is an early pioneering Japanese
adult video
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
(AV) production company. They have offices in the
Shibuya
Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station.
As of April 1 ...
ward of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Company information
Athena Eizou was founded December 21, 1981, by
pink film
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...
director
Tadashi Yoyogi
is a Japanese director of pink film and adult videos (AV). He is known as the "Father of Japanese Adult Video" and has been credited with establishing the model in his early work for many of the adult videos produced since.
Life and career
Tadas ...
and Hikaru Kitoh (鬼闘光).
The
VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
and home video market in Japan was still very small at this time and Yoyogi, who has been described as the "Father of Japanese Adult Video", had produced his first adult video just a month before.
Japanese adult entertainment audiences, however, were already moving away from the theatrical
pink film
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...
and Athena Eizou and Yoyogi proved successful. The company's first star was
Kyōko Aizome
is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and AV and film director. She has been called "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan".
Life and career
Early life
Kyōko Aizome was born in Noda Chiba Prefecture. She grew up in a troubled hou ...
, called the "first hard-core porn actress in Japan", who appeared in several early releases in the 1980s. In the next decade, "big-bust" actress Mariko Morikawa made her AV debut with Athena with the July 1994 release ''Tits Way Too Huge''.
In 2010, the company, which is located in Tokyo's
Shibuya
Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station.
As of April 1 ...
ward, had a capital of 10 million Yen (about $100,000) and the CEO was 杉山英寛.
Athena Eizou has operated a websit
Athena Onlinesince April 2003 with an audience derived 84% from Japan and 12% from China. The website has videos available by mail order and by direct download, including a number of works from the early years of the company. The company produces about seven or eight new releases per month on DVD.
Labels
The company has used the following labels for its videos:
* Athena (アテナ)
* Directors
Directors
Several directors have worked with the company over the years:
*
Tadashi Yoyogi
is a Japanese director of pink film and adult videos (AV). He is known as the "Father of Japanese Adult Video" and has been credited with establishing the model in his early work for many of the adult videos produced since.
Life and career
Tadas ...
(代々木忠)
* Hikaru Kitoh (鬼闘光)
* Mitchel (ミツル)
* Eitaro Onuma (大沼栄太郎)
* Katsuya Ichihara (市原克也)
* Takehiro Yasuda (安田健弘)
Actresses
Some
AV Idol
An or is a type of pornographic film actress in Japan. It is a sub-category of the idol culture in Japanese pop entertainment. AV idols work in the pornographic business, often both as an actress as well as a model as the video performances ...
s who have appeared in Athena Eizou videos:
*
Kyōko Aizome
is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and AV and film director. She has been called "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan".
Life and career
Early life
Kyōko Aizome was born in Noda Chiba Prefecture. She grew up in a troubled hou ...
*
Eri Kikuchi
is a pink film actress and an early Japanese AV idol of the 1980s.
Life and career
Kikuchi was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on April 5, 1965. She started as a ''fuzoku'' (sex industry) girl in hotels and soaplands and also made appear ...
*
Yumika Hayashi
was a Japanese AV idol and '' pink film'' actress. She earned the title of "Japan's Original Adult Video Queen" during a 16-year career in which she starred in nearly 200 AVs and appeared in over 180 films. Hayashi was also a prominent ''pink fil ...
* Mariko Morikawa
*
Hitomi Shiraishi
is a former Japanese model, adult video (AV) actress, and a movie and TV actress from the 1990s. After retiring from performing, she went on to a second career as a movie screenwriter under the name Yukie Ochiai (落合雪恵).
Life and career
...
* Aki Tomosaki
* Akira Watase
Series
Some popular Athena series:
* Lewd Performance (いんらんパフォーマンス)
* Psycho Hypnotic Ecstasy (サイコ催眠エクスタシー)
* Secret Sexual Technique (性感極秘テクニック)
* The Interview (ザ・面接)
* Zubotsu Us! (おはズボッ!)
Notes
Sources
*
*
{{Authority control
Japanese pornographic film studios
Mass media companies established in 1981
Mass media companies based in Tokyo
1981 establishments in Japan
Film production companies of Japan