Sun, May 10, 2015 page4

• Feature: Japan’s ‘Pornaldo’ keeps scoring as male actors fizzle

  • AFP, TOKYO
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  For a man carrying a nation’s libido on his shoulders, Japanese porn king “Shimiken” looks as fresh as a daisy.

  The 35-year-old cult hero, described by one director as the “Cristiano Ronaldo of sex” and famed for his Herculean powers between the sheets, grins as he tells reporters: “It’s a hard job, but somebody’s got to do it.”

  Shimiken — real name Ken Shimizu — has slept with more than 8,000 women for his 7,500 movies, and recently caused a stir by begging for reinforcements, tweeting that there were more Bengali tigers alive than male porn actors in Japan.

  

  Japanese porn actor Ken Shimizu, known as “Shimiken,” poses after an interview in Tokyo on March 18.

  Photo: AFP

  “We’re an endangered species,” he said in an interview. “There are about 70 male actors to 10,000 women.”

  Shimiken’s call to arms was retweeted thousands of times by fans worried that Japan’s US$20 billion “adult video” (AV) industry could be under threat.

  “We’re getting rarer and rarer, like pandas,” said the celebrity lothario, who drives a vintage DeLorean sports car — the time machine in Back to the Future — and carries phallus-shaped business cards. “It is boring for viewers to watch the same actors all the time. That’s the biggest worry.”

  Looking somewhat like pornography’s answer to British punk rocker Johnny Rotten, with his spiky orange hair, Shimiken insisted he has the staying power to keep on going, despite making an eye-popping two to three films in an average day.

  “Usually I sleep with two or three girls a day, so I have sex for about two hours every day,” he said. “It’s my dream job — I’ve been doing this for 17 years and I never get bored of it.”

  “It beats working in an office,” added the part-time bodybuilder, peeling off a t-shirt bearing the words “Sex Instructor” to show off his biceps. “I’ll do this until I’m 100.”

  He might have to, if the decline in male actors continues.

  Fitness fanatic Shimiken follows a strict diet, and the contents of his sports bag reveal protein bars, packets of chicken tenderloin and boiled eggs, as well as Japanese reindeer supplements and a drink with snake extract to boost performance. However, no little blue pills.

  “I don’t take Viagra,” said the workaholic actor, who uses luxury face creams to keep his essential kit in tip-top condition, adding that he has only once sustained an injury in the area — when an actress accidentally damaged him with a stiletto. “I don’t need it. Not yet.”

  Such is Shimiken’s legendary prowess that actresses swoon at the mention of his name, but few express surprise that Japan struggles to produce more male actors.

  “He’s a stud,” busty AV queen Anri Okita said. “He’s a marvel of nature, a genius. Male actors are a dying breed. It’s a physiological matter. Only Superman can do what they do, to have that technique and stamina. Japan can be proud of them.”

  Celebrated director Tohjiro, who goes by only one name, said: “Sex is difficult. It’s just like with football. You don’t see hundreds of [Lionel] Messis or Ronaldos running about, do you? It’s the same thing. Only Messi or Ronaldo can score the goals they do,” he said.
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