A dakimakura (; from daki "embrace" and makura "pillow") is a type of large pillow from Japan usually coupled with pillow covers depicting manga and anime characters. The word is often translated as body pillow, waifu pillow, or husbando pillow. Dakimakura are similar to Western orthopedic body pillows and are commonly used by Japanese youth as "comfort objects".
During the late '90s and early 2000s, dakimakura began to intertwine with otaku culture, leading to the production of pillow covers featuring printed images of bishà Âjo and bishà Ânen posed lying down from various anime or bishà Âjo games. Many of these early otaku dakimakura covers were released by Cospa, a character goods and apparel store that as of 2018 continues to release official dakimakura covers.
Although dakimakura are sometimes called "Dutch wife", the original definition of this phrase is closer to the chikufujin, or "bamboo wife". The year 2015 saw some of the first talking body pillows with Ita-Supo and its mascot, Rina Makuraba. It was invented by former Kyushu Institute of Technology researcher Koichi Uchimura.
Dakimakura are available in two main sizes, in length with a width ( circumference).
Until the mid-2000s, dakimakura were available in one size, . Since the late 2000s, dakimakura have been available and increasingly popular due to shipping cost savings from being under the airmail weight limit.
Due to the increase in popularity, new sizes have been created to adapt to all heights and ages, and although there are other sizes available; the five most popular sizes are , , , 150 cm ÃÂ 50 cm, and .