Ahem, now that I’ve got your attention… This is Maria Ozawa, arguably the biggest Japanese Adult Video (AV) Star. She’s of French-Canadian and Japanese descent, which makes her “exotic” looks a big hit in Japan and abroad. Also known as “Miyabi”, she’s wildly popular in other Asian regions, especially Southeast Asia. She’s branched out into acting, well non-porn acting anyway (a girl can’t do bukkake forever, right?), co-starring in a Taiwanese slasher movie called Invitation Only , which did have copious amounts of nudity and sex scenes involving her but I digress… Anyhoo, Miyabi’s next project was to be an Indonesian sex comedy called Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi). The basic plot is this: Two horny teens see Maria Ozawa in Indonesia (she’s vacationing). Since they are her biggest fans, they decide to kidnap her and in the end, learn about life and love. Before you say it, I know it has “rape fantasy” written all over it. But, it’s supposed to be a romantic comedy, in the vein of Weird Science, I guess.

Maxima Films, an outfit that is notorious for soft-core slasher flicks, announced Miyabi’s hiring in September to great fanfare. Apparently, her largest fanbase outside of Japan is in Indonesia. In fact, Japanese porn’s popularity is on the rise in Indonesia. But, right after the local press picked up this story, right-wing and fundamentalist group, the Islamic Defenders Front (IDF), mounted a protest in front the production’s offices. They protested that Maxima should consider “public sensitivity” in the hiring of a porn actress and why wasn’t a local actress considered. 

IDF protesting in front of the Maxima Film Office

The protesters promised to “accost” her if she arrived in Indonesia (insert joke here: Hey, I’d “accost” her too!). After intense discussions between Maxima and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the production company decided to pull the plug on the project, for the sake of the Nation. 

Many people who oppose the work of Maria Ozawa/Miyabi in Indonesia consider her as public enemy no. 1, because why are young Indonesian/Islamic teenagers fornicating to a Japanese AV model? It’s almost as if it’s not the puberty lust per se, but the fact that she’s Japanese and not local, which may be an equal problem. Granted, during WWII, the Japanese occupation caused great hatred and resentment. 

However, Maria Ozawa is not the only AV Idol to cause quite a stir in the Muslim world. Sora Aoi is considered no. 2 in AV Idol popularity. She had a bit part in a Thai rom-com called Hormones, where she played herself, riding a train to the Thai countryside to attend a Moon Harvest festival. She runs into a cute Thai boy and sparks fly.

Hormones is a Thai teen answer to Love Actually and became the biggest hit in Thailand in 2008. Many say thanks in part to Sora Aoi, who has a huge following in there. The studio was anxious to avoid the possible controversy surrounding Aoi’s casting that they deliberately took her name off all press materials, as well as filmed her scenes in secret. It was not until she was seen in the trailer that fans immediately became hungry for this film. Still, the Thai producers got some heat for casting Aoi from another Islamic group  based in Bangkok. Again, the reasons were similar. 

I find this unfair. These girls gotta eat! So leave them alone, Islamic fundamentalists! Sure, they work in porn and so what if they’re Japanese lineage reminds you of the Japanese Empire and all its war atrocities in your country. I’m sure these porn stars don’t even know when WWII happened. 

And yeah, it looks like young Muslim teens (and grown men) are choking the chicken to their extensive filmography, but hey, Japanese girls are just too darn cute to resist. Like Hello Kitty. But naked. And with big boobies.