Some of the first sex dolls were created by French ("dame de voyage") and Spanish ("dama de viaje") sailors in the sixteenth century who would be isolated during long voyages. These masturbatory dolls were often made of sewn cloth or old clothes and were a direct predecessor to today's sex dolls. Later, the Dutch sold some of these dolls to Japanese people during the Rangaku period, and the term "Dutch wives" is still sometimes used in Japan to refer to sex dolls.