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More females calling the shots in Japan’s AV biz

Shukan Post Mar. 6
Shukan Post Mar. 6

For many actresses in Japan’s adult video (AV) industry, the idea of male staff members working the camera and calling the shots is unappealing.

Change, however, appears to be under way. No longer solely a man’s world, the nation’s porn biz is allowing more female directors to enter the trade and add their personal touch to eroticism, according to weekly tabloid Shukan Post (Mar. 6).

One such director, who goes by the name Haruna, chose a job at an AV producer over a position at a television company after she graduated from an art school. She tells the magazine that the lack of pressure in AV appealed to her.

“During the interview, the president left that since I am a woman I can retire at any time, and that sounded good to me,” the 37-year-old remembers.

One year later, she quit and became a freelance director. She now has close to 300 AV films to her credit. The lesbian genre is her focus.

“I am not a lesbian myself,” she giggles, “and my work does not reflect what I want to do in my private life.”

AV label Nanpers released her latest film, the 90th installment in the “Flirting Lesbians” series, on March 15. In making such films, she is very mindful of her male audience.

“For the men watching, I want them to want to be like one of the women performing,” says Haruna.

Director Natsuki Aoyama, 40, specializes in SM features — and her creativity is not bound to many limits.

“The important thing is that it is erotic,” says Aoyama. “For me, I want the filming to convey what women are really feeling without excess production, to capture a degree of excitement such that I am masturbating during the editing process.”

Much like Haruna, she thinks about her male viewers.

“It is great if I can convey the pleasure of SM to men and women such that they can share it as couples,” says Aoyama, who will participate at a special SM show at strip theater Kabukicho DX later this month in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

However, the simple fact that an actress and director share the same sex does not mean there will not be issues. Haruna says she can’t thoughtlessly give an actress a strict direction.

“She’ll view me as an old hag,” Haruna laughs. “Rather, I’ll take a different approach. I might say, for example, ‘You know, if you take it up a notch and give it more feeling, everyone, including yourself, will be happy.’ That way, we can see each other eye to eye as women.”

Source: “Kyuzo suru josei kantoku ‘watashitachiha dansei kantoku yori iyarashiku AV wo tsukuremasu,'” Shukan Post (Mar. 6, pages 160-162)