Where the real money in this biz is made

[softball]

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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http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/life/jap...l-world-932681

[RawAlex]

So, let's try to understand why:

- Sexually liberated society, no western / christian hangups about sex.
- Society where men are dominant, and women are subservient.
- society where sexuality isn't all that hidden, with plenty of open prostitution, blowjob bars, and such.
- society where things like Enjo Kosai (sorry for the spelling) aka "assisted dating" allows much older men to fuck underage girls with pretty much immunity.
- society where buying and consuming porn isn't something you have to hide, you can get used panties out of vending machines, etc.

Finally, the all important: closed market, and one that is fairly densely packed. Japan has about 1/3 of the population of the US, in a space the size of about half the size of Texas. It's a different way to look at things and market.

You really have to go there to experience it and understand why it works. It's ingrained into society in the same manner that Canadians might think of the local bar.

[gonzo]

AV stars have been huge for 5 years or so.
On the VOD we have a genre for vids that have no mosiac over the good parts.
Lucrative.