's life until then. Tokuda said he'd always been unsatisfied with the story lines in most of the porn movies he watched, so he approached a director with some ideas. Two years later, the white-haired man with dentures was taking off his clothes in front of the camera.

The actor has become a sensation in Japan, where one in five people are over the age of 65. "Other old men think they can do it because he can. The elderly can feel secure and encouragement when they see his films," said Gaichi Kono, the director of Tokuda's latest film. Japan's elderly are rejecting the idea that growing old means slowing down, said Chineko Araki, a professor of social welfare from Den-en Chofu University. "More than 50% of men over 65 are eager to have a sexual relationship with their partners," she continued. Tokuda's films will soon be offered to Japanese retirement homes, and they are expected to appear on the Internet in the near future.