Jun Kusanagi

is a Japanese model and AV idol. She is known for being "very slim... but also very shapely, with a remarkably large bust." Through her appearances in AVs, adult cinema, photobooks, magazines and television, she has been called "a SUPER popular AV actress", "one of Japan's most prolific and popular photo model/AV stars," and "one of the biggest AV legends ever."

Life and career

Early life

Jun Kusanagi was born in Tokyo on June 5, 1978. The Japanese term kubire, referring to "the inward dip of a woman's waist" is often applied to Kusanagi's remarkably small waist and large breasts. When asked to what she attributed her figure, Kusanagi commented, "I go to fitness club, facial cares, and I do exercise at my home too... I did sit-ups a lot of times. When I was high school, I could do 200."

AV debut

Kusanagi made the first of her "uniformly excellent hard core videos" in October, 1996. Because publishing companies own model's stage names, it is not uncommon for an AV actress to use more than one name during her career as she moves from company to company. Jun Kusanagi debuted with the MAX-A studio under the name , and continued to use that name in appearances for MAX-A and Alice Japan even after she had begun using the name Jun Kusanagi for other companies. She has also used the stage names , and . Her AV debut was in the video Pin Pin Girl. Called a "sensational debut release," the film was directed by Yuji Sakamoto. Kusanagi appeared in five more adult videos during the next six months. She made one more video for MAX-A in November, and then moved to the Alice Japan label in December where she made the other four.

Kusanagi's first two videos included [...] scenes, but focused on featuring her slim figure and large breasts. Obscene Model, her first work for Alice Japan, also directed by Sakamoto, went into more adventurous realms, including S&M and "aggressive vibrator" scenes. In Body Report of January 1997, Kusanagi's figure is again the focus, while Sexy Butt, of April 1997, focuses specifically on one part of her anatomy, and various [...] acts performed upon it. Typical of many Japanese AVs, some bondage is included in this video. Kusanagi's fourth video for Alice Japan, Reverse Soap Heaven, was in the popular genre of a prominent AV actress performing in a soapland.

After having made six AVs, Kusanagi stopped performing in videos for a time to concentrate on modeling. Her "beauty and volcanic on-screen sexuality" had quickly made her a top AV performer, and as a farewell tribute to the model, Alice Japan issued a compilation video entitled Mizuho Kanou Forever in July of 1997. Kusanagi apparently had dental work done soon after her break from AV performance, as her subsequent appearances in photobooks and magazines show that her teeth, previously slightly crooked, were now straight. Appearing under the stage name Narua Asami, the first of Kusanagi's five photobooks, Queen Bee, was released in August of 1997, and several magazine appearances under this stage name followed.

First AV come-back

Kusanagi's come-back video, again with Alice Japan under the name Mizuho Kano, was in March of 1998 with Big Tits Rebirth. After this come-back she released about one video a month for the next year and a half. Upon her return to the AV industry, an observer commented, "Her body is more mature and mysterious now." For Eichi Publishing, Kusanagi appeared in her second photobook, Kubire, which was released in April of 1998. This was her first appearance under the name Jun Kusanagi. She continued appearing in videos for Alice Japan as Mizuho Kano, while making video and magazine appearances as Jun Kusanagi when working for Eichi during this same period. The photobook Kubire 2 came out in December of 1998.

Kusanagi's videos at this time delved into several of the most popular genres in Japanese adult videos, including S&M,, cosplay, and a documentary-style video which was filmed in her own apartment. Two other documentary-style videos focused on the video audience. In Home Delivery Soapland, Kusanagi makes house-calls for "the poor lonely guy who watches our videos." Kusanagi's fans were invited to enter an Internet contest, and the winners appeared with the actress in the January 1999 release, Saint Lady Molester. In her February, 1999 video for Alice Japan, Super Horny Monsters Legend 3, she was teamed with fellow big-bust AV model Mai Shiina.

Second retirement and come-back

In August of 1999, Kusanagi again released a farewell appearance, the photobook Jun, and a calendar for the year 2000. Two years later, with Playboy photographer, Kim Mizuno, Kusanagi produced an 80-page, hardcover volume entitled Dangerous Curve. Released in April of 2001, the photography in the book was called, "right up there with Kim's best work." However Kusanagi appeared to have lost a lot of weight since her retirement, leading to speculation that she may have been suffering from anorexia nervosa. In her diary she expressed disappointment that she felt her career had failed. It could be due to a combination of bad business decisions, and the fact that she passed her prime so quickly. Another retirement from public life during the first half of the 2000s followed, during which time the Alice Japan, Atlas21 and MAX-A labels released several compilations of scenes from Kusanagi's previous work, as well as re-issues of the original videos.

In July 2003, Kusanagi followed AV idols Ai Iijima and Madoka Ozawa by seeking to expand her career in Taiwan. She performed at a multimedia show in Taipei's World Trade Center. Though her appearance in the country created a media frenzy, she became a subject of countroversy when it was claimed that she was working in the country without a permit. She had to cancel performances on the second day of her planned 3-day tour of the country. Kusanagi's Agent in Taiwan claimed that she was not actually working in the country, but that she was only engaging in photo opportunities, shopping and visiting fans. Local Chinese-language newspapers, however, reported that she had been paid.

In May of 2006, ten years after her debut, she released a new DVD called Queen of Kubire Jun Kusanagi (くびれの女王 草凪純). The June issue of Urecco magazine devoted a feature to Kusanagi's return to the AV world. At the height of her career, the most popular AV actress, Jun Kusanagi's long and varied career has made her "one of the legends of AV.

Selected filmography

Unconfirmed titles

• Body Play II (November 1996)
• Over The Night (October 1998)
• The Extreme [...] (November 1998)
• Cover Girls 2 (February 1999)
• Excellent Double Bomb III (February 1999)
• Resurrection Of A Super Idol (May 2006)
• First time - Jun Kusanagi (September 13, 2006)
• ''Hyper Digital Mosaic Vol.040** (October 1, 2006)

Photobooks

Solo works

Appearances in compilations

External links

• Official website

ja:草凪純