Ah, balloons – great for drawing faces on, popping in strangers’ faces and constructing inflatable genitals from during tedious birthday parties. For a colourful subculture of people, though, balloons are the only thing that get their juices flowing. In the name of journalism I explored the lure of balloons, to see if I could get hot for stretchy rubber...

‘Looners’, as they affectionately call themselves, fall into two categories. The first, ‘poppers’, get their kicks from bursting balloons; after the tense anticipation of inflation, the mini-explosions give poppers a delicious sense of release. Non-poppers, on the other hand, prefer touching themselves with inflated balloons and feeling the rubber squeak against their skin. But no matter what it takes, Japan is the best place to find specialist videos to inflate your desire.

Mr Mejiro, director of Japanese balloon speciality DVD series Yvonne, explains that, when it comes to balloon fetishism, there are no rules. “It’s an individual thing,” he says. “There’s no common fantasy in the looners scene, which unfortunately makes shooting videos quite hard.”

To date, Mejiro has produced some 30 DVDs but, as he insists over coffee and cakes, wrapped in a smart kimono in the posh Tokyo hotel where he’s shooting his latest film, he isn’t a looner himself. It doesn’t stop him understanding what makes balloon fetishists tick, though.

“Popping, inflating and playing with balloons are the most popular elements,” he says. “However, popping is probably the most important. And there are so many different ways to pop a balloon – you can bite it, pop it with your nails, blow it up until it bursts, use pins, high heels... the list goes on.”

Mejiro finds most of his balloon models through adult talent agencies and says it’s not hard to find volunteers since the girls don’t have to get naked. “It makes no difference to looners whether the girls are nude or not,” he claims. “Some looners are size freaks, and insist the balloons are all over 40in wide. Others can only enjoy a certain type or colour of balloon. There’s a guy I know who’s a balloon researcher who helps me by suggesting new varieties for me to film.”

And to make matters more complicated, a significant number of looners don’t even need to touch balloons themselves. “Many people simply like watching a girl play with a balloon,” Mejiro says. “The most common request I get is to have a cute girl blow up a balloon until it bursts. People get off just on seeing that.”

Mejiro’s shoot today features a girl masturbating with a balloon; writhing on a bed for several hours and sliding the taut, colourful rubber balls up and down her body. She’s making mewing sounds and apparently having the time of her life while a sweaty, dishevelled cameraman looms over her.
After four hours of watching the girl play – bouncing on, squashing and popping the baby blimps (and flicking her bean, of course)
– I decided to have a go. I rub the balloons vigorously against my skin and squash them against my body – but even when I really go for it, I don’t come close to orgasmic ecstasy.

As touching the balloons isn’t working, I start popping them instead. First, I explode one painted with a garish face. Then I stab a sparkly one. Then I pinch a yellow, pear-shaped balloon with my teeth. After bursting 15 balloons – each of which produces a high-pitched squeal of pleasure from Mejiro’s looner model – I give up. I’m just not getting off on this.

However, Mejiro is quick to console me: “Don’t worry. People who get off on balloons usually suffered some sort of balloon-related trauma as a child. As this didn’t happen to you, you’ll probably never feel aroused by balloons.” But while Mejiro’s words comfort me – and he clearly knows what his viewers are looking for – he’s at a loss to explain other strands of balloon fetishism.

“Some people get off on actually going inside gigantic balloons,” he
says. “However, I really can’t understand that. Perhaps the huge balloons symbolise something – breasts or bottoms, perhaps? “Essentially, the sexual appeal of balloons is much too varied to be pigeonholed.

One guy sent me a DVD of a famous pop singer in concert and I couldn’t see why. When I had a closer look, there were hundreds of balloons in the background and that’s what he was obsessing on. I was also sent a video of a science experiment where various gasses were pumped into the balloons to see which would float highest. This is the sort of thing that ends up in my postbox!”

After spending time with Mejiro, my quest to understand balloon fetishism took me to the door of Philadelphia-based Mike D, webmaster of Mellyloon.com, Looneynudes.com and Balloonbuddies.com. “Like many sexual kinks, a balloon fetish is rooted in fear,” says Mike. “I was frightened of balloons as a kid. I’d check round corners for them and avoid amusement parks. Gradually, this obsession turned into a fetish. I didn’t think anyone else was into this, so when I found the Balloon Buddies site I couldn’t sleep for excitement.”

Balloon Buddies is an online community founded in 1976 by Buster Bill. It started as a penpal group, switching over to its online incarnation in 1994, and is now the best place for potential looners to start.

Mike calls his first Balloon Buddies encounter “life changing” and one that inspired him to create websites. He receives DVD orders from “every major continent except Antarctica,” and he’s not alone in his fetish; the number of sites for looners has mushroomed, and in Tokyo there are shops and a brothel catering for inflatable debauchery.

“Until 10 years ago, I’d get excited if I saw a photo with a balloon floating around in the background,” Mike says. “But now there’s so much out there, the community has become jaded. People are becoming more and more selective about what they enjoy.”

Not surprisingly, looners often find ‘coming out’ and sharing their passion with others a little tricky. And while the general public can’t understand the appeal of balloons, this relatively innocent fetish likewise doesn’t sit well with the hardcore rubber, leather and bondage hounds, many of whom look down on lowly looners.

“Looners are viewed rather negatively,” says Mike. “Balloons are associated with children, so looners really have to police themselves and what they look at. For example, if there happens to be a kid in the background of a balloon photo, it’s a no-no. It’s incredibly hard for looners to come out – but I suggest they do as, from experience, I know it’s hugely satisfying to share your passion with others.”

Happily, looners on America’s East Coast have it lucky, as Mike organises an annual Balloon Buddy party in Philadelphia. “Its very informal,” Mike says. “We have a barbecue, we take them to see the city sights. Rather than have a huge orgy, we just talk about stuff. Balloon stuff. It’s more like a coming-out event. We normally get 30 or 40 people and talk about anything we want. At the end of the convention we go back to the normal world.”

But what about to looners who can’t make it to Philly? How can they hook up with like-minded souls? “If you have a partner who loves you, why should a balloon fetish be an obstacle?” says Mike. “My advice is to look
for a good relationship first. If your sole purpose is to find someone who’s into balloons, chances are you’ll be looking for a long time.”

A sobering thought. For now, I’m content to let my undeveloped balloon fetish slide. Let’s just see what happens next time I’m at a birthday party.
For more info go to Balloonbuddies.com. Watch Yvonne at K5.dion.ne.jp/~yvonne7/