The controversy over exploitation and coercion in the Japanese porn industry continues to rage.
Following allegations, condemnations, arrests, and apologies, now comes another development. The popular AV star Saki Kouzai has come forward with the revelation that her porn debut was also coerced.
In a 20-hour interview with Bunshun Shukan, she has come forward alleging both coercion and makura eigo, or the casting couch: you have to sleep with people to get ahead.
She is currently suing Ryo Aoki, the head of Marks Japan who was previously arrested for a previous coercion case. Three people were fined over that case. Kouzai says she was then “brainwashed” into believing the production company was her family.
Kouzai has some 300 titles to her name. She was originally a race queen who made her porn debut in 2011 after she was scouted in front of Gotanda Station. She says she was deceived by Aoki and then on the subsequent shoot in the countryside, there were 20 men present and she couldn’t say no. After three years with her production company she then formed her own company in June 2014 to have better control over her career.
Kouzai has since opened a women-only section at Love Toys Shop Max, an adult store located in Umeda, Osaka. All the staff are women and Kouzai herself is often there. The store opened earlier this summer and features a Tenga store on the lower floors. It is Tenga’s second Osaka shop, after the first one in Namba.
But it should be noted that the 30-year-old Kouzai is still very much part of the industry and appears in new releases.
The grim reality of the porn industry is that you may get just ¥30,000 for an appearance. A major star may command large fees, perhaps even ¥1 million — but then the management company will take almost all of it. Contracts are often made in advance before an actress knows the industry or establishes herself, and she is later bound to various clauses regarding fees and appearances.
The management companies and production companies are often linked, creating a web of businesses dominated by men who are naturally looking to raise their profits. The needs of the performers caught in the middle are not the priority.
