The gravure industry has welcomed another newbie to the fold this week -- and someone with an unusual background.
For a start, she's not super-young. Eriko Kimura is 29 (and turns 30 in September) and has a regular job, working at a major IT company. She is currently affiliated with a big entertainment agency, Oscar Promotion, but basically does modeling only on the side.
Kimura just did her first gravure shoot for Weekly Playboy, appearing in the issue released on June 15. She made her official gravure debut last July and released a digital photo book. She got her big break in 2024, where ...
At Tokyo Kinky, we keep a close eye on new gravure idols and other developments in the industry, not least because it's a constant flux and flurry of activity: who is debuting, who is making a comeback, whose photo book sold well, etc.
But even we were a little taken aback by the latest "idol" to release a photo book: Myaku-Myaku, the weird and wacky mascot for the 2025 Osaka expo.
While the expo ended in October last year, love for the bizarre alien creature still lives on. Myaku-Myaku is possibly meant to represent water and cells, but even that doesn't explain why the upright, bipedal ...
In an age of AI, when computer-generated content has glutted our screens and it is sometimes hard to tell what is human and what is fake, what does it take a new idol to stand out from the pixels?
Sarina is hoping she has it.
The "sexy streamer" has just launched a gravure career, building on her massive social media base that has seen her accrue hundreds of thousands of followers.
She has just released Miraculous Quartet Body, a digital photo book for Weekly Playboy that is R18 rated (and also available in a tamer "all-ages edition"). It shows off her slinky body and large breasts, ...
The manga artist and cosplayer Ami Honami has made a spectacular professional gravure debut in the latest issue of Weekly Flash, which went on sale on December 16.
Acclaimed as too beautiful and already enjoying a large online fandom, this is the model's first appearance in a gravure magazine. She has gone with a classic white lingerie shoot, showing off her slim body as she lounges on a pristine bed.
On December 26, Honami will also release a 90-page digital photo book called First Love. From the looks of things, Christmas has come early.
Slink, sexy Honami has also released a ...
The TV announcer Tomoka Takenaka has surprised fans by branching out into gravure at the age of 43. The former NHK presenter now works for Radio Okinawa.
She announced her sudden pivot from presenting into sexy modeling in September, quickly attracting attention. And the initial photos that have appeared show why she may have plenty of success: she's been hiding quite a pair under those professional clothes.
The comely jukujo appears in the issue of Weekly Playboy on sale from November 17 and a digital photo book is also available. The shoot was a lot of fun, she recently told listeners ...
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 ...
The former NHK announcer Anna Nakagawa has made her gravure debut with a splashy cover shoot for Weekly Playboy.
The 31-year-old quit the public broadcaster in March and has been attached to major talent agency Horipro since April. She clearly hopes to take her career in a whole new direction.
This is her first gravure shoot, done on location in Odawara and at a studio in Tokyo. Weekly Playboy also released a 100-page digital photo book to accompany the issue, which went on sale on Monday.
Though the shoot is relatively conservative by gravure standards, Nakagawa is clearly ...
Stand back, guys, because there's a new gal in town.
She's called Mimi Yuzuki (柚月美美). She apparently works as a regular office lady for a company while moonlighting as a cosplayer. And now she's a gravure idol after making her debut in the April 21 issue of Weekly Playboy.
"I was nervous. It was not just the gravure-style poses I had to make, it was also my first time to work with a professional cameraman, makeup artists, and stylist."
The shoot has also resulted in a digital photo book.
Besides her obvious beauty (which has drawn comparisons with ex-gradol Misako ...
The Japanese female TV announcers who present the news and other shows do pretty well, but some of them branch off to pursue even more successful careers in other fields: as a general celebrity (Crystal Takigawa), as a fashion model (Kasumi Mori), as an actress (Minami Tanaka), or even as a gravure idol (Akane Takiyama).
Hoping to emulate these predecessors, the former Fuji TV announcer Nagisa Watanabe has made her first foray into gravure in the current issue of Weekly Post.
The 27-year-old left the channel at the end of August after a period of illness suffering from PTSD.
A graduate ...
Of all the points of entry into gravure, we are well used to women side-stepping into the industry from other jobs like music idols, fashion models, ring girls, race queens, and convention booth companions.
But geisha?!
Rino (莉乃) is a 22-year-old from Shizuoka who moved to Kyoto at 16 to become a maiko, or apprentice geisha. She worked in the old capital as a maiko in the Miyagawacho district until the age of 20.
She has now made her debut in the rather less glamorous but more modern world of gravure with a shoot for Weekly Friday. And in a very competitive industry in which new idols ...
