TOKYO (TR) – Let the good times roll — for now.
Adult video (AV) actress Yua Mikami is enjoying her career shift from the idol industry to the porn trade, at least when it comes to her monthly pay, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 21).
In a variety program broadcast on TV Tokyo on November 11, Mikami, who formerly went by the name Momona Kito while as a member of all-girl pop group SKE48, said that her monthly income as an idol “was around that of an office lady or salaryman.” But since making her AV debut last year with “Princess Peach,” she makes enough “to buy a used two-bedroom apartment in [Tokyo’s] Setagaya Ward,” said the 23-year-old.
This year, a number of idols have made the jump to the AV industry, including Anri Sakaguchi and Shoko Takahashi, known by the surname Takasaki when she was a gravure (pin-up) star.
But when it comes to earnings in the AV biz, the range of salaries is wide — and Mikami is right at the top, says an industry insider.
“Mikami is special in that she is from a girl’s group in which fans never have a chance to see the members nude,” says the source. “Her films always rank at the top of the charts, with her appearance fees not negotiated down.”
Speculation around when Sakaguchi and Takahashi made their debuts indicated that both garnered over 100 million yen in appearance fees.
“Sakaguchi reportedly received 140 million yen for her debut, but that’s not the amount that was passed on to her directly,” says the aforementioned insider, alluding to the take of her agency. “She probably took home around 20 million yen.”
As to Takahashi, who entered the biz after the emergence of a prostitution scandal, the source speculates that she received “around five million yen.”
However, initial success for an actress can be fleeting, the source continues, with hard times likely following.
“The future is quite unstable,” the insider says. “Even if the debut of an actress sells well, fans will tire quickly. Her second film will likely have to up the ante with increasingly hard-core scenes. Eventually, only a really stellar actress will survive.”
Mikami, though, could be different.
“Known for her natural charm, she may be suitable for the industry,” the insider says.
