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 ...
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 gravure idol Hikaru Aoyama (青山ひかる) is busty even by the standards of her busty cohorts in the industry: she apparently has an I cup.
Now the 27-year-old is releasing her first photo book -- surprisingly she has not made one before, despite being one of the best-known gradols and a regular in the weeklies over the course of her seven-year career -- and has generously rewarded fans yearning to see more of her flesh with a series of semi-nude shots that really show off as much of her body as possible without actually revealing nipples or bush.
Tactfully placed hands and even ...
They say that television is fake and this story may not convince you otherwise.
Netizens have exposed the beautiful woman who is supposedly an instructor at the Uzumasa Driving School in Kyoto as a gravure model.
Featured on a Japanese TV show as Aimi Yoshikawa (吉川愛未, not to be confused with Aimi Yoshikawa 吉川あいみ, the retired porn star), ostensibly because the driving school is covered by the government incentives aimed at encouraging domestic trips, this Aimi was, in fact, none other than Aimi (あいみ), a mononymous gradol much-admired for her svelte ...
The Japanese gravure idol (glamor model) industry is a competitive and overly populated place, with idols coming and going in quick succession.
In order to maintain their status, idols are required to keep up strong social media presences. This, of course, means Twitter and Instagram, but increasingly also YouTube. Gradols have to be YouTubers these days, too.
The coronavirus has made this more urgent than before as splashy shoots and meet-and-greet events are either not having or only in far reduced numbers, decreasing the potential for idols to earn fees. Perhaps feeling the pinch, ...
Airi Sato (佐藤あいり) is an up-and-coming gravure idol and actress whose recent shoots have seen her earn a following for a rare fusion: sensual, sexy allure; a genuine and clean beauty; and girl-next-door charm.
It's an unusual ability to combine sultry come-hither looks with marriage-material middle-class respectability. But Airi Sato, who emerged first in 2018 when she won a prize at a beauty contest run by a magazine, seems to achieve it.
Specifically, the 23-year-old is praised by fans as an example of hattoshin (八頭身 or 八等身) -- literally, "eight-heads body" -- an ...
There are nip slips and then there are nip slips.
The gravure idol Hikari Hashimoto (橋本ひかり) recently suffered an incident that falls squarely into the latter category.
For reasons known only to the people who devise Japanese television content, the idol was recently doing an interview (filmed live and remotely from her home) for the web channel AbemaTV in which she was supposed to whip off her top to reveal her bikini beneath. Unfortunately (or not), her breasts had come loose from the flimsy bikini top (or bikini-style bra) and her right nipple was firmly and delightfully visible ...
So far, the highest-profile victim of COVID-19 in Japan has been the comedian Ken Shimura.
His death happened fairly early in the pandemic in Japan and since then infection numbers have risen quite a lot as the second wave hits, though deaths have not climbed to a scary rate (yet - touch wood).
As entertainers are continuing to work, filming things and so on, and coming into contact with a lot of people in the process, coronavirus infections are also disproportionately affecting the industry.
In recent days, several high-profile cases have appeared.
In early August, the busty gravure idol ...
Sara Kamiki (神木サラ) is still only 20 years old but has already dropped her robe for a nude shoot, even though her first official gravure shoot was only published in June this year.
While some gradols wait a while before taking the plunge, sometimes only resorting to it when other options dry up, Kamiki has no such qualms -- even stripping off for her debut gravure shoot in the magazine Flash.
She has posed for an explosive (as in bakunyu "explosive breasts") nude photo shoot where she shows off her incredible breasts and nipples (an I cup, apparently!) and curvy ...
