Porn star Minamo says she had no friends at school and hated kissing
In an interview with the Bunshun Online, Japanese adult video star Minamo has described her childhood as a lonely time spent as an outsider who “had no friends.”
Ahead of her retirement from porn in December, the ravishingly beautiful star says everything changed when she entered high school. She underwent a dramatic transformation and people began to compare her to actress Kasumi Arimura (even though Minamo is now famously a dead ringer for actress Mitsuki Takahata) and became immensely popular with the boys. Although she finally achieved her dream of joining the cool crowd, Minamo says that it only led to deep disillusionment with men.
As a child, Minamo was a self-professed eccentric girl who struggled to fit in. She would become completely absorbed in solitary make-believe games, obsessively acting out the role of a princess for the entire day. She recalls driving other children away by telling outlandish lies, such as claiming she could fly or insisting that a random location was her home.
“I was that kind of kid, so naturally, I couldn’t make any friends,” she says in the interview, looking back on those days.
Even after entering junior high, she couldn’t open up to those around her, yet she felt an anxious need to avoid being labeled a loner. Desperate to be seen as a cool girl, she plucked her eyebrows and imitated gyaru fashion in a bid to cling to the popular group. Yet, she could never shake the feeling of loneliness and alienation.
The turning point in her life came with her first (and allegedly only) experience of heartbreak during junior high. “The guy who dumped me then started dating a girl I absolutely hated. That made me think that if I actually put in the effort, there’s no way I wouldn’t be the one getting all the attention. so I decided to reinvent my image for high school.”
Minamo dyed her hair from its bright gyaru color back to black, styled her bangs like an idol, and became a manager for the baseball team in hopes of attracting male attention.
Just as she had planned and expected, she became immensely popular with the boys, earning the reputation as the school’s Kasumi Arimura. She finally got the adoration she had craved. But something felt off.
Although she dated several boys, she found herself repulsed by the raw sexual desire and attitudes of high school boys. In one instance, she couldn’t even handle a single kiss, finding the sensation of saliva “gross.” She abruptly broke up with her boyfriend. “Oh, so, this is what men are really like,” she realized.
A girl who couldn’t even endure a single kiss went on to choose the path of an adult video actress, which she describes as her true calling, and rose to the very top of a hugely competitive industry.
The 26-year-old Minamo is one of the most high-profile adult stars in Japan today, with a modeling contract for a major lingerie brand, regular print media and TV appearances, acting roles in regular movies, and even a new career as a literary novelist.
