This Is Why I Do It

It isn’t the praise thats always nice but the one thing that the author said that really makes me happy is the sentence I put in bold, about how his business has grown a considerable amount. Particularly in this hard time. I wont take the credit for that though, he deserves the credit because he gathered info and acted accordingly, but my providing some of that info makes me very happy, thats why I am here…Thank You man its always nice to get these!

Now there is wisdom here that industry people should be paying attention to…he is paying some back, who will listen?

Hi Mike,

I wanted to comment on one of your recent posts but would first like to thank you for providing such great information and being a resource for so many like myself. I am an online retailer/distributor of DVD’s and I am rather new to the industry in a business capacity so you have helped me a great deal. Over the last two years my business has grown a considerable amount and even though you don’t realize it because you don’t know who I am, I couldn’t have done it without you.

Anyways, on to the main reason for writing you. In a recent post you had commented about how the Japanese adult industry, specifically DVD’s is way beyond ours in America or anywhere else for that matter. After reading this I was so happy because FINALLY somebody notices and acknowledges something I have been saying for years. Porn is a side business for me so I make regular trips to Asia including Japan for my other company. I speak a fair amount of Japanese and have even tried importing some DVD’s from Japan which proved too difficult but I have met with TIS which is part of Hokuto Corporation, one of the two major conglomerates in Japan that control all the smaller studios and basically all of the content being produced in Japan. I got to know more about their business model and the inner workings of the industry as it is in Japan.

You definitely hit the nail on the head in terms of the amount they release, it truly is staggering. When I did place an order with them and was given the spreadsheet to choose from it was unreal. They put out hundreds of titles a month, and I’m not talking about comps and recycled material, and the same girls all the time, it is all new content, new and different girls, and a wide variety of genres. More importantly, it is all quality because that is the model that Japanese corporations follow. If you need more of an example take a look at the auto industry. Toyota, Honda, and the other Japanese manufacturers dominate because of their quality, innovation, and new ideas. The American manufacturers simply can’t keep up and I think that template can be removed from the auto industry and placed over the adult industry resulting in a perfect fit. Lucky for the adult industry in America, they don’t currently have to compete with Japanese studios, otherwise I think it would be disastrous for the mainstay studios here. You are already seeing a little bit of this happening on the toy/novelty side with companies like Tenga.

I believe you also mentioned how they pay their talent more, and they do. It is to the point where a lot of girls come by and do a few scenes and then they are done. They can pay for school, or family medical bills, or whatever but very few are in it to make a career and be “Porn Stars.” This does a couple things to benefit the industry there. For one it keeps talent cycling through faster and keeps things fresh, customers have no time to be sad about an “AV idol” (as they are called in Japan) retiring because by that time 10 new ones have come along that they might like even more, and the cycle keeps repeating. Also, the pay is enough so it attracts all types of girls and this is quite remarkable in Japan. Japanese as a society tend to be more reserved and don’t want to stick out. If the pay is enough to entice them to do a few porn scenes in Japan, imagine what could be accomplished if we actually paid the talent a decent rate in the USA?

The old stories about the Yakuza being mixed up with the Japanese AV industry have long passed and the companies that are running the show are now corporate behemoths and are responsible for treating everyone from talent, production, and so on fairly and in accordance with the strict labor laws in Japan. Are there still some shady characters left in the business? Of course, there are people like that in every business but you wouldn’t come across a Scott Sparks over there. The reason for that is there are also very strict privacy laws in Japan, which is where I met my barrier to doing business because they are very reluctant to release any information to comply with the 2257 regulations we have here. Also, the talent have more control over where their scenes are used and who profits from them.

To wrap things up, the Japanese AV industry puts out beautiful, unique, and interesting content. They have the most beautiful girls doing everything from vanilla couples porn to some of the strangest stuff you’ve ever seen in your life. The video stores there are clean, well stocked, and they actually make a big deal out of and promote new releases. I really could go on and on but want to make this as brief as possible. If you have any questions or want me to expand more, or possibly write a piece for your website, I would be more than happy to do that. If there is someone out there that is willing to spend the time and partner with me to bring some of this amazing, wonderful content to the USA I would be more than happy to entertain that. I will be in Tokyo again later this December, I’m sure all the video stores will be decked out for Christmas and selling new releases like crazy.

Again, thanks for everything Mike. What you do really means a lot to people like me.

Have a great Thanksgiving,

A Store owner