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{{short description|Japanese pornographic actress}}
{{Female adult bio
{{Infobox adult biography
|name = Kaoru Kuroki
|photo= ] | name = Kaoru Kuroki
| native_name = 黒木香
|birth= {{birth date and age|1965|1|21}}<ref>Info box data from: {{cite web |url=http://i-dic.dorachan.com/data?krkkor00|title=黒木 香 - Kuroki Kaoru|accessdate=2007-04-25|publisher=|language=Japanese}}</ref>
| image =
|location= ]
| caption =
|birthname=
| birth_name =
|death=
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|1|21|df=y}}
|measurements= 83-53-86(cm)<br>33-21-34(inch)
| birth_place = ], ]
⚫ |height= {{height|m=1.61}}
| death_date =
|weight=
| death_place =
|shoe size=
| nationality = Japanese
|eye color=
| occupation = adult video performer
|hair color=
| years_active =1986-94
|skin color=
| alma_mater = ]
|natural bust= Yes
| spouse =
|blood=
⚫ | height = {{height|m=1.61|precision=0}}
|ethnicity= ]
|alias= | alias =
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{{nihongo|'''Kaoru Kuroki'''|黒木香|Kuroki Kaoru}}, is one of ]'s best-known AV, or ] performers, and a multi-media personality whose role as a media counselor expressing outspoken views on sex and society have drawn comparisons to ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bornoff|first=Nicholas|title=Pink Samurai: An Erotic Exploration of Japanese Society; The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan|origyear=1991|edition=Paperback|year=1994|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=0-586-20576-4|chapter=Bye-Bye Pink Cinema, Hello Adult Video|page=613}}</ref> {{nihongo|'''Kaoru Kuroki'''|黒木香|Kuroki Kaoru|born 21 January 1965}} is a Japanese former ] performer and a multi-media personality. Her role as a media counselor expressing outspoken views on sex and society have drawn comparisons to ], sex therapist ], and actress ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bornoff|first=Nicholas|title=Pink Samurai: An Erotic Exploration of Japanese Society; The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan|orig-year=1991|edition=Paperback|year=1994|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=0-586-20576-4|chapter=Bye-Bye Pink Cinema, Hello Adult Video|page=613}}</ref>

== Life and career == == Life and career ==

=== Early life === === Early life ===
Kaoru Kuroki (whose stage name translates to "Blacktree Fragrance") was born ], ] to a conservative, comfortably middle-class family. The daughter of an engineer, Kuroki was a naturally gifted child and showed artistic talent from an early age. She left public school at the age of 15 to attend art college, and later studied Renaissance art history at Yokohama National University.<ref name="Fornander">{{cite web |url=http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html|title=A Star is Porn|accessdate=2007-04-25|last=Fornander|first=Kjell|year=1992|month=July|publisher=|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060516235928/http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html|archivedate=2006-05-16}}</ref><ref>Bornoff, p.610</ref> Kaoru Kuroki (whose stage name translates to "Fragrant Blacktree")<ref>Bornoff, p.416.</ref> was born to a conservative, comfortably middle-class family. The daughter of an engineer, Kuroki was a naturally gifted child and showed artistic talent from an early age. She left public school at the age of 15 to attend art college, and later studied Renaissance art history at ].<ref name="Fornander">{{cite web|url=http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html |title=A Star is Porn |accessdate=2007-04-25 |last=Fornander |first=Kjell |date=July 1992 |publisher= Tokyo Journal |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516235928/http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html |archivedate=2006-05-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Bornoff, p.610</ref>


While still attending ], Kuroki began appearing in AVs, at first considering this to be another form of art. "I wanted to approach it purely as a performance art form, but it turned out to be a lot crazier than that. In fact, if I'd continued to see porno video as art without also acknowledging it as just a fuck film, I wouldn't have gone this far."<ref>Bornoff, p.616, 618 (Quotes from Kaoru Kuroki are from interviews conducted by Nicholas Bornoff)</ref> While still attending Yokohama National University, Kuroki began appearing in ]s (AVs), at first considering this to be another form of art. "I wanted to approach it purely as a performance art form, but it turned out to be a lot crazier than that. In fact, if I'd continued to see porno video as art without also acknowledging it as just a fuck film, I wouldn't have gone this far."<ref>Bornoff, p.616, 618 (Quotes from Kaoru Kuroki are from interviews conducted by Nicholas Bornoff)</ref>


She expresses admiration for the films of ], ] and ], but, while she continues to view her AV performances as a social mission, she contrasts the AV with film. She says the AV "has a different atmosphere. It's not very sophisticated, in fact it's primitive. It's a bit like eating and menus in restaurants: you're hungry and you have a sudden craving for noodles, so you go and eat noodles. Your appetite is towards a porno video, so you go and rent whatever turns you on. And as with food, viewers can use basic ingredients to 'cook' the desired stimulation from the video themselves."<ref>Bornoff, p.611, 614, 616</ref> She expresses admiration for the films of ], ], and ], but, while she continues to view her AV performances as a social mission, she contrasts the AV with film. She says the AV "has a different atmosphere. It's not very sophisticated, in fact it's primitive. It's a bit like eating and menus in restaurants: you're hungry and you have a sudden craving for noodles, so you go and eat noodles. Your appetite is towards a porno video, so you go and rent whatever turns you on. And as with food, viewers can use basic ingredients to 'cook' the desired stimulation from the video themselves."<ref>Bornoff, p.611, 614, 616</ref>


=== AV debut === === AV debut ===
Kuroki's adult video debut was on October 2, 1986 at the major AV company Crystal Eizo,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/kurokami/years/years_1986.htm|title=1986|accessdate=2007-07-21|publisher=}}</ref> under the innovative AV director and former porn actor, Toru Muranishi.<ref name="Fornander"/> Muranishi was the creator of the documentary style often emulated in Japanese AVs. Kuroki, sharing Muranishi's opinion that the AV should have a documentary quality, moved with him when he founded his own company, Diamond Visual. Kuroki's AVs for Muranishi usually began with her seated, sharply dressed, and addressing the camera in an improvised talk on a subject like sexual liberation. This would typically be followed by a modeling segment, either nude or in a swimsuit. The remaining video footage would be taken up with various sexual performances, often involving ].<ref>Bornoff, p.610-611</ref> Kuroki's adult video debut was {{nihongo|''SM Poi no suki''|SMぽいの好き}}, released in October 1986 by the major AV company ],<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003181222/http://homepage3.nifty.com/kurokami/years/years_1986.htm|archivedate=2010-10-03|url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/kurokami/years/years_1986.htm|title=1986|accessdate=2007-07-21|publisher=AV 研究所 (AV Research Laboratory)|language=Japanese}}</ref> under the innovative AV director and former porn actor, ].<ref name="Fornander"/> Muranishi is credited as one of the creators of the documentary style often emulated in Japanese AVs. Kuroki, sharing Muranishi's opinion that the AV should have a documentary quality, continued to work with him when he left Crystal-Eizou to found his own company, Diamond Visual. Her videos for Muranishi usually began with her seated, sharply dressed, and addressing the camera in an improvised talk on a subject like sexual liberation. This would typically be followed by a modeling segment, either nude or in a swimsuit. The remaining video footage would be taken up with various sexual performances, often involving ].<ref>Bornoff, p.610-612.</ref>


Regarding the sex scenes, Bornoff states, "the peripherals in a Kuroki video are fairly violent stuff. She oscillates between abused sexual slave and the epitome of self-assertion with schizophrenic rapidity. To some, the documentary makes for a jarring experience; the feedback she gets from viewers can be surprising. Some say they almost find her frightening; that they can't get a hard-on."<ref name="Bornoff-617">Bornoff, p.617</ref> Regarding the sex scenes, Bornoff states, "the peripherals in a Kuroki video are fairly violent stuff. She oscillates between abused sexual slave and the epitome of self-assertion with schizophrenic rapidity. To some, the documentary makes for a jarring experience; the feedback she gets from viewers can be surprising. Some say they almost find her frightening; that they can't get a hard-on."<ref name="Bornoff-617">Bornoff, p.617</ref>
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=== Mainstream breakthrough === === Mainstream breakthrough ===
Kuroki was engaged in video and magazine appearances typical to being an AV model when she caught the attention of the mainstream media in 1988. Her decision to stop shaving her under-arm hair, as a symbolic protest against Japan's long-standing censorship of the depiction of pubic hair in print or film, gained Kuroki interviews with the mainstream media. Kuroki concedes that her decision to stop shaving her under-arms worked as a gimmick to help set her apart from the mass of AV girls, but considers it also an expression of femininity and identity.<ref name="Bornoff-612">Bornoff, p.612</ref> Impressed by her ability to speak intelligently and matter-of-factly about subjects normally considered unmentionable, late-night talk shows began inviting Kuroki as a guest. Soon she had become a popular daytime TV panellist, was appearing in commercials, and served as a large department store's campaign girl. While she was popular with her male audience for her AV appearances, she also appealed to a female audience by expressing feminist view on daytime television.<ref name="Iwamura">{{cite web |url=http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|title=Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen|accessdate=2007-04-25 |last=Iwamura|first=Rosemary|year=1994|publisher=Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 7 no. 2 }}</ref> Reflecting on her popularity, unprecedented for an AV model up to that time, Kuroki points out that there was a social need for someone like her. "I talk about life as a woman, but with my background, obviously the focus is on sex. I seem to have become a spokeswoman for the too many women who are embarrassed to talk about it."<ref name="Bornoff-612"/> Kuroki was engaged in video and magazine appearances typical to being an AV model when she caught the attention of the mainstream media in 1988. Her decision to stop shaving her under-arm hair, as a symbolic protest against Japan's long-standing censorship of the depiction of pubic hair in print or film, gained Kuroki interviews with the mainstream media. Kuroki concedes that her decision to stop shaving her under-arms worked as a gimmick to help set her apart from the mass of AV girls, but considers it also an expression of femininity and identity.<ref name="Bornoff-612">Bornoff, p.612</ref> Impressed by her ability to speak intelligently and matter-of-factly about subjects normally considered unmentionable, late-night talk shows began inviting Kuroki as a guest. Soon she had become a popular daytime TV panellist, was appearing in commercials, and served as a large department store's campaign girl. While she was popular with her male audience for her AV appearances, she also appealed to a female audience by expressing feminist view on daytime television.<ref name="Iwamura">{{cite web|url=http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|title=Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen|accessdate=2007-04-25|last=Iwamura|first=Rosemary|year=1994|publisher=Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 7 no. 2|archive-date=2007-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503222203/http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition to TV talk shows, Kuroki also had a role in the ] costume drama {{nihongo|''Shigotonin, Kyōto e Iku Yamiuchinin no Nazo no Shuryō''|必殺スペシャル春一番　仕事人、京都へ行く　闇討人の謎の首領！}} which was broadcast on March 3, 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=326591|script-title=ja:必殺スペシャル春一番 仕事人、京都へ行く 闇討人の謎の首領！|accessdate=2013-11-02|publisher= AllCinema|language=Japanese}}</ref>


Reflecting on her popularity, unprecedented for an AV model up to that time, Kuroki points out that there was a social need for someone like her. "I talk about life as a woman, but with my background, obviously the focus is on sex. I seem to have become a spokeswoman for the too many women who are embarrassed to talk about it."<ref name="Bornoff-612"/>
⚫ In 1988 Kuroki visited ] where she met ], whom she regards as '']''. She was pleased to find that many of their opinions coincided, but was surprised by ]'s discomfort with Kuroki's masochistic tendencies and preference for the S&M genre. Kuroki attributes this to cultural and personal differences, and does not feel that S&M equates to submissiveness. Indeed, Fornander points out that Kuroki made AVs in general, and S&M in particular a feminist issue in Japan.<ref name="Fornander"/>


⚫ In 1988 Kuroki visited Italy where she met ], whom she regards as '']''. She was pleased to find that many of their opinions coincided, but was surprised by Cicciolina's discomfort with Kuroki's masochistic tendencies and preference for the S&M genre. Kuroki attributes this to cultural and personal differences, and does not feel that S&M equates to submissiveness. Indeed, Fornander points out that Kuroki made AVs in general, and S&M in particular a feminist issue in Japan.<ref name="Fornander"/>
In 1989, Kuroki appeared with the new AV star and fellow Diamond Visual employee, ] in her second AV. In two entries of Diamond's later ''How to Sex - Sexual Information'' series of instructional sex videos, Kuroki served as the instructor/lecturer with Matsuzaka performing the physical demonstrations. After Matsuzaka's retirement from AV appearances in 1990, Kuroki also appeared with Matsuzaka at the ] club, "Mirukuhooru" ("Milk Hall").<ref>{{cite book |last=Adachi|first=Noriyuki|title=アダルトな人びと - Adaruto na Hitobito ("Adult" People)|publisher=Kodansha|location=Tokyo|language=Japanese|isbn=4-06-205546-5|page=51}}</ref>

In March 1989, Kuroki teamed with Diamond Visual's new AV star, Kimiko Matsuzaka in the adult video {{nihongo|''1107 Millimeter Impression''|1107(いいおんな)の感動}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rb.arzon.jp/item_483738.html|script-title=ja:１１０７ミリの感動。 松坂季実子|accessdate=2013-01-30|publisher= rb.arzon.jp|language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>Adachi, Noriyuki. (1992). {{nihongo|''"Adult" People''|アダルトな人びと|Adaruto na Hitobito}} Kodansha. {{ISBN|4-06-205546-5}}. p.50</ref> Later in 1989, in two entries of Diamond Visual's ''How to Sex - Sexual Information'' series of instructional sex videos, Kuroki served as the instructor/lecturer with Matsuzaka performing the physical demonstrations. Kuroki and Matsuzaka were brought together again in ]'s December 1990 ], {{nihongo|''Daikyonyuu: Noshikakaru''|大巨乳　のしかかる}}, for Xces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1990/dn003210.htm|script-title=ja:大巨乳 のしかかる|publisher= JMDB|accessdate=2010-06-16|language=Japanese}}</ref>

After Matsuzaka's retirement from AV appearances in 1990, Kuroki also appeared with Matsuzaka at the ] club, "Mirukuhooru" ("Milk Hall").<ref>Adachi, p.51</ref>


==Retirement and legacy== ==Retirement and legacy==
Kuroki retired from public life in 1994.<ref name="Kuroki_privacy">{{cite web |title=Ex-porn star wins settlement in Japan|archiveurl=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/51935.html|archivedate=2007-04-14|url=http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070414p2a00m0na001000c.html|publisher=]|date=], ]|accessdate=2008-01-31|language=English}}</ref> In the January 2002 issue of the magazine ''Josei Seven'', and the January 2004 issue of ''Shukan Post'', stories and pictures on Kuroki's private life were printed. Kuroki claimed that as an ordinary citizen no longer in the public eye, the magazines needed her permission to print these stories. Kuroki sued the publisher, ], for 22 million yen for invasion of privacy. In April, 2007, the presiding judge ruled the articles illegal and awarded Kuroki 1.7 million yen (about $14,000). Shogakukan was reportedly considering appealing the decision.<ref name="Kuroki_privacy"/> Kuroki retired from public life in 1994.<ref name="Kuroki_privacy">{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2007/04/14/Ex-porn-star-wins-settlement-in-Japan/41091176591271/|title=Ex-porn star wins settlement in Japan|publisher=UPI|date=April 14, 2007|access-date=January 13, 2021}}</ref> In a 1994 interview, Kuroki said that she suffered physical violence from Muranishi shortly before her retirement.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuboki|first=Rin|date=October 22, 2019|url=https://www.bengo4.com/c_23/n_10280/|script-title=ja:伝説のAV女優・黒木香は「全裸監督」ヒットに何を思うのか…過去には出版社相手の裁判も|work=Bengo4.com|language=ja|access-date=January 13, 2021}}</ref> In the January 2002 issue of the magazine ''Josei Seven'', and the January 2004 issue of ''Shukan Post'', stories and pictures on Kuroki's private life were printed. Kuroki claimed that as an ordinary citizen no longer in the public eye, the magazines needed her permission to print these stories. Kuroki sued the publisher, ], for 22 million yen for ]. In April, 2007, the presiding judge ruled the articles illegal and awarded Kuroki 1.7 million yen (about $14,000). Shogakukan was reportedly considering appealing the decision.<ref name="Kuroki_privacy"/>


At the height of her popularity, Kuroki's AVs were averaging 17,000 sales a piece, a huge amount by industry standards, exceeding a million dollars.<ref name="Bornoff-617"/> According to Rosemary Iwamura, "Kaoru changed the image of AV girls; she didn't seem to be making videos because of a lack of options but rather as an informed choice."<ref name="Iwamura"/> For bringing the AV industry to the attention of mainstream media in Japan, as well as her polite but frank outspokenness on subjects like sex and censorship, Kjell Fornander calls her "the first high-profile AV actress."<ref name="Fornander"/> She permanently changed the way that the AV industry and AV actresses were viewed by the general public in Japan. At the height of her popularity, Kuroki's AVs were averaging 17,000 sales a piece, a huge amount by industry standards, exceeding a million dollars.<ref name="Bornoff-617"/> According to Rosemary Iwamura, "Kaoru changed the image of AV girls; she didn't seem to be making videos because of a lack of options but rather as an informed choice."<ref name="Iwamura"/> For bringing the AV industry to the attention of mainstream media in Japan, as well as her polite but frank outspokenness on subjects like sex and censorship, Kjell Fornander calls her "the first high-profile AV actress."<ref name="Fornander"/> She permanently changed the way that the AV industry and AV actresses were viewed by the general public in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ZENRA {{!}} Kaoru Kuroki: JAV's Unconventional First Superstar |url=https://www.zenra.net/blog/kaoru-kuroki-javs-unconventional-first-superstar |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=www.zenra.net}}</ref>


Kuroki's life is portrayed in ]'s show '']'', where she is portrayed by actress Misato Morita.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/08/07/tv/story-naked-ambition-dubious-morals/|title='The Naked Director': A story of naked ambition and dubious morals|last=Schilling|first=Mark|date=2019-08-07|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref>
==Notes==

{{reflist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}


== Sources == == Sources ==
* {{cite book |last=Adachi|first=Noriyuki|title=アダルトな人びと - Adaruto na Hitobito ("Adult" People)|publisher=Kodansha|location=Tokyo|language=Japanese|isbn=4-06-205546-5}} * {{cite book |last=Adachi|first=Noriyuki|title=アダルトな人びと - Adaruto na Hitobito ("Adult" People)|year=1992|publisher=Kodansha|location=Tokyo|language=Japanese|isbn=4-06-205546-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Bornoff|first=Nicholas|title=Pink Samurai: An Erotic Exploration of Japanese Society; The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan|origyear=1991|edition=Paperback|year=1994|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=0-586-20576-4|chapter=Bye-Bye Pink Cinema, Hello Adult Video}} * {{cite book |last=Bornoff|first=Nicholas|title=Pink Samurai: An Erotic Exploration of Japanese Society; The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan|orig-year=1991|edition=Paperback|year=1994|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=0-586-20576-4|chapter=Bye-Bye Pink Cinema, Hello Adult Video}}
* {{cite web |title=Ex-porn star wins settlement in Japan|archiveurl=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/51935.html|archivedate=2007-04-14|url=http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070414p2a00m0na001000c.html|publisher=]|date=], ]|accessdate=2008-01-31|language=English}} * {{cite web |title=Ex-porn star wins settlement in Japan|url=http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070414p2a00m0na001000c.html|publisher=]|date=April 14, 2007|accessdate=2008-01-31}}{{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html|title=A Star is Porn|accessdate=2007-04-25|last=Fornander|first=Kjell|year=1992|month=July|publisher=|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060516235928/http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html|archivedate=2006-05-16}} * {{cite web|url=http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html |title=A Star is Porn |accessdate=2007-04-25 |last=Fornander |first=Kjell |date=July 1992 |publisher= Tokyo Journal |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516235928/http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/pornborn.html |archivedate=2006-05-16 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|title=Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen|accessdate=2007-04-25 |last=Iwamura|first=Rosemary|year=1994|publisher=Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 7 no. 2 }} * {{cite web|url=http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|title=Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen|accessdate=2007-04-25|last=Iwamura|first=Rosemary|year=1994|publisher=Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 7 no. 2|archive-date=2007-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503222203/http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/7.2/Iwamura.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0121020.htm|title=黒木香 (Kuroki Kaoru)|accessdate=2007-04-25|language=Japanese|publisher=}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0121020.htm|title=黒木香 (Kuroki Kaoru)|accessdate=2007-04-25|language=Japanese|publisher= JMDB}}
* {{cite web |url=http://i-dic.dorachan.com/data?krkkor00|title=黒木 香 - Kuroki Kaoru|accessdate=2007-04-25|publisher=|language=Japanese}} * {{cite web|url=http://i-dic.dorachan.com/data?krkkor00|title=黒木 香 - Kuroki Kaoru|accessdate=2007-04-25|publisher='Web I-dic' (Idol Dictionary)|language=Japanese|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190035/http://i-dic.dorachan.com/data?krkkor00|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.zakzak.co.jp/gei/2006_05/g2006052404.html|title=黒木香さんの記事「プライバシー侵害」２２０万賠償命令 (article on privacy suit)|date=2006-05-24|accessdate=2009-09-23|publisher=www.zakzak.co.jp|language=Japanese|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908112813/http://www.zakzak.co.jp/gei/2006_05/g2006052404.html|archive-date=2017-09-08|url-status=dead}}


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Latest revision as of 19:46, 14 December 2024

Japanese pornographic actress
Kaoru Kuroki
黒木香
Born (1965-01-21) 21 January 1965 (age 59)
Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materYokohama National University
Occupationadult video performer
Years active1986-94
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)

Kaoru Kuroki (黒木香, Kuroki Kaoru, born 21 January 1965) is a Japanese former adult video performer and a multi-media personality. Her role as a media counselor expressing outspoken views on sex and society have drawn comparisons to Cicciolina, sex therapist Dr. Ruth, and actress Linda Lovelace.

Life and career

Early life

Kaoru Kuroki (whose stage name translates to "Fragrant Blacktree") was born to a conservative, comfortably middle-class family. The daughter of an engineer, Kuroki was a naturally gifted child and showed artistic talent from an early age. She left public school at the age of 15 to attend art college, and later studied Renaissance art history at Yokohama National University.

While still attending Yokohama National University, Kuroki began appearing in adult videos (AVs), at first considering this to be another form of art. "I wanted to approach it purely as a performance art form, but it turned out to be a lot crazier than that. In fact, if I'd continued to see porno video as art without also acknowledging it as just a fuck film, I wouldn't have gone this far."

She expresses admiration for the films of Nagisa Oshima, Ingmar Bergman, and Bernardo Bertolucci, but, while she continues to view her AV performances as a social mission, she contrasts the AV with film. She says the AV "has a different atmosphere. It's not very sophisticated, in fact it's primitive. It's a bit like eating and menus in restaurants: you're hungry and you have a sudden craving for noodles, so you go and eat noodles. Your appetite is towards a porno video, so you go and rent whatever turns you on. And as with food, viewers can use basic ingredients to 'cook' the desired stimulation from the video themselves."

AV debut

Kuroki's adult video debut was SM Poi no suki (SMぽいの好き), released in October 1986 by the major AV company Crystal-Eizou, under the innovative AV director and former porn actor, Toru Muranishi. Muranishi is credited as one of the creators of the documentary style often emulated in Japanese AVs. Kuroki, sharing Muranishi's opinion that the AV should have a documentary quality, continued to work with him when he left Crystal-Eizou to found his own company, Diamond Visual. Her videos for Muranishi usually began with her seated, sharply dressed, and addressing the camera in an improvised talk on a subject like sexual liberation. This would typically be followed by a modeling segment, either nude or in a swimsuit. The remaining video footage would be taken up with various sexual performances, often involving S&M.

Regarding the sex scenes, Bornoff states, "the peripherals in a Kuroki video are fairly violent stuff. She oscillates between abused sexual slave and the epitome of self-assertion with schizophrenic rapidity. To some, the documentary makes for a jarring experience; the feedback she gets from viewers can be surprising. Some say they almost find her frightening; that they can't get a hard-on."

Kuroki responds, "The men who find my videos frightening often recognize the wilder, more uninhibited side of their own girlfriends. In order to liberate themselves, they must first take off their armour. If a man recognizes Kuroki in his wife or girlfriend, he is forced to strip it off in order to deal with her. That's how I liberate both sexes."

Mainstream breakthrough

Kuroki was engaged in video and magazine appearances typical to being an AV model when she caught the attention of the mainstream media in 1988. Her decision to stop shaving her under-arm hair, as a symbolic protest against Japan's long-standing censorship of the depiction of pubic hair in print or film, gained Kuroki interviews with the mainstream media. Kuroki concedes that her decision to stop shaving her under-arms worked as a gimmick to help set her apart from the mass of AV girls, but considers it also an expression of femininity and identity. Impressed by her ability to speak intelligently and matter-of-factly about subjects normally considered unmentionable, late-night talk shows began inviting Kuroki as a guest. Soon she had become a popular daytime TV panellist, was appearing in commercials, and served as a large department store's campaign girl. While she was popular with her male audience for her AV appearances, she also appealed to a female audience by expressing feminist view on daytime television. In addition to TV talk shows, Kuroki also had a role in the TV Asahi costume drama Shigotonin, Kyōto e Iku Yamiuchinin no Nazo no Shuryō (必殺スペシャル春一番　仕事人、京都へ行く　闇討人の謎の首領！) which was broadcast on March 3, 1989.

Reflecting on her popularity, unprecedented for an AV model up to that time, Kuroki points out that there was a social need for someone like her. "I talk about life as a woman, but with my background, obviously the focus is on sex. I seem to have become a spokeswoman for the too many women who are embarrassed to talk about it."

In 1988 Kuroki visited Italy where she met Cicciolina, whom she regards as sensei. She was pleased to find that many of their opinions coincided, but was surprised by Cicciolina's discomfort with Kuroki's masochistic tendencies and preference for the S&M genre. Kuroki attributes this to cultural and personal differences, and does not feel that S&M equates to submissiveness. Indeed, Fornander points out that Kuroki made AVs in general, and S&M in particular a feminist issue in Japan.

In March 1989, Kuroki teamed with Diamond Visual's new AV star, Kimiko Matsuzaka in the adult video 1107 Millimeter Impression (1107(いいおんな)の感動). Later in 1989, in two entries of Diamond Visual's How to Sex - Sexual Information series of instructional sex videos, Kuroki served as the instructor/lecturer with Matsuzaka performing the physical demonstrations. Kuroki and Matsuzaka were brought together again in Toru Muranishi's December 1990 pink film, Daikyonyuu: Noshikakaru (大巨乳　のしかかる), for Xces.

After Matsuzaka's retirement from AV appearances in 1990, Kuroki also appeared with Matsuzaka at the Akasaka club, "Mirukuhooru" ("Milk Hall").

Retirement and legacy

Kuroki retired from public life in 1994. In a 1994 interview, Kuroki said that she suffered physical violence from Muranishi shortly before her retirement. In the January 2002 issue of the magazine Josei Seven, and the January 2004 issue of Shukan Post, stories and pictures on Kuroki's private life were printed. Kuroki claimed that as an ordinary citizen no longer in the public eye, the magazines needed her permission to print these stories. Kuroki sued the publisher, Shogakukan, for 22 million yen for invasion of privacy. In April, 2007, the presiding judge ruled the articles illegal and awarded Kuroki 1.7 million yen (about $14,000). Shogakukan was reportedly considering appealing the decision.

At the height of her popularity, Kuroki's AVs were averaging 17,000 sales a piece, a huge amount by industry standards, exceeding a million dollars. According to Rosemary Iwamura, "Kaoru changed the image of AV girls; she didn't seem to be making videos because of a lack of options but rather as an informed choice." For bringing the AV industry to the attention of mainstream media in Japan, as well as her polite but frank outspokenness on subjects like sex and censorship, Kjell Fornander calls her "the first high-profile AV actress." She permanently changed the way that the AV industry and AV actresses were viewed by the general public in Japan.

Kuroki's life is portrayed in Netflix's show The Naked Director, where she is portrayed by actress Misato Morita.

References

  1. Bornoff, Nicholas (1994) . "Bye-Bye Pink Cinema, Hello Adult Video". Pink Samurai: An Erotic Exploration of Japanese Society; The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan (Paperback ed.). London: HarperCollins. p. 613. ISBN 0-586-20576-4.
  2. Bornoff, p.416.
  3. ^ Fornander, Kjell (July 1992). "A Star is Porn". Tokyo Journal. Archived from the original on 2006-05-16. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  4. Bornoff, p.610
  5. Bornoff, p.616, 618 (Quotes from Kaoru Kuroki are from interviews conducted by Nicholas Bornoff)
  6. Bornoff, p.611, 614, 616
  7. "1986" (in Japanese). AV 研究所 (AV Research Laboratory). Archived from the original on 2010-10-03. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  8. Bornoff, p.610-612.
  9. ^ Bornoff, p.617
  10. Bornoff, p.618
  11. ^ Bornoff, p.612
  12. ^ Iwamura, Rosemary (1994). "Letter from Japan: From Girls Who Dress Up Like Boys To Trussed-up Porn Stars - Some of the Contemporary Heroines on the Japanese Screen". Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 7 no. 2. Archived from the original on 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  13. 必殺スペシャル春一番 仕事人、京都へ行く 闇討人の謎の首領！ (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  14. １１０７ミリの感動。 松坂季実子 (in Japanese). rb.arzon.jp. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  15. Adachi, Noriyuki. (1992). "Adult" People (アダルトな人びと, Adaruto na Hitobito) Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-205546-5. p.50
  16. 大巨乳 のしかかる (in Japanese). JMDB. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  17. Adachi, p.51
  18. ^ "Ex-porn star wins settlement in Japan". UPI. April 14, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  19. Kuboki, Rin (October 22, 2019). 伝説のAV女優・黒木香は「全裸監督」ヒットに何を思うのか…過去には出版社相手の裁判も. Bengo4.com (in Japanese). Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  20. "ZENRA | Kaoru Kuroki: JAV's Unconventional First Superstar". www.zenra.net. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  21. Schilling, Mark (2019-08-07). "'The Naked Director': A story of naked ambition and dubious morals". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2019-08-26.

Sources

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