BREAKING: Yua Mikami Faces BACKLASH From Fans Over Past Remarks!

Catch up on the most trending gossip that we had our eyes on in January

If there’s one thing Yua Mikami knows how to do besides dominating our feeds, it's her innate talent to turn headlines out of old controversies all over again. The girl is a walking, talking PR machine.

Late this month, on January 25, the former JAV actress turned mainstream TV celebrity of some sort popped up on TV Asahi’s Ariyoshi Quiz, a deceptively casual late-night show where celebrities chat about their net worth while pretending they’re not absolutely flexing. The premise of the show has been kept casual, featuring ten famous faces, a one billion yen target, and numerous “oops, did I say that out loud?” moments. Naturally, Mikami didn’t disappoint. More like she found herself in her natural habitat.

And just when fans might’ve assumed she’d retired that topic for good, Yua had other plans.

“I caused a huge backlash once,” she began, with the kind of calm that suggests she absolutely knows where this story is going. She was referring, of course, to her infamous remark about a man’s “minimum acceptable annual income.” When asked on a previous show what she expected from a partner, she’d casually dropped the number: 30 million yen. And then, it’s as if the whole studio went silent.

What made the room tense wasn’t the number; it was what came next.

“But,” Mikami added, almost breezily, “that’s less than what I earn myself.”

Cue the collective gasp. Fellow panelists immediately jumped in with the verbal equivalent of grabbing her sleeve: “You’re going to get flamed again for that,” one warned. Another nervously asked if that was really how she wanted to phrase it. Readers, I bet if you were present, you could practically hear the producers sweating.

Unbothered, Yua doubled down. She explained she’d deliberately lowballed the figure. Thirty million yen wasn’t some gold-digger fantasy; it was her being modest. And yet, she still got dragged. “I feel like I should be able to say that,” she shrugged. Translation: if I’m earning more, why is this controversial?

Love her or loathe her, you have to admire the audacity. Yua isn’t apologizing for her statement. In a culture that still flinches when women talk openly about their finances, especially successful, beautiful women, she’s daring to face backlash over her comments.

If the studio audience wasn’t convinced by her unapologetic stance, her Instagram quickly ensured the rest of Asia took notice.

Earlier this month, Mikami went viral again, this time in Taiwan, where she appeared as a guest cheerleader for the Formosa Dreamers, a professional basketball team based in Taichung, Taiwan. And yes, she stole the show there as well.

Clad in an adorable mini-kimono-inspired cheer outfit mixed with team merch, Mikami didn’t just attend the event; she literally owned it. Fans barely noticed the score as cameras followed her every move, from the sidelines to backstage. In one particularly buzzed-about post on Instagram, she was granted locker room access, posing coyly with jerseys and urging fans to grab the team’s merchandise like she was the franchise’s unofficial MVP.

From appearing on game shows to international basketball courts, Mikami’s message is loud and clear… she plays by her own rules, and she’s very aware of her worth. The question isn’t whether she’ll get trolled again. The real question is whether anyone can stop talking about her long enough to notice she’s already moved on to her next headline.

Last summer, one of the industry’s most familiar and frankly unforgettable faces seemed to have taken a break due to health reasons. Back in August, the news about Boki Sugiura’s deteriorating health wasn’t just gossip; it was genuinely concerning. The man best known for playing the lecherous “old pervert” archetype on screen had suddenly dropped nearly 20 kilograms and was battling a rare illness so uncommon it affects just one in 300,000 people. He admitted in his own words.

At the time, details were scarce, but the crux of the matter was of grave concern. Boki revealed that his condition was serious enough to require immediate hospitalization and surgery. His planned July return was quietly shelved, and with it went multiple filming commitments already on the books. What really weighed on him, according to those close to the situation, wasn’t just his health but the ripple effect. New industry regulations required that contracts be renegotiated from scratch once he was unable to fulfill them. As productions stalled and paperwork piled up. Boki reportedly felt deeply apologetic about the inconvenience caused.

But fast forward to this week for a new update.

On January 20, Boki resurfaced on X with a post that instantly lifted the mood. He had officially completed his first shoot since recovering from his illness. This comeback project paired him with Shizuku Aonami. By his own admission, the experience was mixed. After such a long break away, he felt uneasy stepping back onto set, but by the end, he described the atmosphere as comfortable, and his nervousness almost melted once the camera rolled and muscle memory kicked in.

His words were humble, almost understated. It felt like he was committed to the task at hand and to meet every assignment with diligence and gratitude. If anything, it sounded like a man who knows exactly how close he came to losing the thing he loves and isn’t taking a second of it for granted.

And let’s be honest for a moment, the industry feels better with him in it.

The senior actor occupies a very specific lane that few can pull off without tipping into parody. His exaggerated expressions, shameless physical comedy, and unapologetic sleaze create a kind of heightened absurdity that elevates scenes beyond mundane plots. It’s as if he sets the tone from the first scene.

Seeing him return after such a health scare isn’t just a comeback; it’s a reminder of how fragile even the most “indestructible” characters really are. Behind the exaggerated leers and comedic depravity is a working actor who had to fight his way back to the set physically and emotionally.

So yes, congratulations are in order. Not just for finishing a shoot, but for surviving the detour it took to get there. Sugiura Boki is back, and if his past performances are any indication, he’ll be doing exactly what he does best, acting as the lewd next-door uncle for fans of the genre!

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