Erika Sawajiri returns to TV with naked Takano Yuri ad

One of our favorite idols, Erika Sawajiri, has returned to the world of Japanese entertainment (geinokai) after a oh-too-long absence of two and a half years!

Ever since she made that rather sulky press conference in 2007 for the film Closed Note (we actually thought she was rather sexy!) and earned the animosity of the nation, her career has been on a disappointingly downward trajectory.

Well, now the rebellious minx is back, with a new “taido” (attitude) and keen to get into what she did so brilliantly before: cute photos, TV commercials, the occasionally melodramatic TV drama series, and more! Oh, our right hands have been Erika-idle these two years and we can feel them flexing up already.

Erika took the customary deep bow of apology at a recent press conference, before announcing her return project: a TV ad for Takano Yuri, featuring her in “clothing” that gives new meaning to “scantily clad”! As you can see from the pics below, this is one hell of a comeback!

Twenty-three-year-old Erika, half-Algerian-French and half-Japanese, is known for her rather large ego, earning her the moniker Erika-sama (“sama” is the most polite suffix by which to address someone in Japanese).

Last year her talent agency canceled her contract and she has had to start up on her own (currently based out of Spain, which sounds too far away for our liking). She is also a great example of yaeba (snaggletooth) idols, discussed on this blog some moons ago.