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How to Become a Porn Actor in Japan
I am often asked these questions: "How can I become a porn actor in Japan?" or "How can I break into Japan's adult video (JAV) industry?"  I will do my best to provide the answers below.  Since I am a guy, please note this is written from a guy's perspective.

PREREQUISITES

How's your Japanese?
Just as you likely prefer to speak your native tongue, most Japanese people (including porn directors and actresses) prefer to speak theirs.  Do you speak the local language?  If not, you're going to face extreme communication barriers, and unfortunately you're probably not going to get very far in the JAV industry on your own.  Study Japanese.  It goes without saying that the payoff is immense.  If you're already fluent in Japanese, then you're WAY ahead of the game!

What's your visa situation?
Unless you're hung like an elephant, you're going to be hard-pressed finding a JAV studio willing to go through the trouble of sponsoring a work visa for you.  If you want to move to Japan to live and work as a porn actor, I suggest getting your proverbial foot (or your proverbial something else hehe) in the door by landing a non-adult job first.  For native English speakers, one of the most popular paths is that of an English teacher.  The visa topic is beyond the scope of this article, but an Internet search will reveal many English conversation schools and education centers with visa sponsorship programs.

The problem here is that even with a work visa, you still can't (legally) work in the adult video industry.  Work visas come in categories, and you must work within the specified category.  English teacher is a bit distant from porn actor, is it not?  There's a dirty joke here somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

There are likely exceptions, but the few foreign porn actors I've met in Japan have all had either a spousal visa (funny, huh?) or permanent residence because these categories of visa allow you to work in just about any industry.  That's ideally the kind of visa you'll need to legitimately work in Japan's adult video industry.

Most people pay their dues as normal working stiffs before moving on to a more "fun" industry.  Therefore, I would suggest first getting yourself setup in Japan with a normal (boring) job.  Then you're living in Japan and hopefully learning the language, and you're significantly closer to your ultimate goal.  One step at a time.

To summarize this intro--if you expect to have a fighting chance becoming a porn actor in Japan anytime soon, then you're already living and working in Japan with a spousal or permanent residence visa AND you have a pretty damn good command of the Japanese language.  In other words, I have never heard of anyone moving to Japan from their home country (without any Japanese language skills or visa), and becoming a full-time porn actor on day one.  It's certainly not impossible, but in my humble opinion, Japanese language skills and permission to live and work in Japan are absolute prerequisites.

BUILD A PROFESSIONAL-LOOKING PORTFOLIO
Let's suppose you're already living and working in Japan and have solid Japanese language skills.  What's next?

When you apply for a job or attend an interview, you usually prepare some sort of CV or resume, right?  If the job is in a creative industry like art, music, or acting, you prepare a portfolio, demo, or reel.  Similarly, if you're going to apply to be a porn actor, perhaps it's best to have something to show, some "resume" of sorts.  This will put you ahead of all the other applicants that just say something stupid like, "I'm 6'1", fit, and ready to rock and roll."  Imagine going to a job interview and saying that to the interviewer.

At the very least, get high-quality face and body photos taken or take them yourself with a decent camera.  Far better would be to make at least one amateur adult video that could serve as your "demo."  If you don't have luck recruiting an aspiring porn actress or very open-minded girlfriend to perform with you, you could shoot a simple solo scene or even soft video and post it online.  Now you at least have a link to something to show for yourself--a demo.  I highly recommend using Pornhub's model program for this because you'll quickly get a professional-looking profile page that can be used for this purpose.

The idea here is to get some of the wheels turning for yourself, demonstrating your interest and passion for breaking into the JAV industry.  Without a portfolio you just look like all the other douche bags that endlessly contact studios saying they want to bang pretty Japanese girls all day long.

APPLY TO JAV STUDIOS / MATCHING SERVICES
There are a few JAV studios I know of that accept applications from the public, as well as some matching services.  They may not necessarily be looking for non-Japanese actors, though, so don't get discouraged if you're not what they're looking for.  As you'd expect, I'm sure they receive a lot of applications, so be patient and don't take it personally if you never hear back.  Below are those I know of, and the links go direct to the actor application pages (when available).  As you'd expect, Japanese language skills and/or Google translate will certainly come in handy.

AV Actor Database
This is a JAV actor matching database service where you can register as an aspiring porn actor and create a profile.  JAV studios that use this service can then login, view your profile, and contact you with shooting opportunities.  I honestly don't know how legitimate this site is as I've never used it, but it is supposedly operated by major JAV studio RADIX--so that's a good sign.  Please note this is a paid service--there are registration fees.

Deeps
Deeps is a major JAV studio that sometimes has recruitment pages on their website.  They seem particularly interested in young guys.  As an older guy myself, I can understand this criteria because we older guys just love applying for porn jobs!  They probably get a lot of applications from the older generations.  Maybe they're willing to compromise on that if they really want a foreign guy?  Fingers crossed!

FS Knights Visual
FS Knights Visual shoots lots of gang-bang videos, so they're often on the lookout for male talent.  Honestly I haven't seen foreigners in their videos before, but I have seen blog posts written in English.

Shirohame
I'd say Shirohame deals mostly with amateurs, and I've seen a sprinkling of foreigners in their videos before.

Tsunami Cash Network Sites (Fellatio Japan, Legs Japan, Spermmania, etc.)
I've seen a number of foreigners in their videos, and in fact I think some foreigners own, manage, or are at least involved with operating this studio.  They recruit male talent via their application website "AV Danyu," which literally means "Porn Actor."  The site only has an application form available when they're actively recruiting for upcoming shoots.  Come back later if there's nothing posted there or if the site is down.

WAAP
Major JAV studio WAAP sometimes posts various male porn actor recruitment application forms on their contact page.  Many are for "juice men" that will probably just cum on the actress's face or for "masochistic boys" that will get dominated by the actress.

BE REALISTIC
Please don't expect a JAV studio (especially a major one) to just open their doors to you and give you a full-on sex scene at the start.  Many pay their dues doing bukkake "juice man" scenes, or working as extras in a non-sex capacity--like a perverted guy watching on the side-lines or husband getting cuckolded.  There's a hierarchy in Japanese porn, so be prepared to climb it.

Well-known Japanese porn actor "Shimiken" famously got his start in the JAV industry by eating a plate of human feces.  Here's hoping it's gotten easier!

Also, don't expect to be paid a lot or anything at all.  I know many studios pay only 1000-yen to the participants, but require getting a comprehensive 15,000-yen STD test beforehand.  I'm not saying people shouldn't get STD tests (they absolutely must!), but I'm pointing out that you may actually lose money by working in Japanese porn.  You probably won't start making money until you've climbed halfway up the hierarchy.

I don't mean to digress too much, but this is probably the core reason why there's a reported "shortage" of Japanese porn actors.  Most of the jobs pay almost nothing, so you'd have to work a non-adult job to make ends meet.  Add to that the cultural shame and stigma surrounding Japan's porn industry, and you have the "perfect storm" explanation for this porn actor shortage.

WHY NOT JUST MAKE YOUR OWN PORN?
In the modern Internet era, asking how to become a porn actor is almost akin to asking how to become a Youtuber.  Just create a Pornhub model account, and congratulations--you're a porn actor!
 
I cannot stress this enough.  If you seriously want to become a porn actor, then the absolute best advice I can give you is to just shoot your own porn.  While it may take more time, effort, and cash from the get-go, it's far more personally rewarding and enjoyable producing your own fantasies as opposed to the fantasies of others.  Please trust me on this.
 
Just as countless mainstream performers, musicians, and celebrities these days get their start creating and posting their own creative content on the web, so too do many porn actors get started this way.  In fact, entire careers on built upon self-produced content.  This is essentially the road I traversed, and I'm over the moon with how far it's gotten me.  I can say with absolute certainly that I never would have made contacts nor met others in the adult industry had I not created my own videos.

Whether shooting your own porn becomes just a career stepping-stone or the entire journey, starting here puts you way ahead of all the other aspiring porn actors with nothing to show for themselves.  If you want to work in the adult video industry, then put yourself in the adult video industry.
 
This article has more information about shooting porn in Japan:
How to Make Porn in Japan

GOOD LUCK!
I wish you good luck in becoming a porn actor in Japan.  I will take this time to express my heartfelt appreciation for any and all support of the Covert Japan project.  Please consider purchasing my videos or making a donation.

Thank you!

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