Akari Yoshida makes gravure comeback under new name

The Japanese actor, fashion model, and gravure idol Akari Yoshida has made a comeback under a new name.

Now known as Akari Koda, she has done her first gravure shoot in about three years. The shoot appears in the current issue of Weekly Playboy.

“I had always wanted to do gravure modeling, but I was waiting for the right timing,” Koda told the magazine. “I changed agencies and had decided to change my name, so I thought it would be great if more people could get to know a different side of me.”

The shoot by veteran gravure photographer Chikashi Kasai puts lots of emphasis on her thighs and buttocks as well as those alluring eyes she has.

When still known as Yoshida, she modeled lingerie for Ravijour in 2025, and was previously a model for the fashion magazine Jelly. She made her gravure debut in late 2021 and Gentosha released her first photo book, Unripe Fruit, in 2022.

Here are some highlights from her first years as Akari Yoshida.

Koda is still just 22 years old and no doubt has a good career ahead of her. She is also continuing to act, performing in a play in Tokyo in April.

This year also marks her tenth since she started modeling.

“Since this is a milestone year, I joined a new agency. Strangely, it felt like I had gone back how I felt when I first started working. I thought again about what I really wanted to do, and it is like I’ve returned to my roots.”