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Book profiles 7 Tohoku women who turned to porn after earthquake

Shukan Taishu Venus Mar. 27
Shukan Taishu Venus Mar. 27
This month marks two years since the Great East Japan Earthquake claimed the greatest number of lives since World War II.

The disaster has certainly left a scar across the nation, but especially so in the Tohoku region, where the tsunami waves washed ashore and the impact of the nuclear accident continues.

In the months following the quake, Shukan Taishu Venus (Mar. 27) reports that an unspecified number of Tohoku ladies subsequently turned to the adult video (AV) industry for employment. In the book “Still They March On: Women Who Became Porn Actresses After 3-11,” released on March 1 by publisher Futabasha, author Toru Yamakawa offers vivid characterizations of seven of these women to create a unique narrative for the impact of the disaster.

Natsu Itano (a fictional name), a native of Fukishima Prefecture, currently studies cinema and theater in college. Her account focuses on doing what it takes to move forward.

“I was living at home in Fukushima at the time of the earthquake,” says the 21-year-old. “The house is still half-collapsed. We are using plastic sheets to cover missing walls.”

She moved alone to Tokyo six months later to attend college. If there had been no earthquake, her campus life would have been like a dream.

“While my mom was able to return to work, my dad’s job was halted,” she says. “So I had to work to make a living, and I wound up doing many part-time jobs.”

Still They March On: Girls Who Became Porn Actresses After 3-11
“Still They March On: Girls Who Became Porn Actresses After 3-11”
She worked for an izakaya restaurant and pachinko parlors but nothing lasted long. With her schedule filled by classes during the week and theater training on the weekends, she was unable to accept regular work.

It was later that she spotted an ad online about becoming a porn actress — a position she found intriguing given its flexible hours and high pay.

The other stories in “Still They March On” center on loneliness, such as that of Haruka Komiya, a 20-year-old from Iwate Prefecture, and how everything has been changed, as through the eyes of Saya Kawagoe, 18, who is also from Iwate.

“I received some criticism for my parents,” Itano says of her decision to work in AV, “and I was virgin. I wanted to give it up to someone I liked but I knew I wouldn’t have money if I only kept doing things that I liked. It’s for work — and that’s the mentality that I developed.”

The earthquake gave her life a 180-degree turn.

“The experience I got in working on AV productions will help me as I really want to work within a theater crew.”

Source: “Shinsai o kikkake ni hadaka to natta hisaichi shusshin no AV joyu Souzetsu Kokuhaku,” Shukan Taishu Venus (Mar. 27, pages 51-52)