Japan's porn stars make their way in the real world

by Ulara Nakagawa, Robert Michael Poole

Japan's pornographic industry, known locally as AV (adult video), is widely known to be somewhat different to the West, not least due to its mainstream acceptance in daily Japanese culture. AV stars can enjoy a high-level of celebrity not only in Japan, but across Asia, with women like Maria Ozawa, Ai Iijima and Sola Aoi variously promoting games, anime and starring in reputable films, TV dramas and theater. The industry is thought to churn out more than 3,000 features a year -- compared to around 400 regular Japanese films -- and have a value of �100 billion ($1.2billion).

When Ai Iijima passed away aged 36 in December 2008, found lying in her apartment, rumors abounded of a drug overdose or succumbing to a sexually transmitted disease, such was the notoriety of the 1980s and 1990s industry. The police pathology report eventually revealed the cause as pneumonia.

In 2010 the world of AV is presenting itself as cleaner, safer and more mafia-free compared to Iijima's heyday thanks to a breed of new 'clean' companies taking it mainstream, so CNNGo spoke to recently retired AV star Saori Tsuchiya, current superstar Sola Aoi, and an agency chief manager to find out what today's generation of adult video actresses do once they decide to call it quits and what kind of support is on offer for them.

Driven by money and and exciting lifestyle

"There have been cases where they have been discovered at work and fired from their new jobs, but this is really quite rare," says  Akifumi ?Aki? Matsuoka, chief manager at Prime Agency Inc on some of the worst-case scenarios faced by his clients after they leave the business. But he says, on the other hand "some girls open up their own businesses, such as a bar, and it's actually not an insubstantial number. They have the start-up money at that point so it works out well."

Matsuoka has worked for one of the top agencies in Tokyo now for six years as a manager of AV actresses. When asked why women initially join the business, he says that although it varies from person-to-person, it seems it?s often for escaping boredom and trying something new, but also commonly for the money. Japanese women ranging from students, housewives, and ?office ladies,? (or ?O.L.s? as commonly called in Japan) have all chosen to make the foray into the business.

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