Aya Ueto releases first photo book in 15 years
The actress Aya Ueto is to release a new photo book in July.
Shot in Taiwan, Midday Reverie comes out on July 10 from Takarajimasha. The photographer is Kotori Kawashima, famous for his photos of a young toddler called Mirai, though he has done photo books for models before, such as Nanase Nishino and Asami Usuda.
Midday Reverie marks Aya Ueto’s first photo book in 15 years. She turns 40 in September but, as the shoot preview images show, is still a remarkably beautiful woman. Don’t expect any nudity, or even much flesh on display, though, since Aya Ueto has never had that sort of career — and is hardly likely to begin now.
In February 2024, we shared the news that Aya Ueto, one of the biggest female celebrities in Japan, had made a gravure comeback with a (tame) shoot for a magazine.
The married mother of three (the youngest of which was born in 2023) had not ventured into gravure since the very early days of her career. She started out as a junior idol and gravure model, but quite quickly progressed to mainstream acting.
Ueto’s unexpected gravure comeback was part of a wave of similar returns, prompted partly by nostalgia for these lovely ladies of lore. Others include Yui Koike (first shoot in 10 years), Chinatsu Wakatsuki (first in 19 years), Rina Aizawa (first in 12 years), Yumi Sugimoto (returned post-divorce), and (perhaps most surprising) Haruka Ayase.