The tebura or “hand bra” is a frequent trope in gravure. What can be more alluring, it seems, than an idol or model covering her breasts with just her bare hands?
Recent examples include Rola and Minami Minegishi.
It has become something of a rite of passage for AKB-kei alumni, not least Minegishi, Haruna Kojima, Yuko Oshima, Kei Jonishi.
It can also get them into trouble, though, as the lesson of Tomomi Kasai notably shows. Her post-AKB career never recovered.
The latest idol to try her luck with this tactic is Ayaka Umeda, formerly of AKB48 and NMB48. However, her tebura shot, published recently in a weekly tabloid, has attracted a mixed response from netizens.
Some have claimed she is too flat-chested and that her “hand bra” is not sexy at all because of her tiny bust.
Umeda’s modest chest is not news. By coincidence, we used a photo of her to illustrate a post way back in 2012 that suggests, though, that Japanese women with small breasts (hinnyu) should not simply be discarded.
Ayaka Umeda, now on the cusp of 30, releases a new semi-nude photo book, “Last of Summer,” next month in an effort to launch a career post-AKB.
Actually, rather than her bust, perhaps we should focus on her butt, which we think is pretty nice.
