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 ...
Is the hair nude making a comeback?
Well, the full-frontal nude shoot never went away per se, but it's a rarer species these days. Have gradols become more risk-averse? Where are the mainstream actresses of the 1990s who had big hits with hair nude photo books (like Rie Miyazawa, Miho Kanno, Eri Ishida, or Saki Takaoka)? Many, if not most, such full-frontal shoots these days are published in a weekly tabloid magazine and often as a promo for an upcoming porn debut (like Anri Sakaguchi). The singer KOM_I is a notable, welcome exception to this trend.
But we are pleased to report two new ...
Miyuki Komatsu (小松みゆき or 小松美幸) was a star gravure idol in 1990s. She furthered her status by doing hair nude (full-frontal nude) shoots -- this is back during the hair nude boom -- and also made the transition into soft-core porn films and hard-core adult video -- yes, back when it really was just video. She has since continued to do acting in various kinds of roles on TV and in films, though her career started to tail off during the 2000s.
But this isn't a sad story about a faded star. Far from it, in many respects.
Komatsu has entered a whole new phase in her ...
What can gravure idols do after their careers dry up? We have chronicled many intriguing responses to this classic conundrum. But how about becoming a politician?
That's what the one-time gradol and tarento Chisato Morishita is apparently trying to do.
Originally a race queen, Morishita was a big star in the gravure world and a fairly regular face on TV in the 2000s, winning popularity in bikini shoots that accentuated her slinky body and F-cup bust. After several photo books, however, her career stalled as she entered her thirties. She instead started teaching golf and published a novel in ...
We've said it before and we'll say it again: it's the older ladies who know how to sex things up.
The tarento and actress Chiharu Niiyama (新山千春) has released her first gravure shoots in -- yes, this is quite a gap -- 20 years!
Now aged 40, Niiyama last posed two decades ago. Last's do a before-and-after.
Here is what she looks like now, featured in a recent issue of weekly magazine FLASH.
And here is what she looked like 20 years ago, in 1998.
This is her again in the magazine FLASH but in May last year.
Now that she is firmly in the jukujo "mature" stage of ...
The model Minami Tanaka continues her ascent.
After a bestselling photo book, the former TV announcer has turned her jukujo charms to lingerie. She already set a precedent for how good she can make lingerie look with her 2017 Anan magazine shoot, which helped launch her career on this current path.
The 34-year-old model (and alumna of the prestigious Aoyama Gakuin University) is the new face of top lingerie brand Peach John, a role previously filled by the likes of Miyuki Watanabe, Saeko, Elaiza Ikeda, and Haruna Kojima.
Usually these models are younger, so it's an interesting step ...
We have some sad news to report.
Normally the release of a new photo book by an idol would be a cause for celebration, but Mai Ishioka's (石岡真衣) upcoming "After the Rain" is apparently to be her last.
One of our long-time favorite gradols, Ishioka has announced that that she is "graduating" -- i.e., retiring from the industry.
This can be more one of several things: her career is stalling and so her agency is dropping her at the end of her contract; she is fed up with the industry and her career, and wants to do something else (or get married, which is hard to do while remaining a ...
Earlier this year we wrote about the comeback photo book featuring 40-year-old model Asami Kumakiri (熊切あさ美).
Even after entering her fifth decade, the jukujo beauty still looks stunning with her sun-kissed, well-toned body, which she shows off in the modest yet sensual shoot. The appropriately named "Bare Self" is her first photo book in 16 years and has enjoyed good sales.
Now we have more images from that photo book to share as well as a semi-nude photo shoot from a weekly magazine that Asami Kumakiri did recently.
We've also included some images from a 2021 calendar that went ...
The actress Mao Miyaji is to release a new photo book, her first in 10 years.
Aisansan (roughly, Bright Encounter) comes out at the end of December, with preview shots already published in the weekly magazine Friday.
Now aged 36 and firmly entering jukujo (MILF) territory, Mao Miyaji is something of an industry veteran.
After a string of major roles on TV in the 2000s, her career has been quieter for several years. She married a man seven years her senior in 2017.
She has done semi-nude photo shoots before (like below), where she showed off her slender body and butt, though her ...
Is there anything more attractive than a smart, older woman?
Born in 1984, Yukari Oshima (大島由香里) is a former Fuji TV announcer who is now a freelance presenter. Adding some more to her résumé, she is now making a late transition into gravure with this semi-nude shoot that shows off her beautiful, kissable back in particular.
Here are some factoids about Yukari that may or may not make her even more attractive: she's 36 (a ripe jukujo!), divorced, and a mother.
This is, as far as we know, her first proper gravure-style shoot.
The most successful recent example ...
