Landlord after landlord judged his occupation objectionable, even when he showed them a full bank account. It doesn't matter whether you are retired or not, you cannot have financial credit from a bank, so it's really difficult to get, for example, a housing loan." Several years back, Shimiken found himself unable to rent an apartment. "And it can only become worse if you try to conceal your past. "Once you have become an AV star, it becomes very hard to get a 'normal' job," he says. Yujiro Enoki, the director of the documentary The Other Side of the Sex, goes further, warning that great fame can bring great shame. "There are definite roadblocks for former AV actors who want to transition into the mainstream."
Though a few AV stars (mostly female) have transitioned to success as TV presenters or talking-head personalities, "Shimiken's concerns do point to very real issues regarding social stigma in Japan," says Kumiko Endo, an adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University. "Anyone who tries it will be immediately recognizable and could rule out ever having a normal life." "Men say the pool is just too small to risk entering," he explains. While the physical requirements are certainly a barrier to entry for most men, Shimiken points out that because the ranks are thin, they stay thin-despite the obvious benefits.
He dumps the bag's contents out for inspection, and nowhere in the pile is the pill that fuels the American porn industry: Viagra. He lives off a go-bag filled with glutamine, branched-chain amino acid, zinc (said to make semen whiter), arginine, and vitamin jelly. To maintain the strength necessary to make up to six movies a day, Shimiken exercises 90 minutes a day, four days a week, focusing on heavy weight lifting and deep squats, which he says not only help his thrusts but also build up testosterone. "And you're going to have to do it with a camera between your legs." Among AV performers, Shimiken's stamina is legendary-his workload often has him shooting eight or nine hours a day, seven days a week. "We're not talking about splitting firewood here, but it is very physically demanding," says Kevin O'Neal, a former porn actor and a current agent at Adult Talent Managers in Los Angeles. (He agreed to a rewrite in which the dog merely licked butter off the woman before their scene.)Įven in the U.S., most aspiring men drop out when faced with the realities of porn. In 18 years and more than 7,000 films, Shimiken has refused only one scenario: having sex with an actress after she had sex with a dog. Outside, they've already caught a glimpse of something rarer: the man who has actually lived them all.Īt 35 years old, Shimiken is the king of Japanese porn, more often referred to here as AV (adult video), and there is essentially nothing he won't do or hasn't done while getting busy with more than 7,500 different female costars, including a former teen pop singer, Hungarian exchange students, and a pair of 72-year-old twins. Inside, they'll get to meet the stars of their wildest fantasies. It's the morning of the Japan Adult Expo, and the crowd has been waiting for tickets.
He raises one arm over his head to air-high-five his riveted fans. "Let's go," Shimiken whispers to a handler attempting to clear a path through the throng. "Shimiken!" several shout, and a clatter of smartphone shutter sounds follows like a round of applause. To his left, the mostly male crowd leans forward, en masse. He bounds onto the pavement wearing a hoodie and a T-shirt that reads SEX INSTRUCTOR.
Out of the driver's seat bounces a small, stocky man with bulging biceps, spiky orange hair, and a broad smile spread across his effulgent, spray-tanned face. On a sunny Saturday morning in eastern Tokyo, a silver Audi pulls into a parking lot and sparks pandemonium.