, also known as or ''MPB'', was a franchise of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History and profile

''Monthly Playboy'' was first published in July 1975. Influenced by the sophisticated designs and contents of ''Monthly Playboy'', a number of magazines were launched to imitate it. However, this was a magazine that translated and re-edited ''

'' published in the United States for the Japanese market. As such, it is essentially unrelated to ''

Weekly Playboy , also known as or ''WPB'', is a Japanese weekly magazine published by Shueisha since 1966. Although the magazine publishes a variety of news and special interest articles, columns, celebrity interviews, and manga, it is considered an adult maga ...

''. Kazuhiko Torishima, known for bringing

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

creator

Akira Toriyama was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential and important authors in the history of manga, authoring highly influential and popular series, particularly Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dra ...

to the world, commented as follows. "Monthly Playboy was an interesting magazine with cutting-edge contents that attracted relatively young readers in their 20s and 30s, rather than older, and it also had a good advertising strategy". The magazine ceased publication with the final January 2009 issue, due to a decline in readership. Pop artist Keiichi Tanaami was the magazine's first art director.

Mika Okuda

Mika Okuda, one of the 1988 Playmates, was an original member of Onyanko Club, the biggest female idol group of the 1980s, and was membership number 1. However, only two weeks after the group was launched in April 1985, she was photographed by the weekly magazine '' Shūkan Bunshun'' smoking in a coffee shop with five other members. This scandal led to Okuda's dismissal from Onyanko Club. She had dropped her high school credits in March 1985. Therefore, she had to start her second grade all over again in April (schools in Japan start a new grade in April). She admitted that there was a time when she was a delinquent girl before becoming a member of Onyanko Club. She had a part-time job at the

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Toshimaen was an amusement park in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, owned by the Seibu Group. It had a variety of rides, including three roller coasters, a water park with 25 slides and six pools, and Carousel El Dorado, the country's oldest operational amusement r ...

during the summer vacation of the year she was fired. after starting the second trimester in September, she worked another part-time job after school. In August 1986, she even appeared in the photo magazine .This magazine was published by

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well a ...

, the same company that publishes ''Shūkan Bunshun'', the magazine that forced her to be fired. She also applied for the idol group audition organized by the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

magazine ''

Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine started on June 16, 1980, and is targeted at the adult male () demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the second and fourth ...

''. However, she was not selected. After graduating from in 1987, there was talk of her making her debut as a singer with Polydor Japan, but it did not come to fruition. Her nudity was revealed in the October 1988 issue of ''Monthly Playboy'' for the first time after she was named runner-up in Playmate Japan 88.

Playmate Japan (1986–1993)

* 1986 - , Emi Satō, Reiko Sugano * 1987 - Minako Konno * 1988 - , Mari Kokubu, Mika Okuda * 1989 - * 1990 - Kurisu Aoki, Akio Horisaka, Sachiko Kurachi, Haruka Morimura, Madoka Sugawara, Rie Sugimoto * 1991 - Misuteriasu K * 1992 - Kana Aiba, Reira Misaki, Chise Tokuda * 1993 - , , Mio Asai

References

External links

Monthly Playboy

Japanese Playboy Covers
at PBCovers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Playboy, Monthly 1975 establishments in Japan 2009 disestablishments in Japan Defunct magazines published in Japan Men's magazines published in Japan Monthly magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1975 Magazines disestablished in 2009 Playboy magazines

History and profile

Mika Okuda

Playmate Japan (1986–1993)

See also

References

External links