There are comebacks and then there are comebacks. We have seen a fair few returns to gravure in recent years, but surely none are as welcome as Kumiko Takeda.
It was announced this week that the 57-year-old Takeda is to release her first photo book since 2003. The former model and actress shows off her body in preview images released this week and also featured in a 10-page cover shoot for Weekly Friday today.
The book, which is released on September 9, is shot by leading gravure photographer ND Chow and released by Kodansha. It is billed as an homage to her past shoots.
Takeda says: "I ...
Two of our favorite ladies in gravure, together in one shoot.
Former AKB48 idol Mariya Nagao and model Yume Hayashi recently appeared together in an alluring lingerie shoot, which appeared in Friday just before Golden Week.
Such shoots with two gradols invariably have a lesbian undertone, even (or perhaps especially) when it's two sisters.
The 32-year-old Mariyagi has done these kinds of "joint" shoots before with her friend, Jun Amaki, who is set to retire from gravure this summer, sparking a million male fantasies of a threesome with them. Mariyagi also photographed one of ...
It has emerged this week that Tokyo prosecutors last year indicated a male All Nippon Airways captain over an alleged sexual assault of a female colleague.
The captain in his forties is accused of groping a cabin attendant on the buttocks in October 2023. He was indicated without arrest in March 2025.
It follows an internal investigation by ANA, which claims that it took "strict disciplinary action" against the captain in question.
The penalty for indecent assault is imprisonment of six months to ten years.
While this might seem like a cut-and-dry case of an older man using his authority ...
The former SDN48 idol Serina made a gravure comeback late last year with a new photo book released when she was 39.
It was enough of a hit to fuel a new stage in her career. She has followed up with another gravure shoot for a digital photo book produced by Weekly Friday. For a woman now aged 40, she looks stunning -- and isn't afraid of appearing in provocative erotic shoots just as sexy as the ones she did 15 years ago during the SDN48 peak.
Her latest release, Realism, is in three volumes, and follows another digital photo book in June. It has a black lingerie theme and, at least in ...
Is it something in the water? Or in the early winter air? Because we seem to be witnessing a wave of comebacks in the gravure industry right now, from 2000s favorites Yuka Kosaka and Megumi Kagurazaka to real blast-from-the-pasts like Mayumi Yamazaki and Reiko Kato, returning after decades away.
The latest returning star is Harumi Inoue.
Now aged 51, the freshly divorced 1990s and 2000s star has made her first full gravure appearance in 26 years.
Debuting in 1991, Inoue was a biggie of the post-bubble years but met a Mexican man in Canada, and ultimately married the foreigner and had ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Friday has published an interview with a teenager who is a tachinbo streetwalker in Okubo Park to pay for her host club addiction.
"I've become addicted to host clubs and now I'm working in Kabukicho," the teenager confesses, saying she has sex with three men a day for ¥20,000 a pop.
"My day and night cycle is reversed. I sleep until the afternoon and head to Kabukicho in the evening. I stand in front of a hotel until dawn, waiting for a man to approach me."
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested 35 women in their 20s to 40s on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act ...
Some female celebrities are vampires. They must be, otherwise how else do the likes of Ayaka Haruse, Kyoko Fukada, and Asami Kumakiri seem never to age even as they enter their forties?
One of Japan's top jukujo hotties is Sayaka Isoyama, known for her curvy charms and simple personality.
Though her gravure peak is long behind her and she makes her living primarily now as a TV celebrity and actress, the 41-year-old is releasing a new photo book in October to mark 25 years of working in the entertainment industry. It was shot on location in Cairns, Australia.
As a promotion, she appears ...
