Earlier in the year, we wrote a short profile about Aya Takanashi, the former porn star who is now a columnist. Her articles in Spa! are always worth a read, usually introducing certain aspects ...

Talking about going out with a bang. So many idols from AKB48, Nogizaka46, and their sister groups quickly disappear into the ether after graduating, so their final individual release (photo book, ...

Actor and model Ayame Misaki is continuing her gravure comeback, which began in earnest in 2021. This followed her divorce and roles in more serious films, after an early career in gravure and ...

It seems in the TikTok and Instagram age, the usual route to stardom is not (just) through working as a fashion model, music idol, gravure idol, or something similar. You can first build up your own ...

The Economist recently reported on the Japan's porn industry as it continues to respond to the coercion scandals that (belatedly) came out in the 2010s, and the legislation that politicians have ...

Earlier this week, we reported on the latest scandal to hit former Morning Musume member Ai Kago. A more recent member of the idol group is Haruka Kudo, who is 23 now but joined Morning Musume when ...

Last week, we reported on the sexual assault that Korean music artist DJ Soda suffered at a music festival in Osaka during a part of her performance on August 13 in which she got close to ...

The travails of former music idol Ai Kago continue. Once a member of long-running female idol group Morning Musume -- she was part of the same generation as Rika Ishikawa and Nozomi Tsuji -- she ...

It's one of the industry's open secret that most Japanese music and gravure idols are poorly paid. While it's natural to assume that a struggling musician or an underground (chika) idol has a day ...

Last week, Japan was hit by Typhoon Lan. While Tokyo just suffered a bit of rain and wind, the west side of Honshu had more serious weather conditions, and public transport ground to a halt. And ...