JAV industry uncertain of future, looks to China (Part Two)

(Header image from "A Rejuvenating China Beauty Treatment Salon..." by BAZOOKA.)

JAV's influence on Chinese culture

As mentioned above, despite the fervent support for JAV in China, its laws stop people from becoming adult video actresses in their own country. When people talk about an adult video actress in China, it is usually a Japanese woman.

Recently there have been a lot of Chinese tourists visiting Japan, to the extent that at the U-Can New Words and Buzzword Awards in 2015, the word "bakugai," meaning "shopping spree," drew a lot of attention, referring to the mass amount of purchases made by Chinese tourists.

A so-called tendency seen in these tourists is called "being happy when it rains." Why would they be happy about this, you ask? That is because when it rains, they will be allowed to shut themselves in their rooms and watch adult videos all day long. At their Japanese hotels, they can watch as many adult videos as they want on the on-demand entertainment.

According to insiders in the industry, though Japan is well-known as a "shopping spree" destination for Chinese tourists, it seems that they actually associate Japan more with adult videos. Of course, regardless of what those insiders say, Chinese tourists surely have a lot of shopping sprees; an undeniable example is when they had shopping sprees of consumer electronics in Japan, and the stock prices for electronics manufacturers such as the Zojirushi Corporation suddenly soared.

Japan has brought many different things to China, such as food safety and technological developments, but JAV has also had a huge social impact. Through JAV, Japan could convey its “sexual culture” to China. Some even say that JAV has been a source of sexual education for Chinese men in an otherwise sexually conservative society. There are even theories that JAVs that highlight traditional Japanese bathing culture and Japanese toilets with spraying bidets as a form of sexual hygiene have led to their increased popularity in China as well.

(From "Virgin Shrine: Temptation Maiko Yuki" by h.m.p.)

JAV actresses became a big hit in Asia in the early 2000s. One actress who you could say was a pioneer for the popularity of JAV actresses in Asia, Maiko Yuki, became a huge success there about a decade ago. She apparently got a very enthusiastic reception whenever she visited Shanghai, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.

When she visited Asia, she was unaware of the frenzy that was about to unfold, with a flood of fans causing a panic unlike anything that would occur back in Japan. She was bewildered at being treated like a VIP with special police protecting her, on alert 24/7. The reason for her strangely high level of popularity was the circulation of bootleg versions of her work in the area, which surprised no one more than Maiko herself.

The fame of Sola Aoi

Regardless, the most popular JAV actress in Asia right now is probably Sola Aoi. This is clear from an article published in the weekly Japanese magazine Shukan Post in May 2015, titled: "The 'Queen of JAV' who became the most famous Japanese woman in Asia."

The Japan Press Research Institute conducted an international opinion poll in the US, the UK, France, China, South Korea, and Thailand in January 2012. When asked to name one Japanese person they knew of, the third most common answer in China and the second most common answer in Thailand was "Sola Aoi." Other high-ranking answers were the names of the Emperor of Japan, the professional baseball player Ichiro, and Japanese prime ministers, which shows just how popular Sola was in comparison. If you limit the rankings to just Japanese women, she is surely the most popular in Asia.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, obscene material is harshly restricted in China, so Sola Aoi cannot display her porn there. She mainly performs as a singer, not only solo but also making CDs in collaboration with Chinese and Korean female singers as well. On top of that, she also holds events and appears in many different commercials involving ice cream, health drinks, underwear, and more.

She first started working overseas in Thailand, not China. In her overseas debut, she appeared in a Thai teen movie called "Hormones" back in 2008, which grabbed the number one spot at the box office that year. In 2014 the staff that worked on that movie reached out to Sola again and she acted in another movie that became a huge hit, bringing her even more popularity. There is probably no other JAV actress that has appeared in major movies and had such success with it.

(From "Sola Aoi - Full Nude 2" by Believe.)

She also appeared in a single movie in Indonesia, which left fans on Twitter wondering whether her next destination would be their own country. She performed in Japan and across Asia, but she had acquired a particularly high level of popularity in China.

In 2011, Sola visited Nanchang in China to perform in an event. However, after the plane landed, the moment the hatch door opened a bunch of cameramen suddenly came flooding towards her. Even the airline staff and security guards had cameras turned towards her. Sola and her manager were dumbfounded by the scene and were frozen still as they realized the sheer amount of fans that had come to greet her. This was the moment she decided she wanted to concentrate her efforts in China, according to the Shukan Post. Her popularity is clear from her achievement as an actress in box office-topping movies to this story at Nanchang.

You can tell just how popular she is by looking at her follower count on her account on the Chinese version of Twitter as well, which totals over 15 million. In comparison, the account with the highest number of followers amongst Japanese people belongs to the comedian Hiroiki Arayoshi, who has just over 5 million followers. Having three times that amount, it would be an understatement to say that Sola's follower count is an incredible achievement.

Sola Aoi has gained recognition as the top JAV actress within Japan itself, but since there is still a deep-rooted prejudice against JAV actresses in Japan, she cannot appear in the general media as much as more ordinary entertainers.

However, all she has to do is cross the ocean to be reminded that her fame overseas equals that of Japanese emperors, prime ministers, and professional baseball players.

JAV as a representative for Japanese culture

(From "Mana Sakura Goes To Work For The First Time In 5 Years!!" by SOD Create.)

Other than being able to make it overseas, JAV actresses are also making breakthroughs in their own country in relation to appearing in mainstream media. For example, in September 2014 a JAV actress named Mana Sakura wrote her own column to be featured on Toyota's company website, an undoubtedly impressive collaboration between an international corporation and a JAV actress. When Toyota makes serious advances into the Chinese market, maybe it will also bring along JAV actresses as "campaign girls."

Let's say that they brought a popular Japanese idol group like AKB48 to China instead to represent Japan. This would probably not attract much enthusiasm from Chinese men.
The things that make AKB48 popular are their cuteness and good figures, but since there are 1.3 billion people living in China, those traits are not that hard to come by. There are many women in China who are exceptionally cute, beautiful or have amazing figures. They would probably not give AKB48 a second glance.

On the other hand, JAV actresses can draw a fair amount of attention, even to the point of creating wild enthusiasm amongst Chinese fans. To Chinese people, the main selling point of JAV actresses is not cuteness, beauty, or cute figures, but their extreme kindness and friendliness.

Perhaps you could say that JAV actresses are now representatives of Japanese culture and hospitality, as much a part of Japanese culture as noh theater and kabuki dancing. At any rate, JAV has become world-class in terms of pornography, and if JAV actresses continue to have this profound influence overseas then it may just mean the survival of the JAV industry itself.

(From "Mana Sakura Goes To Work For The First Time In 5 Years!!" by SOD Create.)

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