Present-day Japanese gravure idols travel back in time

As the year draws to a close, it’s natural to look back on the past months and get a little nostalgic.

Present-day Japanese gravure idols dressed up and photographed in the style of vintage pinup models? Yes, please!

That’s the basic concept behind a new photo book called Pin-Up Girls Selection, which is attempting to conjure up the image of “American porn from 100 years ago,” according to the promo spiel.

There are nine participating models: Rin Takahashi, ENA, Hinano Ayakawa, Miku Oshima, Miyako Sono, Miyu Nakagawa, Aya Hazuki, Haruka Bando, and Saki Yanase.

Bando and Oshima are better known as music idols.

You choose which model you want and then get the photo book of only her pics.

If you order the photo book, you also get a behind-the-scenes DVD.

This is actually the fourth entry in this Pin-Up Girls Selection series, which has obviously proved successful. They always have the same format: nine contemporary gravure models dressed up and photographed in a vintage style.

The series started in 2022 and has involved some of the most popular gradols in the industry. How many do you recognize?

Past entries series, though, seemed to have all the models in one book, rather than letting fans choose a whole book with just the one model they want.

Older most definitely does not mean tamer. Though it’s not as long ago, Japanese gravure idols in the 1970s and 1980s were certainly hot.

And there were plenty of stunners in the 1990s too.

Recreating a vintage Showa-era look is quite a common approach for models looking to spice up their shoot. Iori and Luchino Fujisaki did it with some fantastically erotic results back in 2018.

Yumi Asahina’s debut photo book also had a Showa theme. Mariya Nagao did something similar in 2022: the photography looked contemporary but the fashion and setting was very Showa.