, is a Japanese actress, singer, and a former adult video (AV) actress and model. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2005 and 2013, Asami was widely recognized as one of Japan's most famous and acclaimed adult film actresses with her popularity resulting in mainstream media appearances as well. A leading actress of two major Japanese AV studios, Alice Japan and S1 No.1 Style, Asami was known for her youthful looks, large bust, and her natural onscreen charisma which was largely credited in helping her establish herself as Japan's top adult performer. Between 2008 and 2013, she was also a member of the idol group Ebisu Muscats, where she performed with numerous other famous AV actresses like Sola Aoi,
Akiho Yoshizawa
, often known simply as Acky (あっきー), is a Japanese actress and former adult video (AV) actress, who also appeared in pink film and mainstream (non-erotic) film, as well as television. With a career spanning over more than 15 years and ove ...
, Tina Yuzuki (Rio) and Aino Kishi.
Asami's career took a sharp turn in 2013 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Despite making a full recovery, Asami chose not to return to the AV industry and retired in May 2015. Currently she is an independent singer-songwriter.
Life and career
AV career: S1 and Alice Japan (2005–2013)
Asami was born in
Takasaki
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as th ...
,
Gunma prefecture
is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...
and made her AV debut in October 2005 at the age of 18. Since the start of her career she was under contract with two large Japanese AV studios, Alice Japan and S1 No. 1 Style. and like most studio-exclusive AV actresses she made one film with each studio every month. Most of her videos with S1 have been with director Hideto Aki while her Alice Japan videos have been primarily directed by Yuji Sakamoto. Both studios specialize in the "softer" type of pornography with straight sex scenes involving a solo actress, with little or no storyline, and an avoidance of the more extreme activities of Japanese porn.
Asami quickly became one of the most popular AV actresses in Japan after her debut and she was regularly placed at the very top in DVD sales and rentals. The DMM website listing of the top 100 AV actresses by sales ranked her as number 1 in both 2006 and 2007.
Asami was involved with a number of unusual projects for Alice Japan, mostly with director KENGO. Among these are ''Amateur Actor Audition – Yuma Asami'', released in 2007, with a plot where she supposedly interviews 10 potential AV actors between the ages of 19 and 41 and tests their abilities. On the opposite side of the coin, in the 2008 video ''AV Actress Audition – Yuma Asami'', the storyline has her acting as the company rep interviewing and coaching 10 aspiring AV actresses. In another video from 2008 (''Number One Idol Yuma Asami Produce Real Virgins'') she meets specially selected "virgin" fans who are gently initiated by the actress.
Asami was recognized by AV fans for her work by winning the Grand Prix award at the 2006 AV Actress Grand Prix. In 2007 her S1 video ''Hyper Risky Mosaic – Special Bath House Tsubaki'' made with 11 other S1 actresses won the First Place Award at the 2007
AV Open
AV Open is a major awards contest for the Pornography in Japan, Japanese adult video industry. It went from a limited sales contest in 2006 to become, via its successor the AV GrandPrix, the major Japanese AV award with nearly 100 participating com ...
competition. In addition, at the annual 2008 Adult Broadcasting Awards, a competition among adult TV channels on satellite broadcaster
SKY PerfecTV!
is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.
SKY PerfecTV! is also a dire ...
, Asami won the award for "Most Appearances" in 2007. She "wowed the crowd" by bending over several times to expose the tops of her breasts. Her November 2008 video ''Double Risky Mosaic, Rio & Yuma'' was the S1 entry in the 2009 AV GrandPrix where it won the top GrandPrix Award as well as taking the prizes for DVD Sales and Package Design, the Retailers Award, and the Best Featured Actress Video Award.
During her tenure at S1, Asami was also a part of several large-scale and acclaimed projects, like ''Maison Esuwan Annex,'' the sequel to her 2007 video, ''Tsubaki'', or ''S1 TV – Showbusiness Broadcast Goes To The Extreme!,'' released in January 2010 and directed by Hideto Aki. With a length of nearly four hours, the film featured Asami and several other S1 actresses in an unusually detailed storyline and with a satirical outlook on Japanese television and idol culture mixed with numerous explicit sex scenes. During these years Asami also formed a partnership with fellow famous AV actress
Akiho Yoshizawa
, often known simply as Acky (あっきー), is a Japanese actress and former adult video (AV) actress, who also appeared in pink film and mainstream (non-erotic) film, as well as television. With a career spanning over more than 15 years and ove ...
. The pair had several collaborative projects during their career and remained close friends even after their retirements from the adult film industry.
In June 2010, Asami starred in one of the first two AV's made in 3D, the S1 produced ''Attracting The Best Stereoscopic 3D Yuma Asami Sex BODY''. The release of the two videos matched the introduction of
3D television
3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopy, stereoscopic display, free viewpoint television, multi-view display, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D te ...
s by
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
and
Panasonic
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...
and were expected to increase sales of the TVs. When the major Japanese adult video distributor DMM held a poll of its customers in 2012 to choose the 100 all-time best AV actresses to celebrate the 30th anniversary of adult videos in Japan, Asami took second place.
While mainly working for Alice Japan and S1 throughout her AV career, Asami made occasional appearances for other studios like Attackers, Premium or E-Body.
Asami's last regular adult film ''Young Wife Under Aphrodisiacs Yuma Asami,'' by S1 was released on June 15, 2013, shortly after her announcement that she was fighting with cancer. Her last adult video appearance before her retirement was in December 2014, on the extra disc of S1's "Memorial Box Set", which detailed her recovery from the illness, and her self-discovery during a vacation on the southern islands.
Non-AV appearances
In addition to her hardcore video activities, Asami has also made several "gravure" videos, which are essentially glamour films which may include nudity but no sexual acts. She was the star of the softcore direct-to-video (
V-Cinema
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strate ...
) erotic action flick directed by Yoshikazu Katō. The video, released by GP Museum in October 2006, also featured AV and pink film actress Lemon Hanazawa.
Asami also worked in television, performing in the J-dorama ''Shimokita GLORY DAYS'' (下北GLORY DAYS) along with fellow S1 actresses Sora Aoi and Honoka and singer-actress Aya Sugimoto. The 12-week series aired on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.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 ...
of the same name and revolved about a ronin student moving to Tokyo and sharing a house with several beautiful women. In 2007 she appeared in Episode 5 of the late night
TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
erotic drama . Asami also had a role in the 2009 sequel to the manga-based
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.''Jōō Virgin'' (嬢王 Virgin). The series about kyabakura hostesses also featured AV actresses Sora Aoi,
Akiho Yoshizawa
, often known simply as Acky (あっきー), is a Japanese actress and former adult video (AV) actress, who also appeared in pink film and mainstream (non-erotic) film, as well as television. With a career spanning over more than 15 years and ove ...
and
Saori Hara
is a former Japanese AV idol, pornographic actress, model and actress who has also used the name and most recently .
Early life
Saori Hara was born in Hiroshima Prefecture to a Japanese mother and a father of mixed German-Japanese parentage. ...
.
In another genre, she was also in an erotic horror '' pink film'', , directed by Hideo Jojo and co-starring Japanese AV actress Yuria Hidaka. In the movie, which premiered in Osaka April 2008, Asami is the mysterious and deadly proprietess of an inn. The film was released as a DVD in October 2008.
In October 2010, Asami starred in ''Shinshaku: Yojōhan fusuma no shitabari'' (新釈 四畳半襖の下張り), a "new interpretation" (Shinshaku) of the 1973 ''pink film'' '' The World of Geisha'' based on the novel by Kafū Nagai. The film was directed by former AV actress Kyōko Aizome and also featured Kyoko Hayami who had appeared in the 2003 cult hit '' The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai''. The film was released as a DVD in January 2011. She also starred in two more ''pink films'' for
Shintōhō Eiga
is a Japanese pink film production company and film distributor located in Tokyo, Japan which has been among the most influential studios in the pink film genre since its beginnings.
Foundation
The first Shintōhō, or "New Toho", also known ...
directed by Kyōko Aizome, the June 2011 in the role of
Sada Abe
was a Empire of Japan, Japanese geisha and Prostitution in Japan, prostitute who murdered her lover, , via strangulation on May 18, 1936, before cutting off his Human penis, penis and testicles and carrying them around with her in her kimono. T ...
, and the December 2012 based on a novel by Oniroku Dan.
Asami played the role of Oshichi in the mainstream erotic period drama . The film, directed by Hajime Hashimoto and released in June 2013, was based on the
kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
play ''Sakura Hime Azuma Bunsho'' with a modern twist.
Other activities
In 2006, Asami was featured as a
Cabaret Club
A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs mostly female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. Host clubs are a similar type of establishment where mostly male staff attend to women. ...
hostess in the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
videogame '' Yakuza 2''. She debuted as a singer with the
J-pop
J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...
CD, ''Resolution'', in January 2008. The CD was packaged with a bonus DVD which includes images, a making-of video and a music video.
Between 2008 and 2013, Asami was a member of the Ebisu Muscats and in 2018 she returned as a PTA member for the newly reformed, second generation Muscats, along with Rio and Sola Aoi.
She has also been active in advertising making promotional videos for the adult website Tospo.jp with the QR Code for their site covering her breasts. She also appears on a T-shirt marketed in a collaboration between Cex Work, a new company started up by photographer Yasumasa Yonehara and the apparel label The Mask. The T-shirt, released in October 2007, featured a semi-nude photo of Asami taken by Yonehara.
Personal life
Asami used to work at a club in
Roppongi
Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...
, but later realised that she did not like working as a club hostess. She had her first sexual experience during junior high ('' chūgakkō''), and had had five boyfriends by the time she was 18 years old. After being discharged from hospital due to cancer, she said she "didn't want to face reality and just wanted to disappear", she also became closer to her 75-year old grandmother at this point. Besides suffering from cancer, she also suffered from
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
.
Cancer, retirement from the industry, and post AV activities
Asami announced on June 6, 2013, that she had had surgery in February 2013 to remove an ovarian tumor and was currently undergoing treatment and chemotherapy. The tumor was discovered when Asami had an
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...
scan because of stomach problems. After removing her uterus and ovaries, the doctors described the cancer as borderline malignant and classified the tumor as Stage 3 (out of 4) as to development. An update from August 2013 reported that she had undergone six chemotherapy treatments and was "on the road to recovery."
In a February 2014 interview, Asami said she wanted to continue with her music career and was writing an autobiography. The autobiographical work (), (the Japanese in the title translates as "Always Believe In Yourself") describing her early life and her battle with cancer, was published by Kodansha () in May 2014. She was also working with a non-profit group "Cancer Net Japan" to promote awareness of ovarian cancer.
On May 20, 2015, Asami announced her retirement from the AV industry. Since her AV retirement, she fully dedicated her career as a musician and singer, making frequent concerts and other live appearances.