Before penetration, or as a separate act in its own right, the fingers stimulate the female genitals. On the sheets the rhythm of breath at the ear shifts, and the partner’s bodily response carries more directly into the palm. That is teman. Teman (written 手マン, also 指マン) is the Japanese term for the sexual act of stimulating a woman’s vulva and vagina with the fingers. This entry covers the structure of the act, the combination of clitoral and intravaginal stimulation, its use for accessing the G-spot, its place as foreplay, and its handling in AV and sex education.

Overview

The core elements of teman are stimulation of the vulva, vaginal opening and interior with several fingers; direct or indirect contact with the clitoris; intravaginal contact with the anterior wall and the G-spot; and a variable approach that adjusts rhythm, pressure and speed to the partner’s response.

Within sexual activity generally it occupies three places: as a foreplay lead-in that induces lubrication before penetration, as an adjunct during penetration that adds external clitoral stimulation, and as a standalone route to climax in relationships that do not involve penetration.

Structure of the act

The basic movements break down into enclosing and pressing the whole vulva; tracing the labia majora and minora; circling and stroking around the clitoris; shallow entry at the vaginal opening with contact to the anterior wall; and curled finger pressure into the G-spot region (the anterior wall and urethral sponge). As an order of first touch, sex education and sex counselling commonly recommend beginning with surface stimulation to warm the area, then gradually increasing depth and pressure, arriving at a “sandwich” of simultaneous clitoral and intravaginal stimulation.

G-spot and clitoral application

The G-spot lies roughly three to five centimetres in on the anterior (belly-side) vaginal wall and is physically easy to reach with curled-finger pressure. Bending the middle finger in the “come here” gesture to lift the anterior wall is the standard technique. The clitoris is addressed either indirectly through the hood or directly; because direct contact can be too strong, lubricant, indirect pressure over the hood, and rhythmic circling or up-and-down motion are used to avoid pain while building sensation.

As foreplay

As a core of foreplay, teman induces physiological lubrication, raises sexual tension, and prepares the sexual response. Penetration reached without sufficient teman tends to cause physical strain, including friction pain and mucosal injury. In sex education and counselling, techniques are recommended on the premise of adequate time, attention to the partner’s response, and hygiene (clean, trimmed nails and hands).

In AV and adult manga

In AV, fingering appears frequently as foreplay, and “G-spot fingering” and “deep fingering” are standardized techniques for eliciting squirting. In adult manga it is often used in first-experience scenes to draw out a naive reaction from a female character. Depictions in AV and manga, however, diverge considerably from real technique: the speed and force are excessive, the response is immediate, and attention to nails and hygiene is omitted, all conventions specific to fiction.

Related terms

• Handjob
• Cunnilingus
• Caress
• G-spot
• Clitoris
• Foreplay