“From a historical point of view, the Senkaku Islands belong to China.”
Written on September 5 on China’s version of Twitter, Sina Weibo, the above statement came not from a patriotic Chinese citizen but from none other than former Japanese adult video (AV) actress Hotaru Akane.
“With the Japanese government having purchased the Senkaku Islands,” Hotaru added two days later, “I wish to scream that the money comes from our taxes!”
Shukan Post (Oct. 5) reports that the pair of tweets is resulting in a digital deluge of responses at a time when a territorial dispute between Japan and China over the South China Sea islands continues to escalate.
Hotaru, retired in 2008 as “the Shiofuki Queen,” named as such for her adept ability to coerce herself to ejaculate, as displayed in the 2006 film “Hotaru Akane and Ayano Murasaki: Splash Heaven.” She is now a popular entertainment figure in China through her AIDS awareness activities.
On Chinese Internet sites, her comments were greeted with favor. “She is a good person,” wrote one netizen. “I will buy all of her DVDs.” Another said, “I demand that the Japanese government learn a thing or two from this porn actress.”
The small, uninhabited Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan. The issue most recently came to the forefront in April, when Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara announced that the municipal government would buy a few of the islets from their Japanese owners.
In August, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the islands “are an integral part of Japan.” Three days later, the Japanese government announced that it was making a 2.05 billion yen bid for the islands to bring them under state control.
As a consequence, street protests (some violent) denouncing Japan and its products erupted in major cities all across China.
Hotaru is not the only former porn star weighing in on the Senkaku debate. One week after Hotaru’s tweets, highly popular entertainer Sola Aoi requested via her Sina Weibo account, which has over 13 million followers, that both nations resolve the matter peacefully. She then wrote the Chinese characters that represent Japanese-Chinese friendship. Her fans deluged the service, generating over 150,000 responses to her posts.
Japanese porn is wildly popular in China. Yet it would seem that there are limits. At one anti-Japan demonstration, a protest sign that caught the attention of Japan’s tabloid media read: “We love Japan’s porn actresses but we love the Senkaku Islands even more.” Another anti-Japan protest went so far as to request for a ban on Sola Aoi.
For Akane, her management agency is being overwhelmed by Chinese well-wishers. But apparently her intent was not expressed properly in her messages.
“Given that Akane cannot post on her own in Chinese, she has a partner who does it on her behalf,” says a representative at the agency. “Akane originally wanted to say, ‘Since we are all Asians, can we find a way to solve this matter peacefully?'”
Akane’s assistant, however, added the part about the islands belonging “to China” without her consent. “It is just the result of her partner going over the line,” says the representative. (A.T.)
Source: “‘Senkaku ha Chukoku no ryodo’ to tsubuyaite otonage Nihonjin AV joyu,” Shukan Post (Oct. 5, pages 166-167)