TOKYO (TR) – Popular adult video (AV) actress Minamo, 26, who announced she will retire from the industry at the end of December, is trading the screen for the pen, opening up about a childhood scarred by physical abuse and a complicated relationship with her father.
Following the release of her semi-autobiographical debut novel, “Haha no Dorobune” (Mother’s Mud Boat), the actress sat down for an interview with News Post Seven (Sep. 13). to detail the dark family dynamics that she says shaped her troubled history with men.
According to Minamo, her father — a Kyoto Prefecture-based carpenter — struggled with a massive inferiority complex.
“He was a man of few words, but when he did speak, he would belittle himself, saying society views carpenters as trash,” the actress recalled. “He was always stressed, constantly complaining, and was quick to get physical. Sometimes, he would even pour hot miso soup over my head.”
“Couldn’t recognize it as love”
Despite the violence, her father would occasionally leave encouraging notes in red pen on her math homework. For a young girl accustomed to abuse, the mixed signals left her deeply confused. “I couldn’t recognize it as love,” she said.
Today, the AV star firmly believes a woman’s romantic trajectory is directly tied to how she was raised by her father.
“Girls who are treated like princesses by their fathers learn to prioritize themselves in relationships. They don’t end up catching abusive men,” she laughed, noting that she plans to write her next book about her own disastrous romantic history.
“I support you”
Ironically, when Minamo dropped out of university and revealed her decision to enter the AV industry, her father’s reaction defied expectations. While her mother wept over the choice, her father offered his backing.
“He told me, ‘I support you,'” she said, adding that he even reassured her mother that she was a “good kid” who would be fine. In the years that followed, her father began sending her annual birthday messages, calling her his “pride and joy” and promising to always be on her side.
But for Minamo, the belated affection only brought emotional pain. “The kinder his words were, the more it suffocated me. I wondered, ‘Why are you saying this now? I needed these words when I was little.'”
Scars of childhood
When she recently informed her parents of her decision to retire from the AV industry, her mother worried if she would have regrets. Her father, however, simply appeared relieved, accepting the news with a brief, “Oh, is that so?”
Following her retirement in December, Minamo plans to continue working as a mainstream media talent and author, hoping to become a voice for others suffering from family trauma and the lingering scars of childhood abuse.
