Ex-SKE48 music idol Ruka Kitano makes a splash with semi-nude debut photo book

Former SKE48 idol Ruka Kitano has posed semi-nude for a series of lavishly shot pictures in her debut photo book

Released in Japan on September 11 and with a seaside and marine theme, Kitano’s photo book is teasingly titled Want to Try Touching?.

Such semi-nude shoots and photo books have become common for the more adventurous music idols looking to boost their careers, but this one is especially sensual and revealing, with pretty much the whole of her body on display and her modesty only barely preserved by a crossed legs and crossed arms in the classic “hand bra” (tebura) pose.

earlier in the summer, Ruka Kitano was a member of the Nagoya music group SKE48 from 2014 until June this year, which is a significant period of time and her life. Now the 25-year-old is looking to sex up her image and make a splash in her first major solo foray.

Stripping off is, let’s face it, a tried-and-tested, almost foolproof way to do this. It guarantees you clicks and sales, though going actually nude means you have no one left to go and reduces your mainstream prospects (alas, these are not the enlightened times of the 1990s when doing a full-frontal hair nude photo book cemented a mainstream career, à la Rie Miyazawa).

Other AKB or Sakamichi music idols to adopt this semi-nude strategy recently include Seira Hayakawa (Nogizaka46), Mion Mukai (AKB48), and Rion Matsudaira (Keyakizaka46).