Way back in 2019, in those pre-pandemic halcyon days, we lamented the departure of Yuka Ogura from gravure magazines. With the release of a hugely successful nude photo book, she announced she would no longer do swimsuit cover shoots for gravure magazines.
Well, now she's back -- older, wiser, and just as sexy.
The iyashi-kei "healing" idols with the gentle smile and girl-next-door looks has triumphantly returned to the world of gravure magazines for the first time in about five years with a cover shoot for the current issue of Kodansha's Young Magazine, which went on sale on Monday.
The ...
The actress Aya Ueto is to release a new photo book in July.
Shot in Taiwan, Midday Reverie comes out on July 10 from Takarajimasha. The photographer is Kotori Kawashima, famous for his photos of a young toddler called Mirai, though he has done photo books for models before, such as Nanase Nishino and Asami Usuda.
Midday Reverie marks Aya Ueto's first photo book in 15 years. She turns 40 in September but, as the shoot preview images show, is still a remarkably beautiful woman. Don't expect any nudity, or even much flesh on display, though, since Aya Ueto has never had that sort of career ...
Miri Hanai legend continues gravure comeback in forties with nude photo book
June 2, 2025
/ Tadashi Anahori
The 40-year-old gravure idol Miri Hanai held a launch event for her latest photo book, the aptly titled Legendary, in Tokyo yesterday.
Released by major publisher Kodansha, Legendary is her first print photo book in about two decades, though she has continued to release digital books.
In 2023, we wrote about Hanai and her incredible 20-year career in gravure. We don't know what magic or dark arts she uses, but she still looks at busty and svelte as ever.
Fans will certainly be pleased with Legendary, which showcases the jukujo's charms and assets in swimsuits, lingerie, and nude. ...
Yui Koike returns to gravure after 10 years
February 24, 2025
/ Tadashi Anahori
We love a good comeback story at Tokyo Kinky. Last week, we reported on Yumi Sugimoto's return to gravure in an issue of Weekly Playboy.
That same issue featured a number of Super Sentai alum and we are delighted to share the pics of Yui Koike, marking her first gravure shoot in about a decade.
Like with Sugimoto, 33-year-old Koike is releasing an accompanying digital photo book via Weekly Playboy.
The tokusatsu sci-fi series often hires gravure idols to play female roles. Koike prevously appeared in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.
She still has those girl-next-door looks and a slinky ...
Yumi Sugimoto makes gravure comeback to mark Super Sentai anniversary
February 21, 2025
/ Tadashi Anahori
The actress Yumi Sugimoto is now 35 years old and first appeared in the Toei tokusatsu series Engine Sentai Go-onger, broadcast around 17 years old. From about that time, she established herself as a gravure idol too, despite not having the chops in terms of cup size.
She enjoyed a prolific gravure career throughout her twenties, perhaps peaking with her semi-nude photo book Chiamata in 2015.
This was followed two years later by her marriage to a younger man, which seemed to signal the end of her gravure output -- but she got divorced in 2019.
Sugimoto appears in the February 17 issue of ...
Will 47-year-old Aki Hoshino make a gravure comeback?
January 31, 2025
/ Tadashi Anahori
The new photo book by Yuki Kashiwagi has reminded us that a bunch of idols and models have made similar comebacks of late, some doing it just for kicks and others hoping to ride nostalgia to a quick yen.
Other examples include Reiko Kato, Serina, Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Rina Aizawa, Aya Ueto, and Haruka Ayase.
Another comeback that might be on the cards is Aki Hoshino.
Now aged 47, Aki Hoshino posted a video of herself in a swimwear (in what seems to be a sponsored post for Alexia Stam, a swimwear brand) and she looks great for a middle-aged woman.
Many fans commented that they want her to ...
Yuki Kashiwagi makes gravure comeback with new photo book
January 30, 2025
/ Tadashi Anahori
Former AKB48 idol Yuki Kashiwagi appears on the cover of the current issue of Weekly Young Jump, making a striking gravure comeback as she launches her latest photo book, Time Capsule.
The book went on sale on January 29 and brings together 14 years of shoots for Weekly Young Jump. Apparently it's so packed with photos that it weighs a full kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). Yukirin did her first cover shoot for the weekly magazine way back in 2010.
You'll have to get the magazine if you're a true fan, though, since the cover shoot isn't included in the new photo book, which is her fourth ...
1990s star Reiko Kato makes gravure comeback after 26 years
December 19, 2024
/ Tadashi Anahori
We love a good comeback story at Tokyo Kinky. And we especially love comebacks that defy mainstream expectations about women and beauty.
Why shouldn't older women still be sex symbols? A year ago, we wrote about Fumie Nakajima's image DVDs that prove a woman can still look great in her mid-fifties.
Now here's another 55-year-old Japanese woman who returned to our lives.
Reiko Kato was something of a legend in the later 1980s and early 1990s. She has answered our Christmas wishes and come back to gravure with her first such shoot in 26 years.
Kato's past photo book and shoots -- often ...
Ex-SDN48 Serina releases new photo book at 39
December 5, 2024
/ Tadashi Anahori
The gravure comebacks are arriving thick and fast. The end of the year is turning into a bit of a nostalgia blitz.
Just after Chinatsu Wakatsuki's return to gravure after a 19-year gap and similar highly anticipated comebacks by the likes of Rina Aizawa and Rina Koike, here's another lady who used to be a staple of gravure magazines.
Serina, formerly of AKB48 spin-off group SDN48, was a big part of our lives in the early 2010s.
SDN48, as readers with long memories may recall, was a short-lived music idol group formed to be a sexier version of AKB48. It failed to catch on and disbanded in ...
Chinatsu Wakatsuki makes gravure comeback after 19 years
December 4, 2024
/ Tadashi Anahori
Chinatsu Wakatsuki has made a surprise gravure comeback with a cover shoot for the current issue of Weekly Young Jump.
Chinatsu Wakatsuki was one of the biggest female celebrities of the 2000s, known for her cute butt that she frequently showed off.
She is now 40 and married with two children, having had a shotgun wedding in 2012. She remains a fairly common face on TV.
Wakatsuki has rewarded her fans with this return to gravure, apparently her first such shoot for a gravure magazine in 19 years. (It might be mere coincidence that she left her management agency of 23 years back in ...