Japan’s booming sex niche: Elder Porn

Besides his glowing complexion, Shigeo Tokuda looks like any other 74-year-old man in Japan.

Despite suffering a heart attack three years ago, the lifelong salaryman now feels healthier, and lives happily with his wife and a daughter in downtown Tokyo. He is, of course, more physically active than most retirees, but that’s because he’s kept his part-time job — as a porn star.

Tokuda is rare among Japanese porn stars in that his name has become a brand. The Shigeo Tokuda series he’s just completed portray him as a tactful elderly gentleman who instructs women of different ages in the erotic arts, and he boasts a body of work far more impressive than most actors in their prime.

“People of my age generally have shame so they are very hesitant to show their private parts,” Tokuda says, “but I am proud of myself doing something they cannot.” Still, he laughs, “That doesn’t mean that I can tell them about my old-age pensioner job.”

Japan’s adult video industry is believed to be worth as much as $1 billion a year according to industry insiders, with the largest rental video store chain Tsutaya releases about 1,000 new titles monthly, while and the mega adult mail-order site DMM releases about 2,000 titles each month.

Although films featuring women in their teens and 20s are the mainstay of the industry, a trend toward “mature women” has become evident over the past five years. Currently, about 300 of the 1,000 adult videos on offer at Tsutaya, and 400 out of the 2,000 at DMM, are “mature women” films.

Ryuichi Kadowaki, director of Ruby Inc. which specializes in “mature women” titles, says that when the company started the genre a few years ago, the term referred to actresses in their late 20s, and last year it was expanded to ladies in their 70s.

And the company sees the advantage of the “mature” titles is their enduring appeal:

“Adult videos with young actresses sell well only in the first three months after the release,” Kadowaki explains. “On the other hand, ‘mature women’ films enjoy a steady, long-term popularity, which after 10 years or so might lead to a best-seller.”

And then there are the cost savings — a popular young actress can earn up to $100,000 per film, while a mature actress is paid only $2,000. The market for “elder porn” has doubled over the past decade, according to Kadowaki.

“In the view of the aging society,” he adds, “I think that in the future we will see a steady increase in demand.”