With music sales down, fewer meet-and-greet events like before, and far less general public interest in its current members (which means fewer TV appearances and fewer lucrative advertising campaign contracts), AKB48 is in, well, perhaps not quite a state of decline but certainly a period of less prominence in popular culture compared to the glory days of the early 2010s.
Is this why its members are doing semi-nude photo shoots even before graduating the group? The AKB overlords used to be very exact about how much flesh the members could show, determined to keep things tantalizing and ...
Unlike the members of AKB48 and Nogizaka46 and all their sister groups, the fine young ladies of the somewhat tamer Momoiro Clover Z have not indulged in gravure shoots during their long careers as performers.
Now as they edge toward 30 -- a significant milestone for music idols -- and even start to get married, it seems even less likely.
Or so you would think.
Reni Takagi, a member of the color-coordinated group, announced her marriage last year, though thankfully not her retirement from the group.
She is now set to release her first solo photo book on August 29 at the ripe age of 30. ...
Miri Hanai (花井美里) turns 39 this October but these recent photos prove that she's as alluring as ever.
The mature gravure idol and musician has firmly entered jukujo territory, and though she's no longer enjoying the success of her twenties, when she pumping out photo books several times a year at one point during the mid-2000s, she's still got her fans and released a new photo book in 2021.
Known for her busty looks (a J or H cup, depending on the marketing), she made her debut in 2003. That's a 20-year career, a milestone few in her competitive industry achieve, and one that ...
Frequent porn crossovers, where female celebrities from other walks of life (music, acting, sports, etc.) move into adult video, mean the JAV industry is populated by quite a varied roster of talent.
Likewise, established porn stars sometimes branch out into other fields like mainstream acting and even writing (several porn performers are novelists, for example, such as Mana Sakura).
But off the top of our head, this is the first instance we know of a JAV star who is also a translator.
Riasu Mizutani (水谷梨明日) made her porn debut in April on Moodzy, but her regular job is as a ...
As regular readers will know, Osada Steve is a true rope master who practices the Osada-ryu school of shibari (kinbaku) bondage and is something of a legend in the Japanese BDSM scene.
We interviewed Osada-sensei about six months ago to find out more about his amazing career, how he entered the secret world of shibari rope bondage, and his insights on the future of kinbaku.
Now he has let us know about a new project he recently launched: a "toy salon" where top-quality Japanese female pleasure items can be tested under the expert guidance of trained counselors.
In addition to the various ...
We recently wrote about the Ryoko Hirosue adultery scandal, which has effectively meant her immediate disappearance from public life (no more TV ads, no more fashion magazine covers, no more acting roles).
When the scandal broke about her affair with a chef, many noted the irony that she had received a "best mother" award in 2022.
The annual awards are given to female celebrities each year to celebrate them as a maternal role model.
The awards are announced each May near Mother's Day, awarded to several celebrities in categories such as acting, business, singing, and sports. The winners ...
Morning Musume idol Maria Makino is promoting her ninth (!) photo book, the aptly named Dear Maria, which came out in Japan earlier this month.
That's quite a career and she's still only 22!
The summer-themed photo book, which was shot in Guam, includes pics of the young Aichi native in a figure-hugging, skin-tone swimsuit that makes her look naked.
Unfortunately, the actual photo book is too new for decent shots to exist online, it seems, but there are a few somewhat grainy behind-the-scenes shots of lovely Maria in her skimpy swimwear.
Netizens are, it almost goes ...
It has long been common to see claims that Japan's age of consent was just 13, which would lead to lazy generalizations that this was why there was so much loli porn.
Of course, in practice, this was never true: local ordinances against lewd actors with minors meant the actual age of consent was typically 18 and on par with (if not higher than) most other countries in the Global North.
It was true, though, that the national age of consent was 13, unchanged since 1907. (For context, age of consent is 14 in Germany, Italy, and China, and 15 in France.)
This has now changed after lawmakers ...
It sparked both hype and controversy, and then just as quickly vanished.
When publisher Shueisha released a digital photo book featuring a fully AI-generated gravure model on May 29, it felt like the tipping point of something.
But then netizens were quick to point out that the "model" Ai Satsuki was uncannily similar to a real-life gravure idol, Hikari Kabashima (previously known as Yui Asakura), suggesting the AI was simply recycling images of Kabashima/Asakura from the Weekly Playboy shoot she did (Shueisha publishes the magazine).
Shueisha responded to the controversy by withdrawing ...
The lovely Marika Matsumoto has done her most explicit sex scene to date.
The 38-year-old has seen her career develop in interesting ways recently, moving from a focus on voice acting to regular acting in prominent roles.
This has included major TV dramas, such as Holiday Love for Asahi TV that saw her do a sex scene.
That was non-nude, of course, as things basically always are for mainstream Japanese TV.
She has capitalized on her newfound success with two photo books in 2019 and 2020, and is now a regular face on advertising campaigns and fashion magazine covers.
In Night, Birds ...
