Shimiken: Japan Running Out of Male Porn Stars

JAPAN—Japan is a small island nation that has always aspired to big things, including its standing in the porn industry hierarchy. In that area, it has succeeded in establishing itself as a porn producing powerhouse, but it is also renowned for the extent to which is has traditionally tolerated extreme forms of pornography, as well as anime and hentai featuring underage girls in sexually explicit situations. But one of its biggest male porn stars has just warned that the industry desperately needs more men to step up and perform. According to Kotako, Shimiken (pictured) has performed in more than 7,000 adult films over his 16-year career. Now 35 and going strong, the 5'4" body-builder recently sent out a tweet expressing his concern about the dearth of male performers in his homeland. "There are only 70 or so male adult video actors," he tweeted August 29. "That's less than the number of Bengal tigers." He added, "There are ten thousand adult video actresses, and with four thousand releases every month, the number of male actors simply isn't enough." But Brian Ashcraft at Kotaku takes issue with the numbers, writing, "That number seems pretty damn high, and I'm not entirely convinced it's entirely accurate; however, in 2012, Livedoor News reported that each year apparently 6,000 porn actresses debut in Japan. But still, those figures shouldn't be taken at face value, as they could be misleading, possibly covering a wide variety of content. "However," he added, "it seems like in Japan—as probably anywhere pornography is made—there is a dearth of male stars and a lot of porn, with perfomers appearing in numerous releases. That's why, via Twitter, Shimiken encouraged men to enter the profession." Ashcraft also notes that Shimiken's message has been retweeted thousands of times, observing, "The vast majority of commenters seem reluctant about helping to fill that hole in Japanese pornography."