Not all heroes wear capes and not all gravure idols enter the industry through the usual agency and competition route. And while we are used to certain other celebrities moonlighting in gravure, especially music idols, but also wrestlers, actresses, fashion models, and sports athletes, it is relatively rare for a figure skater to dabble. But Marin Honda is a rare thing indeed, as her gravure debut impressively demonstrates. The 24-year-old showed off her slinky, toned body and cute girl-next-door beauty in a great series of pics that would make many music idols green with envy. Her ...

This story has been bubbling away for a few days and it's finally time to write it up here. The former figure skater Miki Ando has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with her 16-year-old male protégé after a tabloid snapped them out together on a date. The 36-year-old Ando, a two-time former world champion, famously left the figure skating world in the early 2010s to raise her child as a single mom and, despite intense media speculation, never named the father. (It is rumored to be a foreign skater or coach.) Bunshun published allegations on June 26 that Ando was ...

People come to gravure from different paths. Not all gradols start off at teenagers fresh to the industry and willing to do anything. Some dip their elegant toes into the waters of gravure when the fancy takes them, having already establishing themselves as entertainers, singers, or actors. (By contrast, some quickly build strong mainstream careers as actors and would like us to forget the bikini shoots they did when they were 18.) The former figure skater Mai Asada (older sister of Mao Asada) is one such example of the former. After competing at the international level in the 2000s, she ...