Regular readers may remember Yuka Kosaka, the former gravure idol who went on to work as a nursery teacher in Chiba.
Kosaka had a turbulent career, hitting the big time in the mid-2000s but then scuppering her future in the industry by gaining a lot of weight. She made a nude comeback in the early 2010s before retiring and changing careers to running her own nursery school (though she does not have children herself).
She makes occasional TV appearances these days. The 40-year-old former gradol is now married (to a former actor several years her junior) and runs a consultancy ...
Is there something in the air? Is it something about the glitz and glisten of summer?
We just shared the joyful news that slinky goddess Yuka Ogura has made a triumphant gravure comeback after an absence of about five years.
And now comes the tidings that Riho Takada has also returned to the fray.
Now aged 30, Takada has been focusing on her acting in recent years, including roles in tokusatsu series. In terms of comebacks, she has previous, making a glorious mini comeback in 2022 after many years away from gravure with a semi-nude photo book that showed off her athletic body.
She ...
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 ...
Some women age well. And then there's Kyoko Fukuda.
The eternally youthful (and single) Fukada has appeared on the cover of Weekly Playboy, making her one of the oldest idols to earn the honor.
Now aged 42 (and turning 43 in November) and as comely as ever, Fukada appears on the cover of the latest issue of the magazine, which came out on June 30, wearing a figure-hugging swimsuit. She is fine company: the same issue features such gradols as Erika and Marina Momose, and various other young ladies two decades or more her junior. We'd take Fukada over them any day of the week, ...
Mariya Nagao is one of the few former AKB48 idols to maintain a successful career in modeling and gravure for the many years since her departure from the group.
Unlike the likes of Haruna Kojima (now also an entrepreneur) or Atsuko Maeda (a serious actor), however, she hasn't diversified per se, instead relying largely on photo books and shoots to earn a living (though she also does some acting and produces an idol group).
It helps that she has a slinky body and has regularly teased nude glimpses of it in her photo books over the years.
So far, she's limited the nudity to her butt and side ...
One of Tokyo Kinky's all-time favs, Kyoko Fukada, is to release her first photo book in five years.
Aging like a fine wine or whisky, Fukakyon has overcome some recent mental health issues and a brief career hiatus, and the as-yet-untitled photo book is sure to restore her status as Japan's most desirable unmarried woman.
Now aged 42, her beach body remains svelte and exuberant, and those breasts look as ripe and succulent as ever.
As an actor, her career has mainly focused on TV roles but she also appears in occasional films.
The photo book is shot by veteran ND Chow comes out on ...
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. ...
The voice actress Saki Kosaka has made her swimwear gravure debut in an issue of Weekly Playboy that went on sale on Monday.
Known for voicing the role of Gold City in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Kosaka is also releasing her first gravure photo book, a digital release also published by Weekly Playboy.
Voice actresses are often popular idols in their own right and can have long and successful complementary careers in gravure. This might prove the case for Kosaka if her initial foray is well received.
Kosaka's age is not available publicly, though we assume from her career that began ...
Last week, we reported on the gravure side career of 31-year-old comedienne Angor Soncho. This weeks brings news that another female comedian is branching out into gravure.
Are we witnessing the birth of a new trend?
Kintalo. is a comedic tarento (general TV celebrity) and impressionist who is usually seen dressed up in silly makeup and pulling a wacky face. The 43-year-old married mother of two, whose real name is Shiho Tanaka, has decided to make an unexpected foray into gravure.
Even more unexpected is that it's not even her first try. She already did this 11 years ago, she says, ...
It takes either desperation or confidence to launch a gravure career as a step sideways from another existing career. (Normally, gravure idols try to do it the other way around: break into other types of work while starting out in gravure.)
This is a rare example of a comedienne branching out into modeling, especially gravure modeling.
Angora Soncho is one half of Nyanko Star, a moderately successful comedy duo active since 2017. She has now turned 31 and to mark the milestone, will release a photo book in July from major publisher Kodansha.
A graduate of Waseda, one the most ...
