2022: A Terrible Year for JAV Star Retirements

Actresses come and go in porn, it’s as natural as the tide coming in and out. Every year we see loads of women enter and leave porn especially from one-off titles or amateur videos. However from long time career actresses and bigger names, not as much. This year however has been absolutely brutal. Big names from all over have called it quits. Retirements are expected eventually but you have to wonder if the lingering effects of the pandemic and the new AV laws have caused some of these retirements to become accelerated. Either with less work coming their way or actresses to decide to get into a new business to support themselves. Either way 2022 has been a Terrible Year for Retirements. We look into some of the biggest names of the year to call it quits.

Hitomi

The biggest retiree this year, and I mean the biggest, may have been Hitomi. Debuting in 2008 she called it just before hitting 15 years in the industry. The giant breasted babe saw her popularity reach far beyond her home country. Her large chest being very popular abroad perhaps more so. Quite a few writers here were big fans of her and are very saddened by her departure. However a ten year plus veteran leaving shouldn’t be a big shock and it was some time coming. Plus fans will be pleasantly surprised to hear she has not left the public eye entirely just yet. At the time of writing Hitomi is active on social media and Only Fans too. Posting some risqué pictures from time to time. She has said before about considering getting a breast reduction after her AV life. I imagine those giant knockers do a beating on her poor back. Still it’s hard to imagine a smaller chest Hitomi. This big boobied lady sits in a unique place in JAV history.   

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Hitomi Last Work! I Will Do My Best To Have Sex For The Fans! !!

Iori Kogawa

The next biggest name of end for me was Iori Kogawa. SOD Star’s long time star actress; she has been with them for all 10 years of her career. She’ll go one as one of their best actresses ever. I am a big fan of her and she’s one of my favorite actresses ever so this hit hard. A slender babe with a great ass and hips, she was also a top tier performer. Her career has stagnated in recent years so it’s been a long time coming. It wasn’t an especially big shock to hear she was hanging it up. I wrote a whole very lengthy series of pieces on her this year as a career retrospective. Give it a look if you are interested particularly if you are a Iori fan like me. A fantastic actress and I have talked plenty about her this past year. She and those hips will be missed.

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Iori Furukawa Retires / Part 2 Traveling Around Her Hometown And Thinking About The Future... The Last Real Face Bare Sex As A Woman

Tsubomi

Next is the longest running actress on our list today, the ever youthful Tsubomi. With 16 years under her belt Tsubomi has lasted longer than most. She has worked with many studios over the years but Wanz and Moodyz have been her constants. Many will know her for her cute youthful face and her longevity but I’ll remember her for her top notch deepthroating skills. A big time deep sucker who you never have imagined it from looking at her. Fellow ZENRA writer JWL translated an interview Tsubomi did after retiring. Speaking very frankly about her life and sporting a cute new blonde look. 

https://www.zenra.net/blog/tsubomi-life-after-retirement-one-final-interview

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AV Retirement Tsubomi Stays Tsubomi . . . Last Sex

Touka Rinne

Another shocker was Touka Rinne. A milfy actress that exploded in popularity and quality around 2020. She saw a long hiatus after that initial burst then would work for short while before hanging it all up. Another retirement that seemed to come out of nowhere and from an actress that was becoming a hot ticket item. Giving fans a real case of the whiplash. What a lovely balanced body on both fronts, a sexy foxy face, and seductive performing to boot. A terrific pair of breasts. Whatever brought on her quick exit JAV will miss her incredible body and confident personality. Gone too soon.

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Retirement Rinne Toka THE FINAL With Gratitude For 4 Years ... The First And Last Ban Is Lifted Ikuiku 3 Production 180 Minutes Special

Makoto Toda

Another solid long time actress with SOD for most of her career. Makoto Toda also called it quits this year. She did so in advance like some other actresses in recent memory. Which is something I actually quite like to see from outgoing actresses. After leaving she joined up with Faleno for her final year and poised to finish filming when the year is up. Her final film dropping early in 2023. An underrated actress she is very animated and puts on some really good ahegao type of faces. Far nastier than you think with the spit and the squirt. She’s a real water fountain. Her move to Faleno seemed to have really reinvigorated her. Her final films with Faleno have been quality with Makoto giving her all. This moderately popular cutie and her waterworks will be missed.

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Makoto Toda, Retired. Last Thing I Wanted To Do

Masami Ichikawa

The hits keep on coming for SOD. Another long timer for them Masami Ichikawa officially called it too. I say officially because she has effectively been retired for awhile now. Dealing with some sort of medical issue which has sidelined her. She stuck around during this hiatus still showing up for fan events and promos. It has been quite some time since Masami’s last video. Her retirement title wasn’t even a new title just a compilation of her past titles. A lesser known exclusive with them, she was known for her short hair style, slim yet fit body, and quite nice legs. We hope her and her health the very best.

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[3 disc Set] Thank You Very Much For All Of You For 7 Years! AV Retirement Commemoration, Masami Ichikawa's Best 30 Titles 12 Hours 3 Disc Set

Kurea Hasumi

Once again we have another actress who went on a long hiatus before officially announcing their retirement. This time it is the long time vet Kurea Hasumi. Known for her slender body, fantastically toned ass, and her terrific femdom performing. Her leaving is a loss for JAV particularly in the femdom space. Before her hiatus she was performing less and less, so you could see it coming up. During her break she has been working in her own bar Haru in Kabukicho. Which seems like her plan post porn, hanging up AV for bar hostess duties and she will still be using her AV name going forward. A pretty nice gig and who knows if you are in the area you might see her serving drinks or working behind the scenes. It’s still unsure if we will see a final retirement video from Kurea she did post about doing something for it but the new AV drought may have scrapped that plan. At the moment her farewell goes with a final video.

https://twitter.com/kurea_hasumi/status/1565009201679593472

Honoka Mihara

A veteran actress Honoka Mihara left very early on in the year and very quietly too. Sporting a very nice figure with a slim waist and a great pair of breasts. Honoka had a great figure overall. She also gravitated towards more hardcore titles and was a big deep throater. Despite all that I was never a big fan even though she ticked a lot of boxes for me. Still she was a very solid vet by all accounts and will be missed.

Ruka Inaba

Another bummer of an exit was Ruka Inaba. A cute and very busty babe, she was on hiatus for a good bit of 2022 only announcing her retirement late in the year. This soft faced cutie was a solid freelancer who was beloved by fans for her soft and pudgy body and of course those droopy H cup boobs. Only debuting in 2019 this up and coming left too soon. Interestingly she noted in her farewell note about trying to return to AV but to no avail.

https://note.com/inaba_ruka/n/nabfabc5a7850
Ruka’s Farewell Note

Shoko Takahashi

Our last biggest name of the day is Shoko Takahashi. The former gravure model who sent big waves in JAV when she first joined with Muteki. She started out around the same time as Yua Mikami and I’ve always seen the two as rivals. Shoko built up a very decent career over the years, being a steady star for S1. A fixture among the top of the top of the sales charts. With her trademark long dark hair, pale body, distinct jawline, and those soft big breast of hers. Regardless Shoko has a place in S1’s long list of star JAV actresses.

https://twitter.com/TS_takasho/status/1509848483205103616

Shoko’s goodbye video

Magnum aka Victor

Female actresses aren’t the only ones who retire. We’ve got a special bonus entry for Magnum aka Victor aka that one black guy in all the JAV interracial videos. The long time actor also called it quits this year very quietly. IR JAV will have to find a replacement for his steady presence. He has been such a mainstay in so many JAV IR videos they will find it difficult to do so easily. Here’s an interview he did after retiring. In it he talks a bit about his time in AV. In which he drops some juicy tidbits like how a JAV actress he was seeing was the one to scout him for adult video work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oQbbSyv9Nw
Comics Plus with Akasan

Even more retirements

Uta

From S1 we have Uta Hayano retiring; a very pretty girl with a nice body she never seemed to be into JAV at all. A hottie coasting on her looks is how I saw her. She only stuck around for a little over a year before quitting. Another case of untapped potential. A longer S1 girl Miharu Usa also quit this year. She’s been around much longer at around 6 years but I haven’t heard too much of her. I’ve never seen her or see her mentioned a lot on S1’s roster. We also have Minamo Nagase a cutie with a nice little curvy bod. She started with Prestige for a couple of years before retiring with Faleno. A small name that won’t mean much to many but Aya Mamiya left AV this year too. A great small time actress that got little love in terms of popularity. I was a fan of her too.

Mahiro

Mahiro Ichiki aka Yume Takeda bowed out this year too. She was with SOD for awhile before going on break and comeback to freelance. A hidden gem she leaves JAV to become a manga artist. Another actress I liked. This year has been in many ways harsh. We also had actresses that announced their retirement in advance last year only to hang it up this year. We Nanami Kawakami, Mikako Abe, and Minami Hatsukawa all do that. Minami’s exit was fantastic. Mikako crowdfunded her final title which featured a large fireball explosion. Nanami announced her engagement recently and is expecting soon. A good ending for all three vets.

Status Unknown

The biggest MIA at the moment is Mahina Amane aka Maria Hoshi. A cute and very busty babe, she has been on a break since late last year. She changed agencies the reason for the name change but seemed all set to continue on with her AV work. However she’s been MIA in both releases and on social media. Some of her socials being deleted at the moment of writing. What became a break I assumed due to the AV law drought has now become worrying. Mahina was one of my favorite actresses of 2022. This cute little petite chick needs to be in JAV. Hopefully things get resolved soon.

Come back Mahina/Maria

There is also the nice and mature Nozomi Tanihara. Who took a long break from JAV came back for a very short stint only to go on hiatus again. A really nice milfy actress who has gone missing in action. Lots of older actresses don’t do social media so it’s hard to know what she is up too. Another big name who we should all just consider retired is Meguri. It is almost two years since her last title with her being active on social media and camming on the side. It’s pretty safe to say Meguri is completely done with JAV and we’ll never get a proper farewell video with her.

Good News

It’s not all bad news some actresses have comeback from a long hiatus or even delayed their retirement. An Mitsumi announced her leave before the agency 8manpro swooped in to convince her to delay her retirement for some time. I am also very happy to say that Airi Suzumura is back with Prestige and shooting videos regularly. Looking a bit full and more mature I might add. I still wouldn’t be surprised if she retires soon but at least this time we would get a proper goodbye.

Karen Kaede aka Lemon?

The most shocking retirement headline of the year was with Idea Pocket’s former star Karen Kaede. Just as she was peaking in popularity and quality in her four year Karen called it off, citing issues with her management. A very surprising leave when many considered Karen to be Idea Pocket’s next flagship actress to center around. Personally Karen was rising high in my rankings and was making great videos. I have little doubt if she stayed than Karen would’ve been one of my top actresses for 2022. That is before a shocking announcement early in the year.

Even more surprising was/is her potential comeback. Coming back as Lemon Tanaka (not a great name in my opinion) with agency 8manpro. We still are unsure about a lot of the details of her comeback at the time of writing. Is she back for AV or just some gravure work? Will she be back with S1 or join a new studio? We will see with time but things don’t look completely over just yet. Either way it’s nice to see her back around the public eye after her quick disappearance. Looking much more fuller and healthier I might add. A good note to end on.

https://twitter.com/tanakalemon8

Karen I mean Lemon’s return

Closing

With the current state of things I expect more retirements as studios tighten up their belts. Expect to see also exclusive actresses being let go which isn’t all bad it might mean more freelancers. It could also mean actresses upping their game because of more competition for work. And it could also mean more people leaving the industry because of how hard it is. Chime in below for any actresses you think I missed.

Til next time FC out