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Porn debut by ex-AKB48 member Eri Takamatsu not as scandalous as sex in showbiz

Risa Tachibana: AV Debut
Risa Tachibana: AV Debut

TOKYO (TR) – Hot on the heels of a scandal involving an AKB48 member and a liaison with a dancer, a former member of the idol group last week released her adult video (AV) debut.

The contents of the disc, however, are not nearly as scandalous as her comments on her previous sexual encounters, says entertainment site Men’s Cyzo (Feb. 4).

Eri Takamatsu, 19, performs under the name Risa Tachibana in the Soft On Demand Create release (“Risa Tachibana: AV Debut”) that hit store shelves on February 7.

Takamatsu resigned from AKB48 in 2010 while at the trainee level.

The disc comes a week after the publication of photos of 20-year-old Minami Minegishi leaving the residence of a member of boy band Generations, which was notable since AKB48 has a strict policy prohibiting relationships with members of the opposite sex.

Speaking as Tachibana, she explains her motivations for appearing in the film in an interview contained on the 180-minute disc. “I do not have any positive memories regarding sex,” she says. “If I can become comfortable with sex it may change my views of men. My personality of turning my back (to people) may also change a little.”

Her negative views of intimacy and men go back to her first encounter. At the age of 17, a course of events led her to be taken to a love hotel by an older acquaintance she really did not know or care for. “He forced himself on me violently,” she says.

Men’s Cyzo uses the phrase “evil custom” to describe the experience, which an entertainment reporter says brings to mind the situation of the last ex-AKB48 member to release a porn disc, Rina Nakanishi.

Eri Takamatsu
Eri Takamatsu

Performing under the name Riko Yamaguchi, she debuted in 2010. At the time, she famously confessed to having sex, like Takamatsu, during her tenure as a member of AKB48. “At the age of 17, I had sex with an older man, a member of the entertainment industry,” she said.

The reporter says that AKB48’s prohibition on affection is total “nonsense” considering the inconsistencies involved. “There may be a ban on love, but sex is ok,” the source chuckles.

That is, sex with male members in showbiz. The reporter says that rising to the top through the “pillow trade,” or makura eigyo, is not dead in the entertainment industry.

“That evil custom is still firmly rooted in some ways in the business,” says the reporter. “AKB48 is not immune to the practice. Despite the no-boyfriends rule, it still exists, and the hypocrisy is extreme.”