Former AKB48 idol Rina Hirata has announced that she will no longer release image videos. Her latest DVD, My Girl's Weird Sense of Distance, which came out on September 23. The DVD, her first in over a year, is an incredible 190 minutes and features Hirata barely clothed throughout. The tiny bikini she wears in the cover image is stretched to the max to cover her nipples and crotch. The 27-year-old Hirata was a member of AKB48 from 2011 to 2016. Among the legions of young women who have passed through the ranks of AKB48 and its sister groups over the years, Hirata stands out for at least ...

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The gravure idol Yumi Kureha has gone nude for the first time in an attempt to vamp up her career. She's now 33, so she will have to hurry before she shifts into the full jukujo stage of her life. That said, one of the unusual things about Kureha is that she didn't get her start in gravure in her late teens or early twenties, as is most common in the industry. Her first releases (image videos, digital photo books, etc.) were in 2021, when she was already in her late twenties. We think she made her gravure debut a little earlier, in 2019, but she was still a bit older than many of her ...

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The gravure veteran Jun Amaki has hit 30 and to celebrate, has released her sixth photo book. Shot in the south of Taiwan, Amapochi came out via Shogakukan on October 16. The 112-page book is a tribute to her final twenties, featuring more than 10 costume changes. Known for her fun-sized Asian body, Jun Amaki is short with a slim waist, curvy thighs, bouncy buttocks, and huge I-cup boobs. She is known for her love of saunas and hot springs, which she has cleverly turned into provocative promotional appearances. She's done nude shoots before showing off her butt and side boob, though ...

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Here's something we did not expect to be on our radar. The actress Megumi Kagurazaka has made a surprise return to gravure. Now aged 44, the married mother is to release her first photo book in 14 years. The as-yet-untitled book will come out in Japan on December 18. She has kicked off her return with an interview and shoot over 11 pages of the October 24/31 issue of the weekly magazine Friday. And this isn't just a gravure comeback. It's a nude comeback -- and a full-frontal nude shoot (known as a hair nude in the industry). It almost feels like we are back in the 2000s! Age and ...

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The former gravure idol Saaya has made a comeback to the industry at the age of 31. In recent years Saaya (whose full name is Saaya Irie) has worked outside gravure, but this years marks her 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry (she started modeling when she was just 11!) and she is commemorating the milestone with an appearance in the current issues of Weekly Playboy, which went on sale on October 6. An industry staple for many years, Saaya is known for her sweet girl-next-door looks, though a semi-nude shoot she did in the mid-2010s did a lot to increase her mature allure. She ...

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We love to rediscovering idols and models we thought had disappeared into the mists of gravure legend. We were initially confused by the return of Sara Oshino, though, since she now writes her name with different characters (おしの沙羅 instead of the more conventional 忍野さら), and weren't sure if it was the same person. This is probably for contractual reasons with a change in agency but a new name also helps boost publicity. In this case, it further reflects a new part of Sara's appeal -- that's she's now a calligraphy artist as well as a model -- hence the rather fancy given ...

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Ayame Misaki is probably this blog's favorite Japanese model and actress, so we are delighted to hear that she will release another print photo book. Eu te amo comes out via Kodansha on November 27, 2025. "I love you" indeed. It was shot by photographer Yasuhisa Kikuchi on location in Miyakojima, an island in Okinawa, and amply showcases her sensual curves and shapely derrière. Here are some highlights from the upcoming release, which was recently previewed in an issue of gravure magazine Weekly Friday. Now aged 36 and aging like a fine red wine, the divorced actress was a ...

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We love a good gravure comeback. After 37-year-old Ami Tokito's return to gravure, Reiko Kato's reappearance after many years away, and Mayumi Yamanaka's comeback after marrying and having two kids, now comes Mari Okamoto. Best known as an impersonator who could do a good impression of Ryoko Hirosue (whom she resembles quite strikingly) and who also made past forays into gravure, Okamoto married a music producer in 2015 and had a child, but they divorced in 2018. She remarried a Saitama politician in December 2023, though divorced again the following year. What is it about divorced models ...

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Erika Minatogawa is riding the wave of scandal over her arrest on a drug charge earlier this year to launch a gravure career. The so-called 32-year-old "Minato girl" and former race queen (grid girl), whose real name is Miho Okumoto, appears in the September 2 issue of Flash and has also released a digital photo book. The eight-page semi-nude shoot features the alluring model with an H cup playing up to her self-professed femme fatale and party girl image. Here are some sizzling highlights from the shoot. Back in May, the tabloids were filled with salacious reports about ...

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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 ...

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