TOKYO (TR) – Adult video (AV) actress Riri Kuribayashi, 39, has announced her return to the industry after an eight-year hiatus, revealing in a new interview that her family still does not know she has spent nearly two decades in the business.
Kuribayashi, who debuted in 2008 and went on to appear in films and stage productions as well as releasing music, last appeared in a title in 2018. She tells Nikkan Spa! (Oct. 16) that she never issued a formal retirement announcement, leaving fans uncertain whether she had quit for good.
“I’ve turned 39, so I wanted to see myself as an actress again, as the adult I’ve become,” she said, explaining her decision to return. “I hadn’t grown to dislike the industry or the work, so I’m glad it worked out this way.”
Ordinary life
During her time away from the spotlight, Kuribayashi said she lived a largely ordinary life, doing remote administrative work for a friend’s company and making occasional appearances at fan events.
Her path into the industry was an unconventional one. She told the outlet that as a middle-schooler she had dreamed of becoming an idol, auditioning but failing to make the cut. She went on to take a full-time position at a major mobile phone retailer, but after about a year began to feel her life was slipping by without meaning.
“I thought, what would make my life more fun,” she said. “And I thought, there’s adult films.” She described the genre as feeling close to idol work in her mind at the time, adding that seeing performers from the group Ebisu Muscats active on television had made an impression on her.
She recalled that her very first shoot left her in tears, not from regret, she stressed, but from the weight of the moment. “It was a feeling of, I can’t go back, I’ve stepped into this world now,” she said.
Family unaware
Perhaps the most striking detail to emerge from the interview was that her family remains unaware of her career to this day. “Nothing has ever been said to me, so I think they don’t know,” she said, adding that she had prepared an explanation just in case, only to find the moment never came.
Kuribayashi described a childhood marked by instability. Her father, a public servant, struggled with alcohol and gambling and subjected her mother to domestic violence, she said. Though the violence was not directed at the children, she recalled hearing shouting from her bedroom and seeing her mother with bruises on her face.
“My home was not a place where I felt safe,” she said. “I wanted my own world, a place where I could feel secure, and that’s why I had already decided I would leave home.” She renounced any inheritance from her father, who died recently, due to debts he had left behind.
Now back in the industry and eyeing the milestone of 20 years since her debut, Kuribayashi said she hopes to evolve into a more nurturing, mature screen presence for her fans. “I want to give something back,” she said. “Something more enveloping, more comforting.” She added that she intends to keep working for as long as she feels there is demand for her. “That’s what brought me back this time, and that’s what will keep me going.”
