There are blasts from the past, and then there are blasts from the past.
If you are long-term fan of gravure, then you will know of Yinling (Yan Yinling), a major force in the industry in the late 1990s and 2000s.
She moved to Japan at the age of 10 and enjoyed a successful career as a female wrester, race queen, singer, and gravure model, but got married in 2008 to a Japanese man and effectively retired from the industry, moving back to Taiwan in 2011.
Now aged 47 and the mother of three children, the Taiwanese-born model also known as Yinling of Joy is making a comeback with her first ...
We recently wrote about ex-AKB48 idol Satomi Kaneko's retirement, noting how she had carved out quite a striking career as a sexploitation actress and nude model after her brief stint with the group.
In general, after leaving one of the AKB or Sakamichi groups, or any idol group for that matter, the surest way to cement your status is to do more provocative shoots in gravure magazines, release photo books, and branch out into fashion modeling and TV gigs, either acting or presenting.
Only a lucky few land "serious" acting roles (perhaps only Atsuko Maeda and Yuko Oshima spring to mind), but ...
Last month, we reported on the controversy over a new gravure idol who was supposedly AI-generated but seemed to be just a slightly different version of a flesh-and-blood gradol. The publisher eventually withdrew its much-hyped photo book featuring Ai Satsuki.
As we noted in a follow-up post, artificial intelligence has major implications for gravure, making it possible to churn out cheap photo books with almost now overheads (no expensive photo shoots, no model fees, etc.). It has meant the market is currently flooded with cheap or even free photo books.
The issue of AI and gravure has ...
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. ...
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 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 popular Korean YouTuber Pyo Eunji has built up a huge following on social media and is hoping to capitalize on her popularity by releasing her first print photo book for the Japanese market.
The book, Rondo, comes out from Kadokawa on August 10 and has a suitably summery vibe, featuring the Korean hottie naked in a bath among other enticing scenarios.
Forgive the clickbaity title we gave this article: the shoot was nude but the bath prevents us from getting a clear view on her body under the water.
The previews are already doing the rounds online and generating interest for reasons ...
Former AKB48 idol Nana Owada is already celebrating her tenth anniversary in the entertainment world, even though she's still just 23 years old.
Her new photo book marking her decade-long career, encounter, comes out June 15 and the previews are setting the internet on fire.
One image features a curvy Nana Owada standing naked in a bath with her arms covering her breasts.
In other shots, she shows off her naked back, including a great pic where she's lying nude on a bed, though sadly only the top of her butt is actually visible.
In another photo, she's sitting nude on a bed with ...
The beautiful gravure idol and actor Miyu Kitamuki recently released her third photo book. Shedding (Dappi) is another nude book for the star, who also appears in TV shows and movies.
The photo book came out in Japan on May 25, published by Wani Books, and Kitamuki held a splashy promotional event in Shinjuku over the weekend.
In the photo book, at least based on the previews we have seen (included here, originally from the May 23 edition of weekly magazine Flash), we get to see the stunning 23-year-old's naked body -- with her butt fully on show (especially in the picture where she's ...
