Everyone wants to be the next Minami Tanaka. While there have been plenty of past examples of Japanese TV announcers (newsreaders) shifting into modeling, both fashion and gravure modeling, Tanaka pioneered a successful style of shifting her career into a whole other stratosphere by releasing a sexy photo book in her early thirties, and earning a strong fandom among both men and similarly aged women. But Tanaka is now about to turn 40 and focused on her new career as an actor, so there's a gap in market for a newbie. We've seen a clutch of ladies recently try to assume the mantle: Anna ...

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The hugely popular model and actor Ayaka Miyoshi has revealed a whole new side to herself with a series of pictures that showcase what seems to be a permanent back tattoo. The tattoo features a plant running alluringly down her back, culminating in a number on her lower spine. The image resembles a Chinese ink drawing and instantly draws attention to the sensual curve of Miyoshi's back. She displayed her ravishing new look in a photo shoot for Harper's Bazaar and Boucheron. She posted the images on Instagram to her 2.6 million followers with a long message in English As I go through life, ...

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The former AKB48 idol Haruna Kojima has focused on fashion modeling and her own apparel brand since leaving the music group. She has transformed herself into a savvy businesswomen by building a brand that puts her own popularity as a model at its center. Now aged 37, Kojiharu can claim business triumph with the sale this month of her apparel company heart relation for ¥3.5 billion ($22 million) to e-commerce company yutori. She created heart relation in 2020 to run her (oddly named) brand Her lip to (which she founded in 2018) and Her lip to BEAUTY. She set to receive the payment in two ...

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Following recent report that nearly half of men and 4% of women have used sex workers, and that the sex industry is shifting toward a model centered on in-call services instead of brothels, there is much public debate right now in Japan about prostitution. The TV show Abema Prime recently hosted a discussion about the merits of punishing customers, something that may become possible in the future with proposed changes to current legislation under review. The author, former Nikkei reporter, graduate if Keio University, and ex-porn star Suzumi Suzuki (pictured) was one of the guests. She ...

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In early March, we reported on Akari Yoshida's gravure comeback under a new name. Now working as Akari Koda, she had just done her first shoot in about three years, appearing in the pages of Weekly Playboy. It wasn't a one-off. Koda has leveraged that shoot to keep building momentum in the competitive world of gravure, which is always looking for the next talent as the major publications seek to keep readers interested at a time when other images are just a click or swipe away. The 22-year-old Koda, who actually made her debut in the entertainment industry at the tender age of 13, has ...

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We all have fantasies about the hot Asian nurses giving us very intimate medical checkups. Well, Nana Saejima (冴島なな) is the real deal: an actual nurse in Japan who moonlights as a gravure idol because she's got the assets for the job -- namely, a pair of G-cup breasts. The 27-year-old Saejima is a newbie on the gravure scene, having debuted just last year, but is already set to release her first nude photo book on April 20. Unfortunately, initial previews are censored so we don't get to see those lovely nipples, but we look forward to perusing the goodies after the book comes ...

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Following the earlier report about discussions underway to review the Prostitution Prevention Law to include the possibility of penalties for those who pay for sex services in Japan, the Asahi Shimbun recently wrote about the sheer scale of the sex industry in Japan. The market for delivery health services (as call-girl services are euphemistically known) alone is ¥1.4 trillion. The newspaper describes Japan as a "sex industry superpower" whose growth has been fostered by a "Galapagos-like" legal system. The Prostitution Prevention Law only covers actual full sexual intercourse between men ...

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The top hostess Himeka has spoken out about her current feelings after winning a lawsuit in which a former male client had sought ¥38.5 million in damages from her. "There were times when I was filled with despair," she said of her experience during the trial. Himeka (also known as Himeka Nakamoto), who currently works at a club in Osaka and is famous for her high-earning hostess lifestyle, was sued by a former client in March last year. Kakeru Kikuchi, the former CEO of a venture capital firm that went bankrupt, made various accusations of "romance and marriage fraud" on social media and ...

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We all know that celebrities, especially female celebrities, often face abuse online. But does that extend to virtual celebrities like VTubers? Virtual Entertainment, the operator of the VTuber agency VSPO!, updated its website on April 10, giving its response to defamation and other actions against its affiliated talent. Just because the characters are virtual and so don't have "feelings," the copyright holders are not going to stand idly by while netizens defame their creations. Regarding the character Nazuna Kaga (pictured), the agency announced, "We have identified the person who ...

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Young entrepreneurs are always worthy of praise. Young female entrepreneurs perhaps especially so. But the response to Mizuho Ieiri has been more muted, particularly among male netizens. The International Christian University student has just opened a luxury Korean BBQ restaurant in Shibuya, central Tokyo, using ¥60 million of her own money. Aiming to become financially independent and retire early, the 24-year-old has spent six years at the prestigious college but has still not graduated because she was so busy working. Doing what? Well, she wasn't interning at an office (or, ...

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