Interview with 53-year-old porn veteran Ruka Aida

Ruka Aida (愛田るか) is a 53-year-old porn star and former stripper who debuted in 1995 and worked in the industry initially until 2004. She then made a comeback in 2006 from 2010, before doing sex work in Tokyo and Osaka. She made another triumphant comeback in April this year.

Over the course of her long career, the Hokkaido native has seen many trends come and go. The tabloid Spa! recently interviewed her and we have translated and edited some of the highlights.

She explains that her 1995 debut came about for very practical reasons.

“I wanted to earn money to cover moving costs. I really wanted to move to Ebisu. But with the security deposit, key money, advance rent, fees, and new furniture, it would have cost about ¥2 million in total.”

She wanted to live in such a central, expensive location because of a boyfriend who played in a band. He wanted her to rent somewhere near him in Ebisu.

“But I was working at a bar in Roppongi at the time, so I decided to move there because the location seemed perfect. But I couldn’t afford it on my salary from the bar.”

Back then, it was still the glory days of adult video, before streaming and the internet muddied the waters.

She was assured by a customer at the bar that she could make lots of money in porn — even ¥2 million yen.

“I really did make money in no time,” Aida recalls. “Once I debuted, I became more popular than I ever imagined and became famous. But then the band member’s agency noticed me and sent me a notice saying, ‘We don’t want to see you anymore.’ They were also on the rise, so it couldn’t be helped.”

Instead, she reveled in her newfound fame and status.

“I found the job of porn star a lot of fun. I’d always wanted to be an idol, and I thought that porn stars are essentially just adult idols. I got to do something fun and get paid for it, and I even felt like being Ruka Aida was my calling.”

In which case, why did she retire in 2004?

“I never explicitly said I was retiring. I intended to do as many shoots as I could. But the novelty gradually faded, and the work became less interesting. Toward the end, I only accepted offers that I hadn’t done before. For instance, I really wanted to shoot a film with a transsexual, so I made the request to a production company. But I couldn’t find anyone willing to star, so it just kind of naturally faded away.”

What did she do after her first retirement?

“I ran a bar in Roppongi, but closed it down after two years. I also made a living playing slots. My boyfriend at the time was a professional slot player, so I looked up to him as my mentor and learned how to win.”

Gambling, running a bar, porn . . . This is like the plot of a movie! This year, after a 15-year hiatus, Ruka Aida is back!

“A female acquaintance of mine told me that she wanted to be a porn star, so I asked the president of a production company that I’d previously worked with to introduce me to an agency. Through that, I was talking with various people in the industry, and one asked me, ‘Are you going to do it, Aida?’ I wanted to test myself and see if I could still make it as a sexy actress. At the same time, I felt lonely as more and more people didn’t know who Aida Ruka was anymore. Deep down, I wanted to go back if I could.”

Things have changed a lot in JAV over the past 15 years.

“First of all, I was surprised that the sex scenes were scripted. It seemed like everything was decided in advance, and the play was rigidly set in stone. During one shoot, I improvised a provocative look at the camera, and the director told me I couldn’t do that!”

As regular readers will know, some of this is due to a legal change that requires careful agreement of scenes in advance.

“The set also seems to be very efficient. It’s not like in the old days when we just come up with ideas on the spot and say, ‘This sounds interesting, let’s do it.’ To be honest, I prefer that kind of atmosphere where I can do what I want freely, but. I guess that’s just how things were back them. In the past, I would just go with my instincts when filming, but now I also think that the intro, background, and situation are also important.”

Has she ever been married?

“I’ve always been single. But there was one time when I tried to get married. It was my slot machine master. We lived together for seven years. I wasn’t really into his face, but other than that, there was nothing I didn’t like about him.”

Does she have any desire to get married now?

“Not at all. My current obsession is aging. I suddenly became a beauty fanatic about two years ago. Even though I was a porn actress, I used to think that just convenience store cosmetics were enough. I lived my life without worrying about anything. Now I go to salons and get hyaluronic acid injections. If a beauty treatment becomes popular on social media, I jump on it right away.”

She has tried various beauty treatments.

“I had incisions under my eyebrows to improve the shape of my eyes. During a consultation at the hospital, they pointed out that I had dark circles under my eyes, so I decided to get rid of those. The incision scars left a mark, and my double eyelids changed shape, and the areas where I had dark circles under my eyes became sunken. But it was this failure that really got me hooked on beauty.”

This seems typical of Ruka Aida’s attitude: she sees the lining in every cloud.

“I’ve always remained positive. Life is about turning misfortune into a blessings”

And when will she be retiring from her third stint in porn?

“I’d like to continue working as a porn actress until I’m 60. After that, I’d like to retire and live a leisurely life. To achieve that, I want to devote myself to my work for now.”