The high-profile Japanese adult video star Shoko Takahashi has announced on social media on April 1 that she will retire from porn.
This news came out a few days ago and somehow slipped under our radar until last night. Despite the timing of the announcement, Takahashi emphasized that it’s not an April Fool’s joke. She has also shot down rumors that she is pregnant or getting married. Instead, she says, her motivation for retiring was the health risk that a long porn career entails.
Her official retirement release (MIDV-099) was shot at the end of last year and will come out on May 3.
With dozens of releases under her belt over her career (initially with Muteki, then with Moodyz), Takahashi is an award-winning AV performer who has also produced multiple photo books and various tie-in sex toys. She has branched out into acting too, including appearing in nude sex scenes.
Formerly a gravure idol who worked under the name Shoko Takasaki, she made her AV debut in 2016 after a scandal when she was exposed as doing compensated dating (no doubt motivated because of the surprisingly low fees than some gradols earn).
She instead rode out the scandal and turned it to her advantage by swiftly posing for nude photo shoots and launching a porn career.
Her debut was one of the most successful and memorable of the 2010s, and like former SKE48 idol Yua Mikami, one of the best examples of a crossover from a more mainstream industry to the adult one.
She is a fan favorite for her beautiful face as well as G-cup breasts. One of the many striking things about Takasho, as the 28-year-old is nicknamed, is her inverted nipples.
We won’t lie: this feels like the end of an era and we might shed a tear or two.
