Mana Sakura: Porn Star and Feminist Writer

Personally I think selling sex for profit is a more legit profession than lawyers and politicians, but unfortunately society stigmatize the sexual economy so even industry professionals are affected by the atmosphere of shame.  So porn industry is not a place that attracts men and women with highly marketable skills.  Most JAV idols chose this path only because they don’t have a more dignified means to earn money or find a sense of self-worth.  So I get a kick when an JAV idol has some kind of skills in addition to spreading her legs.   

So immediately you can think of Yua Mikami, well yes I am huge fan of her, and her skills and creds as J-pop idol is a major factor.  Also there is Shoko Takahashi, she has a star quality that can only came from being a gravure model.  And I’d add the useless but hilarious (in a great way) skill of unicycle-riding as Akiho Yoshizawa shown in her Unicycle Police Woman MXGS-837.  But to be objective, none of them compared to Mana Sakura 紗倉まな , who is a legitimate writer of feminism literature.  

Last month Mana Sakura put out a title that’s a bit unusual.  It’s her 100th JAV production with a SOD special.  SOD is not known for nurturing a long term career.  Take a hot new girl, use her till the freshness is expended, move on to the next girl.  Knowing SOD’s standard MO makes Mana Sakura’s celebratory 100th video nothing short of amazing.   

Mana Sakura was attracted to porn when she discovered her father’s stash of JAV just at 14 years of age.  She was so keen to explore porn that in 2011, just 2 days after her 18th birthday, she went and seek out a JAV talent agency.  That’s quite a show of determination, combined with a innocent look and F-cup tits, the agency knew they had a treasure worth developing for the long term career.  So they had her make gravure photoshoots for a year to build up her reputation before debut with SOD as exclusive contract girl in 2012. 

Very soon, her appearance in porn was discovered by her classmates and for this her boyfriend dumped her.  At that time she was still attending vocational high school (called college of technology in Japan, a five year program that would be Grades 10 to 14 if it were in America). And words got to her parents so denial or hiding was no longer an option.  She discussed with her parents, and finally and reluctantly her parents accepted the reality.  After the initial hiccup, her career took off immediately, winning six awards within the first year of her career, including the SOD Idol of 2012.  She then went on to win the Adult Broadcast 2013 Award for New Star and 2015 for Best JAV Actress Award.  

Aside from performing one video per month according to the exclusive contract with SOD, Mana Sakura spends her free time reading and writing, something you don’t expect of a successful JAV idol.  In 2015, when she still only 22. she published her first book.  The title in English was “When I was Eighteen, found my vocation”, but a more literal translation would begin with “As a vocational high school student, ...”  The book is a collection of short writings from her early life and career.  It’s honesty and simplicity written by a very unusual young lady was a easy winner, and made number one sales ranking in the category of books of and about actors.  

Writing a best seller is quite an achievement, but to take a skeptical view, anyone with some fame (or notoriety) can write a tell-all book and count on a easy payoff.  Especially there is an open secret that some publishers have ghost writers to turn any semi-coherent gossips and half-truths into a sensational but forgettable book making some quick money.  After her own life experience is used up on the first book, many writers in her position would have difficulty to follow up with another successful book.  

But she proved herself a legitimate professional writer (and proving the literary achievement of her first book was not by any ghost writer) by publishing an original novel “Lowest” in 2016.  In the book, she composed stories of four fictional characters with the themes AV Actress, Love, Family and Sex.  The book made bestseller lists and was made into a film which was nominated in Tokyo International Film Festival 2017.  In AV Actress, Ayano was a young girl who joined JAV and encountered disagreement with mother.  In Love, the character deal with the loneliness because no man would love her and accept her career choice.  In Family, Ayako is the daughter of former JAV actress and face bullying and abuse in school and society due to her mother’s history.  Finally in Sex, Miho was perplexed and frustrated by her husband preferring JAV over physical sex with her.  Miho ended up joining JAV herself, not exactly just to fulfill her hungry vagina, but to process her sense of betrayal and disappointment with her marriage.  (and of course SOD graciously produced a JAV with the same title and starring the same author)

And in 2017 Mana Sakura followed up with a second novel 凹凸 (my English translation would be “Dips and Bumps”) which earned a second printing merely three days after publication.  Her literature was so acclaimed she gave a special lecturer at University of Tsukuba.  For now Mana Sakura seems to be settling into a routine of publishing a full length novel each year in addition to filming a solo JAV title per month. 

With her literary achievement, even SOD, which has never been accused of being high brow, is taking notice.  More of her recent titles have taken on themes and ideas about sensibilities and relationships inspired by her books.  Even the covers have becoming high minded and cerebral, haven't they?

Since her debut, Mana Sakura has not had a boyfriend in real life.  In interviews, she admits it’s a sacrifice she understood before joining porn.  However, it’s pretty obvious understanding a sacrifice doesn’t mean she stopped longing for love.  In March 2019, she even held for herself a one-person wedding.  When she herself put a wedding ring on her own finger, she’s declaring this aspect of her life is completed, a melancholic self-deception.  Is she going to find happiness ever after?