Chronology of adult videos in Japan
V-cinema or OV also tend to have a story, but sex if present is less central, and they were released directly to VHS or recently DVD, Blu-Ray or streaming without being first shown in a movie theatre.
Small independent studios such as OP Eiga and Shintoho started churning out sexploitation films at a frenetic pace.
[1] Takashi Itamochi, president of Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, made the decision to put the company's high production values and professional talent into the adult industry as a way of attracting a new audience.
[9] Early AV performers were often struggling actresses who could not find work in the theatrical Roman Porno films and girls from the soaplands.
It was an immediate success and Nikkatsu quickly jumped on the trend and released their own direct-to-video animated porno under the same title with recognizably similar characters.
To launch the company's new "Harder Than Pink" AV series, Nikkatsu wanted Masaru Konuma, director of the highly popular and critically praised 1974 Roman Porno Wife to be Sacrificed, to make a hard-core version of his script Woman in the Box (箱の中の女 - Hako No Naka No Onna) in 1985.
Hitomi Kobayashi's career in the AV field would last for over a decade and a half, earning her the title "Japan's Queen of Adult Video."
"[24] After becoming a popular star of pornographic videos, she was seen on late-night television, then on daytime talk shows and in national advertising campaigns.
"[25] Kuroki's director at Crystal-Eizou, Toru Muranishi, became known as an industry innovator who helped create the documentary-style format which would become a trademark of Japanese AVs.
[26] 1988 debut, Keiko Murakami would star in the pink film Apartment Wife Affair in Full View (団地妻不倫丸見え, Danchi Tsuma Furin Maru Mie) (1991).
The "Big Bust Boom" (巨乳ブーム, Kyonyu Buumu) which became a significant genre of the AV market with Kimiko Matsuzaka's debut early the previous year, continued in 1990.
Among the leading busty models who debuted this year was Kuwata Kei, whose 113 cm bust measurement was the first in the AV industry to surpass Matsuzaka's advertised 110.7-centimeter metric G-cup.
A number of nude models and mainstream actresses also appeared: Kei Mizutani, Fumie Hosokawa and Tamao Satō.
The independent Lahaina Tokai studio was founded in Nagoya, focusing on outdoor exhibitionist and other fetish videos.
[44] Like many independent studios, it refused to join NEVA, sold to specialized AV stores rather than mainstream video rental shops, and used a finer mosaic to obscure pubic hair.
[46] Toru Muranishi's Diamond Visual, the largest AV production company at the time, declared bankruptcy in February, 1992.
Ruka Aida was one of the most popular 1995 AV debuts, and became known for refusing to allow her male partners to wear condoms in spite of industry concerns over AIDS.
1995 debuts Soft on Demand set up the Media Rinri Kyoukai (メディア倫理協会) to monitor the content of videos produced by SOD group and allied indie studios.
A December 2005 news article claimed that 1996 AV debut, Yuri Komuro was "one of the brightest stars in the adult video firmament", and reported that she had begun working as an author after her 1999 retirement.
[29] At the height of her popularity, Komuro participated in developing a perfume from the odor that had built up in a pair of panties she had worn for several days.
She had reportedly preserved her virginity until her third AV appearance since her first required only modeling, and the second displayed her manual skills on her male counterpart.
[52] In October 2006, seven years after her 1999 debut, AV star Minori Aoi appeared in a controversial promotional campaign for the 2nd International Healthy City Conference in the People's Republic of China.
[55] 2000 debut Emily Yoshikawa would become a leading AV actress, and make news in the entertainment field with her retirement from the screen to work in Tokyo's Yoshiwara "soapland" district in 2004.
[58] Her attractively motherly appearance and large breasts gave her a leading role opposite younger actors in many AVs with an incest theme.
[64] Erika Nagai cultivated the image of a martial arts expert in her AVs, and became a favorite of followers of the "strong-woman" genre which became popular in the 2000s.
[52] Called the "Aya Matsuura of porn", she made her acting debut in the 2003 Fuji Television dramatic series, Anata no Tonari no Dareka Iru..[68] She retired in 2004 and has appeared in many TV dramas since then.
[20] Hitomi Kobayashi, who had debuted in 1986 and was called Japan's Queen of Adult Video, announced her retirement with a final, big-budget AV.
[23] With no previous film-acting experience, Emi Kuroda, an AV veteran of some 200 videos, was chosen to star in 'pink film' director Mitsuru Meike's Horny Home Tutor: Teacher's Love Juice (発情家庭教師 先生の愛汁, Hatsujō katei kyōshi: sensei no aijuru) (2003).
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry pushes indies and old-line AV makers to work together to enforce common standards regarding rating and mosaics.
Human Terrible Wrapper (人間酷包, Ningenkokuhō), starring 2002 "mature woman" debut Maki Tomoda, won "Best SM Video".
