Yua Mikami's Idol History

Published : December 7th, 2023 Written by yfoo collector

Yua Mikami is one of the most well known JAV actresses today but I think a lot of people probably don't know that she used to be a former idol. Even if they did, I think a lot of the fascinating details are lost unless you are a dedicated fan. She has quite an interesting idol career which had a scandalous ending. In this article I would like to dive into Yua's idol activities and history which she keeps brushing with even during her time as a JAV actress.

Time with SKE48 and her numerous scandals

Yua was a huge idol fan and she tried to join with AKB48 and Morning Musume but would always fall short in her auditions. Her perseverance would pay off when she got accepted as a 2nd generation member of SKE48 and fulfilled her dreams of becoming an idol. Yua's time with the group however was troubled to say the least. She admitted in an interview that she wasn't really fit for the competitive nature of the idol industry. Yua was content with having the status of an idol and didn't really strive to be more popular or have more involvement in songs and music videos. As such, Yua never got a ranking in the yearly SKE election (basically a popularity contest between the members) and she was also demoted to trainee status twice.

She also admitted being a problem member of the group and received less and less support from management due to her controversies. One of her demotions to trainee status was due to SKE management finding out that she was meeting with fans privately, which is frowned upon in the idol industry. The first controversy Yua had that got widespread attention however was when she was spotted attending a fan event for the male idol group “Sexy Zone”. This became a scandal because interactions between male and female idols are vehemently opposed. A huge selling point idol culture have is their perceived availability and an idol showing interest in someone other than their fans is bad for business.

The end of Yua Mikami’s idol career was brought upon by a different scandal that received nationwide attention in 2013. She was spotted kissing and drinking with the infamous Yuya Tegoshi, a male idol from the group NEWS. While the kissing part of this controversy might have blown over with good PR, the drinking part is what killed Yua’s mainstream idol career. She was below the drinking age at the time and it has irreparably damaged her image. She hid from the public for a while and SKE48 announced her graduation from the group sometime after and a few months later Yua made her debut into JAV with MUTEKI.

Idol activities as an JAV actress

Even after becoming an JAV actress, she would still find herself doing idol activities (aside from referencing it in her films). A year after her JAV debut, Yua became a member of the idol group Ebisu Muscat. She was part of the group from 2016 to 2022. This was a group composed of JAV actresses, gravure models and sexy talents. Ebisu Muscats was mostly a side gig for the members and they mainly just spiced up late night TV programming. Still Yua’s time with Ebisu produced a few songs and she even became part of a subunit dubbed SCANTY4 alongside fellow S1 actress Yura Kano, Yuki Yoshizawa and gravure idol Maity. Masami Ichikawa and Aika Yamagishi would later join the subunit and would be renamed to SCANTY6.

Yua would also produce her own idol group during this time with the aim of taking on the K-pop scene. The group was named “HONEY POPCORN” and it featured fellow JAV actresses Moko Sakura and Matsuda Miko. This move by Yua caused quite a stir in South Korea as it is generally a conservative country where they have even deemed porn illegal. The Koreans had a mostly negative reception towards HONEY POPCORN. They were especially worried that the K-pop audience would get exposed to their porn activities. The group didn't last long and only released two EP's which is a shame because their songs were not half bad.

Post JAV retirement

During Yua Mikami's retirement event this August 2023, she was joined by close friends and former members of SKE48 Matsumura Kaori and Kaneko Shiori. The event was also streamed on her YouTube channel and during that segment the girls reminisced about their time together and their friendship. I thought that this would be the last time we would hear anything about Yua and idols but instead her story would come full circle.

Kento Sanga, Yua Mikami, Kento Nagao

Japanese news magazine Bunshun would report on September 2023 that Yua was romantically involved with two male idols. Kento Senga of the group Kis-My-ft2 has reportedly been dating for a few years now but they also caught Kento Nagao of Naniwa Danshi meeting with and aggressively pursuing her. The news was trending across Japan with people discussing the idol industry's no dating rule, the private lives of AV actresses and the love triangle Yua got herself into with two very popular celebrities. But the funniest thing to me about this news is how all outlets would call Yua as a former national idol in the headlines, even if everyone knows her better as a JAV actress.