, formerly known as VIP, is a Japanese adult video company with headquarters in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Company information

VIP

The AV company was founded in June 1981 and issued its first video, titled , in December of that same year making it one of the first adult video companies to be established in Japan. The studio continued production in 1982 with works that included S&M and scatological themes. In 1983, the company changed its name from VIP Enterprise to . By 1985, the studio was using actresses with some background in entertainment, such as Anri Inoue (井上あんり) who made her AV debut with VIP in August 1985 with the video . The major event in the company's history in the 1980s was the debut of Hitomi Kobayashi in 1986 in her video ''Forbidden Relationship''. With her style and looks, Kobayashi was a major factor in bringing in the concept of the AV Idol to the fledgling Japanese adult video industry, and, as the "AV Queen", she brought outstanding sales to VIP. In February 1987, Nao Saejima debuted with the company. Another early star for VIP was Rui Sakuragi, who made her debut in April 1989 under the name Masako Ichinose but took the name Rui Sakuragi the following year.

Stella / Atlas21

In January 1990, a new AV company, , was formed as a subsidiary to VIP and, four years later in May 1994, the company's name was changed from Stella to Atlas21. By July of that year, the company had undergone a major reorganization, and the VIP company name and label were dropped in favor of the Atlas21 name and Atlas label. Two new labels, "OZ" and "SAURS", were also introduced as part of the newly named Atlas21 studio. Sometime before 1997, Atlas21 joined with the Kuki group of companies, which, in addition to Kuki, comprised Alice Japan, Max-A, Media Station (Cosmos Plan), Big Morkal and

Sexia The is a Japanese adult video (AV) company best known for videos produced under its label. Company information Try-Heart began releasing videos under the Pink Drug label at least as early as December 1995, and with production codes of the type ...

. They were, at one time, the largest family of AV companies in Japan. Along with the other companies in the Kuki group, Atlas21 belonged to the voluntary ethics organization called (in English) the Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA) or (in Japanese) 日本ビデオ倫理協会 (Nippon Bideo Rinri Kyoukai or Japan Video Morality Association), usually abbreviated as ビデ倫 (Biderin or Viderin). Prominent AV actresses who appeared in Atlas21 videos in the late 1990s included Asami Jō, Jun Kusanagi, Yuri Komuro, Madoka Ozawa and Bunko Kanazawa.

Recent history

In August 1998, the company revived the VIP name as a separate subsidiary company, . In addition to earlier Atlas21 AV stars Ai Kurosawa and Bunko Kanazawa, the new VIP also featured such actresses as Akira Watase, Nao Oikawa, Naho Ozawa and Riko Tachibana. In 2005, the Atlas21 company reported capital of 13 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

(about $130,000 USD), and it had 11 employees. Both Atlas21 and VIP ceased production of new adult video products in December 2006. From it
official website
the company gives access t
another site
which offers downloads of many of the early classic videos produced by the company, including works by Hitomi Kobayashi, Rui Sakuragi and Ai Iijima. The VIP label is now used by , another AV production company, which has been issuing videos under this label since at least 2001.

Labels

Atlas21 In addition to the Atlas label, the studio also used: *Gaia *Oz *Saurs VIP In addition to the VIP label, the following were also used: *Chao *God *Ribon

Directors

Noted directors who have worked for VIP or Atlas21: * Kunihiro Hasegawa * Katsuyuki Hirano * Masato Ishioka * Kei Morikawa * Yukihiko Shimamura *

Akira Takatsuki is a Japanese adult video (AV) director and producer, foremost known as a director of busty (and chubby) as well as kinbaku fetish genres. Early career Takatsuki enrolled at the Chuo University in 1979 where he became a member of the film socie ...

Actresses

A selected list of some of the actresses who have appeared in videos for VIP and Atlas21: * Hotaru Akane * Minori Aoi * Ami Ayukawa * Mari Ayukawa * Ai Iijima * Asami Jō * Bunko Kanazawa * Sakurako Kaoru *

Mariko Kawana (born November 9, 1967) began the most notable phase of her life as a Japanese model and actress who has appeared in softcore pink film and V-Cinema, and who has also been a hardcore adult video (AV) performer and director. She was one of the e ...

* Hitomi Kobayashi * Yuri Komuro * Aika Miura * Ran Monbu *

Nozomi Momoi was a popular and prolific Japanese AV idol, best known for her "baby face that topped off a huge set of boobs" She appeared in over 100 movies, appearing in up to ten releases per month. (contains nudity) She was murdered at the age of 24. Life ...

* Kyoko Nakajima * Nao Oikawa * Nao Saejima * Rui Sakuragi * Riko Tachibana * Akira Watase * Maria Yumeno

Series

Some popular series produced by Atlas21 and VIP: Atlas21 *Cos-Para *Home Delivery Soapland *The Call Girl *The Neo Uniform Connection *The Uniform Connection *Violent Lips VIP *Crime and Punishment *The Uniform Connection

Notes

Sources

* * {{Pornography Japanese pornographic film studios Film production companies of Japan Mass media companies based in Tokyo Mass media companies established in 1981 1981 establishments in Japan