Bringing back the bush: Miho Machiyama and Marin Inoue make high-profile full-nude shoots

Is the hair nude making a comeback?

Well, the full-frontal nude shoot never went away per se, but it’s a rarer species these days. Have gradols become more risk-averse? Where are the mainstream actresses of the 1990s who had big hits with hair nude photo books (like Rie Miyazawa, Miho Kanno, Eri Ishida, or Saki Takaoka)? Many, if not most, such full-frontal shoots these days are published in a weekly tabloid magazine and often as a promo for an upcoming porn debut (like Anri Sakaguchi). The singer KOM_I is a notable, welcome exception to this trend.

But we are pleased to report two new high-profile examples that have made a splash.

Miho Machiyama (街山みほ) is not yet famous for much (other than being a third-year student at the prestigious Keio University) except made a striking impression with semi-nude shoots last year, where she was technically not revealing her breasts or you-know-what but only just — thanks to seductively placed arms and legs folded over her bust and groin.

Now she’s gone the full hog, stripping off for a cover shoot for weekly magazine Friday in March. Naturally, this is all done to promote a photo book, in her case her very first one, “Scarlet,” released that same month.

Friday has scored another minor coup with the hair nude debut of Marin Inoue (井上茉倫), a more established gravure idol — and one with a bustier, curvier body compared to the slinky, femme fatale body of Miho Machiyama.

Despite officially debuting as a gradol in 2018, Inoue is now 32 and so jukujo territory (by industry standards). She has less time to play with, so she’s taken a jump in the deep in by posing for a full-frontal nude shoot for an issue of Friday this month.