Despite having some of the thinnest and best condoms in the world, use of contraception in Japan remains relatively low, resulting in frequent shotgun weddings -- including high-profile celebrities.
As such, Japan's two main condoms brands -- Sagami and Okamoto -- try all sorts of novel marketing campaigns to encourage couples to use their products.
The latest comes from Sagami, known for its 0.01 mm condoms and Keith Haring art condoms. The manufacturer hired gravure idol Airi Shimizu as its twelfth brand ambassador.
The news was announced in mid-December.
Specifically, Shimizu -- a firm ...
Like most people, we are keen -- alright, desperate! -- to see this year done and dusted. With the new COVID strain, though, something tells us that the calendar simply turning into 2021 won't suddenly makes things OK.
So we are always pleased to see news like this sneak into the final days of the year.
The gravure idol Kaoru Yasui is known for her busty body, large butt, and come-hither looks. The 21-year-old previously went through a professional name change, her kanji shifting from 安位薫 to 安位カヲル when she changed left her agency at the end of August. Having made her debut ...
The end-of-year photo book rush just got a bit busier with the debut release from Anri Gento (源藤アンリ).
While not particularly well known as a model or celebrity, Gento has notched up a fair number of television appearances recently. It's perhaps a little surprising that such a relative newbie would land her own photo book publishing deal with Shogakukan, though she has seized the opportunity with aplomb.
A guaranteed way to generate headlines and online interest is to take things a step further. Anri has stepped up to the challenge swimmingly by taking off her clothes.
Coming out ...
Gravure idol and actress Miyu Kitamuki has posed for her most explicit photo shoot to date, a semi-nude spread in which she is fully naked but her modesty is hidden by carefully placed body parts -- not least, the classic "hand bra" (tebura).
The pictures appear in her first photo book, Koiyou (恋夕, Love Night), which came out last week from Kodansha. Previews were published in Weekly Playboy magazine.
The 20-year-old Kitamuki got her start in the entertainment industry in 2018 and, as an actress, her career highlights so far include the NHK drama series Idaten. She is ...
While most recent news about Japanese porn has been dominated by the very welcome return of Asahi Mizuno, we wanted to highlight another example we found that shows how part of the industry operates.
Once again, a minor idol from a group relatively unknown in the mainstream has been persuaded to switch from music to porn.
In this case, it's 19-year-old Sayaka Takayama (高山さやか), formerly of Girl's Horizon (aka Garuhora), who has made her AV debut under the name Nana Yaotome (八乙女なな) mere weeks after leaving the group.
The 180-minute release (MIFD00140) comes ...
One of the staples parts of being a gradol, or gravure idol, is posing for a photo session at Sofmap in Akihabara.
The women stand there, invariably scantily clad in a bikini while members of the media snap away. This is usually part of a press conference to promote some kind of release or appearance.
The photos are ubiquitous: a gradol posed against the squared advertising on the wall behind her.
Just occasionally does a photo session stand out.
In this case, gravure idol Rin Sakura (桜りん) was going through the standard motions of a session -- in this case, to promote a DVD, her ...
We have some sad news to report.
Normally the release of a new photo book by an idol would be a cause for celebration, but Mai Ishioka's (石岡真衣) upcoming "After the Rain" is apparently to be her last.
One of our long-time favorite gradols, Ishioka has announced that that she is "graduating" -- i.e., retiring from the industry.
This can be more one of several things: her career is stalling and so her agency is dropping her at the end of her contract; she is fed up with the industry and her career, and wants to do something else (or get married, which is hard to do while remaining a ...
Earlier this year we wrote about the comeback photo book featuring 40-year-old model Asami Kumakiri (熊切あさ美).
Even after entering her fifth decade, the jukujo beauty still looks stunning with her sun-kissed, well-toned body, which she shows off in the modest yet sensual shoot. The appropriately named "Bare Self" is her first photo book in 16 years and has enjoyed good sales.
Now we have more images from that photo book to share as well as a semi-nude photo shoot from a weekly magazine that Asami Kumakiri did recently.
We've also included some images from a 2021 calendar that went ...
In an episode of the Japanese TV drama Bokura wa koi ga heta sugiru (We're Too Bad at Romance, 僕らは恋がヘタすぎる), gravure idol Nana Asakawa (浅川梨奈) is shown riding her male lover cowgirl in a sex scene.
They kiss and undress on a sofa inside a hotel room. The 21-year-old Nana is wearing a sensual red bra that keeps her best assets under wraps.
They then move over to the bed, where Nana rides the lucky man.
Bokura wa koi ga heta sugiru is broadcast domestically on Asahi TV and stars Umika Kawashima and Jin Shirasu in the lead roles.
There is no actual ...
The actress Mao Miyaji is to release a new photo book, her first in 10 years.
Aisansan (roughly, Bright Encounter) comes out at the end of December, with preview shots already published in the weekly magazine Friday.
Now aged 36 and firmly entering jukujo (MILF) territory, Mao Miyaji is something of an industry veteran.
After a string of major roles on TV in the 2000s, her career has been quieter for several years. She married a man seven years her senior in 2017.
She has done semi-nude photo shoots before (like below), where she showed off her slender body and butt, though her ...
