Saori Michazuki comments

Correct. Girls who enter this industry DO know what they are dealing with. Please, don't think we are naive; on the contrary, most girls that accept this job have a single-minded will to 'succeed'. Nevertheless, they know their own reputation is at stake here; some even lose their friends or even their family ties. Some of them don't care about leaving behind a normal life, because they feel they have nothing to lose. Some of them think well on taking this type of 'job', but still make a decision for the sake of this illusory madness (in my opinion). One can say that many girls exchange their own self & identity for 'fame' and luxury but, in many cases, end up embracing a life of solitude for the reasons mentioned above. Even so, some girls who enter the industry actually knock on the doors of the industry (as I mentioned in my post above) and are not scouted by agents; this was my case. I finished my studies in my early twenties in a good university in Tokyo, but I got bored due to the nature of my career. In my desire to make things 'anew', I contacted a number that I found in a 'café' that described the job as being a 'new, young face for the products of a prestigious industry, good payment and fair treatment'. Please. one doesn't need to be a genius to know what this job is about; I already knew it had something to do with modelling and working with my body, so I said, 'why not'? And this is how I got into the industry. My own parents never knew I would end up performing in a company that has an acronym of 3 letters, begins with S and ends with D. However, I began to question what I was doing, if sex/pleasure really is an end in itself or, rather, a means to an end. Sex for me was turning out to be senseless, trivial, I began to feel like an old piece of dirty cloth, because every now and then I was with many men. I was confused and had strong doubts, even though I was doing and earning well and gaining prominence. I began to question the nature of my work; isn't sex supposed to be a very close bond between 2 people who love each other profoundly? Put in another way, I began to ask myself: isn't sex supposed to mean an "I love you with all my heart" not with words, but with the language of the body? I knew something was wrong. Eventually, I was talked out of the industry by a man (a foreigner) I met in my free time at a karaoke, a man I fell deeply in love with. I don't know, it was perhaps because of his nature (latino) that he made me see that there is something more than just sex in a relationship; communication, random evoking of feelings... his happiness and cheerfulness made me realise that sex is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. Even when I told him what I was doing, the nature of my so called 'job'...he accepted me for who I was, but I was already determined to quit the industry forever; 'random sex' in the industry was over for me, it didn't fill me, I realised sex devoid of love is meaningless. So, I quit the industry when I was 27. In the end, I ended up opening a small business and putting my undergraduate degree to the test, but ended up moving to the country of my husband. Thanks to the heavens, a fresh new start.

I ask this of you: do not call girls who participate in the industry, 'whores', 'second class citizens' or similar degrading words. I say this out of my own vision of what happened to me: don't we have a right to start again and to have a good reputation? If there are girls who decide to continue on that path, well, it's their choice, but as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't recommend that job to anyone. This is only my opinion: sex devoid of love is senseless, it's a 'fake' sex. I regret completely what I did, yes, but that doesn't make me an 'everlasting prostitute'. My husband doesn't consider me that and nor will my 2 year old daughter when she grows up and I tell her the truth. Besides, every girl is a completely different world: who are you, men, to judge us and to think we are 'disposable' trash? We deserve a place in society, we also deserve a new beginning for those of us who have decided to re-start our lives in a different, more fulfilling way.

I will not comment any more on my experience on this thread. I thought , due to the nature of this thread, that it would be advisable to express my own experience of what I lived so that (it is my wish), no girl ever enters this industry again. Girls: sex can be one of the purest expressions of love. Take care of your sexuality, guard it, defend it, give it to someone very valuable to you, not just to some random 'overgrown baby'.

Once again, Source: Ex-Gravure and Ex-Av Actress.

Pondering on what that 'av industry' entails...I mean, what are readers surprised of? Can we expect anything less than 'abuse', knowing how dirty and corrupt the AV Industry is in Japan and what these 'scoundrels' make the girls do? I mean, "rape", actresses dressing as 'school girls', being 'groped' in front of the camera, 'gang-bangs'.... that's what pornography is, that's its true nature. In my opinion, it's completely degrading, it reduces girls to mere animals. And we girls, are much more than animals, we have a value and a dignity that must be respected. Sometimes I think that we girls in Japan don't value what we are truly worth and that's why some of us recur to the AV Industry to earn money and some 'fame' (to me, now, that fame is trivial, mundane and meaningless). I agree that Japan needs female 'role models'...but 'shining' in that 'hell on earth' av industry is just too limiting. We can go beyond that crap, we can make Japan a great country again, by using and recurring to the right means, using our creativity and intelligence to create more jobs, to propose new ideas to the young. However, I must admit that all this, the notion of what to do and what not to do begins at home, that is, parents teaching their children strictly on what this industry entails and not take it for granted or too lightly. There is an 'individualist' trend on the lifestyle of many Japanese today and I consider that a drawback. Besides, entering the AV Industry is way too easy, the doors are wide and open and many girls don't hesitate to knock on them. Partly, because of money and their desire of 'fame'. In other words, there are no restrictions. And with no restrictions...this is what happens. However, I've seen through the lies of this industry. For many, once you go in, you never get out; most girls are used to having a more or less 'decent-luxurious lifestyle' and cannot bear the fact or earning a much lower wage working in a bar, hostess or even a normal job, if they get one. Some just go back to the industry (and, thus, are trapped. in my opinion) while those who remain outside, prefer anonymity or end up working as prostitutes, hostesses and 'jobs' akin to the av industry. Some even go into drugs. Ok, criticise this good for nothing industry, but don't ostracise/stigmatise the girls who are abused by this industry as being this or that; you don't know what they've been through.

Source: Former Gravure Model & Former AV Actress (Saori Michazuki is just a nickname I invented, not my real name).

It seems that Mr Abe is remaining aloof or is labouring under the delusion that keeping the americans happy, at all costs, is 'beneficial' for everyone...He seems to have forgotten what maintaining american bases entail; these bases are located next to schools, buildings, houses...that is, at any moment, any accident involving aircraft landings or takeoff, can result in the death of innocent civilians, especially children. Many Okinawans, are FED UP of facing these threats day after day, of course, besides the ear-splitting noise that all the aircraft make. Most of all, are you aware of what these US marines, at least some of them, do to schoolgirls, girls and women in Okinawa?. Have you not heard about rape, groping, sexual molestation in which some of the marines incur and are involved? Abe and their american friends are fully aware about this, I can assure you that, but they do nothing to enforce criminal prosecution because they are devoted to making their american friends happy. The cases you see in the media...yes, I bet some of them portray what is convenient to the government. Most of the girls who are and have been victims just 'eat up' this deadly experience and, many of them end up in serious depression, because they are afraid of sharing that to their parents or are afraid of being stigmatised. Is that fair? Is the alliance with the US more important than safeguarding your own people? Never. This is an abuse, in my opinion, of both the Japanese and the US military that has to be denounced. Abe doesn't want Okinawa to secede from Japan? If Tokyo continues to remain indifferent to the suffering of Okinawans, believe me, something can and will happen soon. This is only my point of view, I may lash out against the US, military, but I intend to be respectful as well. If the Japanese government cannot maintain the Okinawan population happy, then, why keep it? Before Okinawa was annexed by Japan during the Early Meiji Period, Okinawa had good relations with some Chinese Dynasties, like the Qing dynasty. Why deny the Okinawans the right to pursue their own happiness? But now, Japan and the US know that Okinawa is a perfect strategic point, geographically speaking, and they consider this more important than the welfare of the Okinawans. US officials say they have the right to protect Okinawa...oh, so all the sexual molestation, groping, rape, is that protection? Driving mad the civilians with raucous noise coming from the aircraft and putting at risk the lives of innocent civilians, do you call the protection? If Abe wants to be a good leader and a decent politician, I believe he needs to listen to his people, and not make decisions based on his own ideology and interpretation of what is best for the Okinawans.

"This is really sick. But European countries have similarly sick medieval laws"

Medieval Laws in Europe? I am sorry, but I beg to differ on this matter. Throughout the years, Europe has implemented a legal framework that some have dubbed 'liberal'. The so called 'gay marriage', 'abortion' and the legal of consumption of drugs (marijuana, cannabis) doesn't sound medieval to me at all. If we were to label today's Europe as 'Medieval', we should assume that the legal framework of most European countries should be in communion, at least partially, with Catholicism, that is, ideally, a combination of Faith and Reason/Rationalism. But no, most European countries have shunned Catholicism and have fostered secularism to the utmost. Along with this, most European citizens don't consider themselves Catholic at all or are 'non-pracitising catholics'. As a result, church attendance has plummeted over the past decades and many churches/monasteries are being sold off as offices, bookstores, luxury hotels or even turned into mosques (I disagree completely with all of these actions, but I'll talk about that elsewhere). Even so, now, Europe boasts about having the most 'liberal' legal framework in the world; most Europeans, viewing their own legal system, are the first to criticise other 'conservative' countries because they don't offer the same 'liberties' as they do. At least for the time being, that is; the European Birth rate, in average, has already passed the point of no return, while the birth rate of Muslim couples is thriving. I don't intend to be rude or to offend anyone, I just to view this reality in the most objective way possible. If this trend continues, perhaps, in the future, the majority of the population will be Muslim, for the reason mentioned above. What are the chances the Sharia Law might be implemented? Sharia Law has coexisted with other normative legal systems in Muslim countries, but the extent to which this might happen in European countries is uncertain. What portions of Sharia Law will be applied and which won't, that, we don't know today. It would be a paradox if Secularism is shunned by Sharia Law in the future, if we assume that it is applied completely. Again, I don't mean to be disrespectful, this is only my opinion.

It seems to me that Mr Abe is treating China, North and South Korea very lightly...In my opinion, it is foolish to believe that the only way Japan can 'protect' itself from foreign threats is by recurring to a procedure that involves re-armament and reactivating military drills to a large extent. This is due to the fact that most people (and, possibly, their respective governments) in South Korea, China and, of course, North Korea, view Japan negatively. Abe doesn't seem to remember the country that pillaged, raped, conquered, vanquished, abused people from other neighbouring countries in East Asia during World War II, how it annexed Okinawa and many other cruel deeds. The Constitution of 1947 endorsed by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was established, partly, yes, as a punishment for the cruel acts committed by Japan up to 1945, but also, to ensure peace. Japan could use resources that would typically be destined for defense to improve the lives of people, develop the economy that was devastated after the war...Japan could simply be 'neutral' and stay away from all the strife between North Korea, South Korea and any other controversial international dispute. But no, the path Japan has chosen for its people has been stained with vain ideologies that put in danger the lives of the Japanese people. Mr Abe, of course, is overly concerned with maintaining good relations with the US and does nothing to deal with the many cases of rape, abuse of women in Okinawa where the US keeps its military bases. All this 'nationalist' speech by LDP Prime Ministers and their apparent desire to make 'Japan' big again in the international arena has involved the need of so called 'necessary re-armament'. War in itself is a disease. How do you solve a disease? With another disease or with an antidote? The answer is obvious, I don't understand why in the international arena politicians have to stop war with war....LDP Prime Ministers have been acting in an explicit provocative way. If Japan could've stayed with this desire to ask forgiveness for the past crimes and move into the future with a policy devoid of military ambitions, then, it is my believe that countries in East Asia could view Japan as neutral. But no, these provocative actions taken since Junichiro Koizumi was in office since 2002-2006 have been openly endorsed by the US. Even more, the US has constantly approved the Japanese position that favours rearmament. Seems to me that Japan is following the US like a stray dog and doesn't even question itself what the possible consequences can be or it doesn't even bother to listen to the Japanese people...we don't want war! Enough blood has been spilled and it's always the innocent who pay the price for the greedy actions of politicians who don't want to sully their own hands to commit their crimes. If Japan continues walking on this path, it will end up in a quarrel that never pertained to the Japanese people. No 'arms race' has ever lead to peace, but chaos and destruction.