Japanese model and actress Karina (30) has made her first appearance after disappearing from public view since spring this year, when the weekly tabloid magazine Friday ran a picture of her in a supposedly post-coital passed-out state.
The world was shocked when Karina, mostly known as a fashion model and innocuous TV actress, was pictured partly naked with her legs spread wide open. Not just unflattering, it was overtly sexual and dirty — not Karina’s usual clean image. Friday published the image in March this year, though it actually dates back to a party in Hawaii in summer two years ago when Karina was there to learn English.
Karina (real name Karina Nose) has seen her career evaporate as a result of the sex scandal, though she tried to salvage things by saying the man in the picture was her current boyfriend.
We all know that Guam and Hawaii trips to learn English or diving are excuses for young Japanese to sleep around, especially with foreigners. And such is the case even if you are a famous model and actress.
She allegedly got drunk at a party at a condo in Hawaii in June 2012 and started making out with a Taiwanese classmate. Apparently they then had sex in the early hours during the party and all the others could hear.
The leaked photo was this…
In Japanese these types of leaked photos are known as nyan nyan shashin. Karina joins a long list of other celebrities such as Aya Hirano, Miku Natsume and ex-AKB48 Atsuko Maeda who have been shown in drunken, sexual or otherwise unflattering scenarios, offending fans, agency overlords, and sponsors who like their celebrity endorsers completely personality-less and pure.
At time of writing, searching “Karina” in Japanese on Google Image brings up a first suggestion of “straddle”, referring to her spread-leg pose in the notorious picture. Here’s Kuroko Shirai showing us how it’s done with a little more style.
Usually, though, after keeping their head below the water for a while the shamed celebrity is able to make a comeback.
In Karina’s case, it was in familiar territory, appearing unannounced at Tokyo Girl’s Collection’s autumn and winter fashion show on September 6th.
We now wait to see if she can make a full transition into being a mainstream entertainer again.
