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Buy the rumor: Ex-porn actress fired by Goldman Sachs in Tokyo

Shukan Gendai June 11
Shukan Gendai June 11

In 2011, a woman using the name “Shizuka Minamoto” appeared in a unique adult video (AV) film.

Titled “Lost Virginity,” the production included a claim on its cover that Minamoto has extremely high intelligence.

“I have an interest in masturbating but I am a virgin,” she said in an interview included on the disc. “I decided to appear in AV because I am intrigued by male genitals.” She added, “I scored 935 on the TOEIC exam” — a reference to the English proficiency exam whose top possible score is 990.

The film was followed by a number of other appearances, all shot during Miyamoto’s first and second years in college: She starred as a soapland bathhouse attendant, a member of a group of three lesbians and a school girl in a gym suit.

Golden Sachs, however, seems to have not given the films high ratings. Late last year, the Japan branch of the U.S.-based investment bank terminated an informal employment agreement it had with the former actress, at least if Shukan Gendai (June 11) is to be believed.

“She wasn’t going for money or fame: she didn’t have those kinds of goals,” says a writer covering the AV industry. “She’s the type who was curious. She didn’t have experience with sex. She also didn’t have a boyfriend when she first discovered the AV world, which was when she was 18. She made her debut because she wanted more pleasure; so she was really driven in that sense.”

The promotion of her high intelligence was consistent throughout her career, with each DVD noting on its cover that he has an IQ of 130. She was the real deal, concludes the writer: “One gets the feeling that she’s really smart.”

No regrets

Goldman Sachs Japan, however, appears to not have been impressed. According to the magazine, the company, located in the Roppongi entertainment district of Tokyo, ended a naitei agreement, which is typically provided by companies when hiring university graduates.

“She doesn’t regret her career in AV,” says an industry insider. “But she was afraid of people finding out about it when she started job hunting. So she sent cease-and-desist orders to video sites that were illegally uploading her films.”

On sites DMM.com and Amazon.co.jp, DVD covers showing Minamoto’s face have been censored so that her eyes are slightly obscured, which, the insider surmises, was the result of similar demands to the sites.

Shizuka Minamoto stars in 'Lost Virginity'
Shizuka Minamoto stars in ‘Lost Virginity’

If the claims are true, it would not be the first time a large company cancelled a naitei agreement after a salacious past emerged. In 2014, Nippon TV cancelled an agreement that was to make Rina Sasazaki an announcer following revelations that she had worked part-time as a bar hostess. Sasazaki was eventually reinstated with the network.

“Reluctant” to comment

A representative from Goldman Sachs Japan said that the company “was reluctant” to offer a comment to the magazine on the matter. However, a person with knowledge of the case said that in December the company received a call from a person who said that “a naitei employee is the former AV actress Shizuka Minamoto.”

“As a result, a close examination of personal histories of such employees was performed,” says the source. “The results revealed a violation of rules of employment regarding one’s private life. That led to the cancellation of the job offer. So it does not seem that the termination was directly connected to the AV appearances.” (A.T.)

Source: “GS ni ‘naitei torikeshi’ sareta moto AV-jo no nageki,” Shukan Gendai (June 11, pages 61-62)