September 3, 2004 The Boyfriend Arm Pillow is a Japanese product aimed at Japanese who like sleeping with their head on their partner's chest but don't have a partner to do it with, or have given up on the standard model and are trying to reconstruct a better boyfriend.
So far they've got the shape right and have it padded appropriately for comfort, they've eliminated all the sounds and smells of the standard boyfriend and have even added an alarm clock which gently shakes the arm when it's time to get up.
The synthetic boyfriend is not a full body pillow, only offering half length,We are unaware at this point of any after-market accessories for the product though we figure an inbuilt electric blanket would be good for cold nights. And perhaps a nice strong slow heartbeat and maybe an MP3 jukeboox with access to long loops of recorded audio such as rain beating on a tin roof, hours of sweet talking, a comprehensive library of self esteem affirmations, the life works of Barry White and ...
Only time will tell if women outside Japan decide the Boyfriend Arm Pillow is a viable alternative to the real thing. At US$77, it requires no further maintenance other than occasional fluffing, and has no running costs and we suspect there's a hug latent market for women of all nationalities who have decided that the White Knight might not be coming.
Quite a few Japanese sites offer the Boyfriend Arm Pillow and manufacturer Kameo (http://www.kameo.co.jp/) is looking to distribute the pillow in other countries based on the popularity of item. There is also an unconfirmed report that a limited edition Girlfriend Arm Pillow will be trailed.
