Until recently, the only TENGA products I’d ever seen in person were all about the peen. The Fella is a fan of TENGA Eggs, so I’ve fondled a few of those in my time. I’ve also had my finger buried to the knuckle in a Onacup, and have watched a friend gleefully waving her partner’s Zen Masturbator around her head while telling me how much he loves it.
All of that was fun, sure, but none of it was fun aimed at me, or more specifically, my genitals. Then I received an email from a lovely chap from TENGA, and within the week, one of the new Iroha+ line was winging its way to me from Japan, in exchange for an honest review.
Enter the Kushi!
I’d been told that, as they’d ran short of English packaging, my Kushi would come in the Japanese version. I confess, I’d expected bold pinks mixed with pastel yellows and white kawaii bunnies, so when I opened the parcel and laid my eyes on varying shades of cream with subtle touches of grey, I was surprised.
Inside of a flower printed sleeve sits two boxes. The white one contains the usb charger and UK plug, and a set of instructions in Japanese. As I’m not even remotely bilingual, those are of no use to me, but I wasn’t worried. The aforementioned chap from TENGA had already emailed me a full set of instructions in English, so I was good to go.
The cream box houses the Kushi itself. It comes in a neat plastic box, with a clear lid and a heavy black base. That base is also the charging unit. There’s a universal charger slot in the back, and the Kushi is charged by magnetically connecting the two control buttons on its underside to the two pins on the base unit. This means that the lid can be left on during charging, keeping your toy dust free and ready for action.
So, after oohing and aahing over the charger, I popped off the lid and took the Kushi in my hands, and it stayed there for upward of 20 minutes. Could I hell put the thing down, it’s just so gropeable!
Made from luxurious, soft touch, medical grade, cream coloured silicone, the Kushi is a joy to handle. The body of the toy is covered in multiple ribs, and is quite firm, but the pointed tip is pure, unadulterated squish. As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought ‘shell’ which is quite apt, seeing as though it’s waterproof, but the Fella thinks it looks more like a peeled garlic clove! (Yes, I did call him a fool, and yes, I did stroke the precious Kushi and tell it to pay him no mind.)
I honestly couldn’t stop fiddling with it, and I was growing more and more eager to know what the vibrations felt like. After popping it on charge and waiting out the two hours it took for the little light on the base to go out, I was ready to find out if the Iroha+ range was going to wow me.
Firstly, I’ll tell you that the Kushi has five levels of intensity, and two patterns. The patterns are rhythmic pulsation and enticing pulsation, according to the manual, but in reality they’re meh one and meh two. They honestly do nothing for me, but that could just be because I’m not a fan of stop starts, or waves, or gallops… I like my vibes constant, and I like them to work up from a slow tease, to a power laden kick up the arse that sends me careening into orgasm as soon as I hit maximum.
So, does the Kushi have the power?
Yes and no. It does have the kind of vibrations I love, in that they’re not surface level buzzing. They’re a lot deeper than I’d expected, and I was pleasantly surprised. The type of stimulation I get obviously depends on which part of the toy I hold against my clitoris.
If I use the squishy tip I get slightly frustrated, because it’s so soft I struggle to give myself the right amount of pressure that I need to push me over the edge, but if I use the flat part at the opposite end, the vibes are spread over too wide an area.
I’ve found the best and quickest way for me to orgasm using the Kushi, is by turning it over and, using my other hand to keep my labia out of the way, stroking the ribs back and forth over my exposed clitoris.
The bumps combined with the vibes combined with the stroking motion all work to give me exactly what I need. The Fella does have to be using a dildo or his penis or fingers while I do it though. The Kushi isn’t enough to get me there all on its own.
And that brings us neatly to using it during sex. Whether I’m on my knees for anal or my back for vaginal penetration, the Kushi is super easy to use. The size, shape and weight are all perfect, so it doesn’t get heavy and cause crampy fingers, and it’s not awkward for either of us to hold.
While it’s not a powerhouse of pleasure by any means, it is powerful enough to get me off during penetration, and because of that, I can see it coming between us in the bedroom quite often.
The Iroha+ Kushi was sent to me by TENGA in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinions, which are now, and will forever be, my own. No affiliate links were used in this post.
