The former SKE48 idol Ruka Kitano has announced her first photo book. The 25-year-old Gifu native's debut publication will come out in Japan on September 11. Known for her girl-next-door looks, Kitano is attempting something of an image change by posing naked, with her modesty protected only by her carefully and alluringly placed arms across her chest. Kitano was a member of the Nagoya-based group from 2014 until the end of June this year and is clearly hoping to capitalize on her fandom's demand for pics of her and her body. The as-yet-untitled book will only be semi-nude but if the ...

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The casting couch is one of the biggest open secrets in the Japanese entertainment world. Abuse and sexual harassment of voice actors, fashion models, and gravure idols has recently gained a lot of attention. The general acting world is also very belatedly having a sort of MeToo moment with the exposure of male sex predators. The director Hideo Sakaki, for instance, has just been arrested for the fourth time. On the other hand, perhaps we still have some ways to go: the director of the new film adaptation of manga Sensei's Pious Lie sparked headlines when he said he rejected the lead ...

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Nogizaka46's Mizuki Yamashita has released a new photo book that is causing a stir. Following the success of her first photo book that was semi-nude and featured the singer posing with a furry friend, the 24-year-old's latest photo book, Heroine came out on April 23 and has already set the interwebs alight with the alluring images it contains of Zukkie in white lingerie. Unforgettable Person sold 100,000 in its first week alone and would go on to sell almost 200,000 copies. Can Heroine replicate those numbers? The thong and sheer bodysuit will surely help, along with the great shots of her ...

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There has been a lot of outrage recently about male hosts in Japan exploiting vulnerable women, young and old, in order to get them to pay the ridiculous fees their clubs charge. This includes forcing underage girls into prostitution. We shouldn't overlook the dark and controversial world of music idols, however, where the casting coach is commonplace (as it is in gravure modeling). Things get particularly murky in the far less lucrative world of minor and underground idols, who don't get mainstream exposure and are more vulnerable to managers and so on promising success and money. A ...

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The Japanese porn industry is incredibly prolific and its output is fueled in part by parody releases: adult video productions that operate at a kind of meta level, inspired by a recent incident, social trend, or something from popular culture. Sometimes, since parody occupies an ambiguous place under the rubric of Japanese law, this can get the producers into trouble. The recent AV release based on the DJ Soda groping incident was canceled prior to release, possibly due to the social media backlash or perhaps out of fears of legal repercussions (at a time when things are difficult for the ...

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Who are the top female idols from the 1980s? Japanese people in their fifties were recently asked to rank who they think are the biggest female idols who debuted between 1986 and 1989. The online survey came up with Chisato Moritaka as number 1. The 54-year-old is still going strong, releasing music, giving concerts, and appearing regularly on TV. At number two was 50-year-old Rie Miyazawa, who made her debut in a TV commercial for Mitsui House in 1987. As regular readers will know, she went on to make a seminal contribution to the hair nude genre of photography. At number three was ...

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Yesterday we reported on AKB48 alum Mariko Shinoda, who is attempting to recover from her adultery and divorce scandal by playing an adulteress in a TV drama. Now here's another AKB48 lady who is on the verge of leaving the supergroup and, in a (desperate?) bid to make a splash as she graduates, has shown fans a flash of her butt. The slinky 27-year-old is publishing her first photo book and the previews reveal her naked rear -- or rather, show Okabe herself deliberately pulling down her bikini bottom to expose her butt. Okabe will graduate AKB on March 27, with her as-yet-untitled ...

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Here's a nice little (late) Christmas present for you. The Japanese tarento and music idol Ourin (王林) is branching out into gravure with the release of her first solo photo book. Born in 1998, the Aomori native made her debut way back in 2007 and has been part of several idol groups over the years. One Chance was released by Shueisha on December 20. We love its flamboyant, bubble-era look. She has previously released calendars, so gravure is not a completely new career path for her, but the swimwear photos definitely seem to indicate a conscious step up in the sexy stakes compared to ...

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In a recent interview with Aera, the former AKB48 idol Nana Okada (岡田奈々) has come out as nonbinary. They don't explicitly also come as bisexual but the 26-year-old does say they are attracted to both men and women, and that they dated a woman back in 2017 (during their tenure in AKB48, which started in 2012). As readers will remember, Okada was fired from AKB48 over a dating scandal in 2022. Until then, she had been one of the most popular members of the idol group. For a more in-depth analysis of the interview and what Okada reveals, we recommend this thread. Okada is currently ...

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On October 13, NMB48 announced that Fuuwa Kuroda (黒田楓和) was to leave the music group with her graduation performance being on October 26 and last official day as a member on November 5. However, on October 28, the group announced that Kuroda will instead leave with immediate effect, and won't attend three hand-shaking events as planned on October 29, November 4, and November 5. Health issues are nominally cited as the reason, but Japanese netizens have speculated that the real reason is much darker. It is alleged that the 19-year-old made a sex tape with her boyfriend, which has ...

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