Jun Kusanagi

Early life

Jun Kusanagi was born in Tokyo on June 5, 1978. When asked to what she attributed her figure, Kusanagi commented, "I go to fitness club, facial cares, and I do exercise at my home too… I did sit-ups a lot of times. When I was high school, I could do 200."

AV debut

Kusanagi made her adult video (AV) debut in October, 1996 with the video Pin Pin Girl, directed by Yuji Sakamoto and released by the MAX-A studio. Because publishing companies own model's stage names, it is not uncommon for an AV actress to use more than one name during her career as she moves from company to company. Kusanagi debuted with the MAX-A studio under the name Mizuho Kanou (加納瑞穂, Kanō Mizuho), and continued to use that name in appearances for MAX-A and Alice Japan even after she had begun using the name Jun Kusanagi for other companies. She has also used the stage names Narua Asami (淺海成亞, Asami Narua), and Kirin Junna (純名きりん, Junna Kirin).

Kusanagi appeared in five more adult videos during the next six months. She made one more video for MAX-A in November, and then moved to the Alice Japan label in December where she made the other four. Obscene Model, her first work for Alice Japan, was also directed by Sakamoto while Kusanagi's fourth video for the company, Reverse Soap Heaven, was in the popular genre of a prominent AV actress supposedly performing in a soapland.

After having made six AVs, Kusanagi stopped performing in videos for a time to concentrate on modeling. Alice Japan issued a compilation video entitled Mizuho Kanou Forever in July 1997. Kusanagi apparently had dental work done soon after her break from AV performance, as her subsequent appearances in photobooks and magazines show that her teeth, previously slightly crooked, were now straight. Appearing under the stage name Narua Asami, the first of Kusanagi's five photobooks, Queen Bee, was released in August 1997, and several magazine appearances under this stage name followed.

First AV come-back

Kusanagi's come-back video, again with Alice Japan under the name Mizuho Kano, was in March 1998 with Big Tits Rebirth. After this come-back she released about one video a month for the next year and a half. For Eichi Publishing, Kusanagi appeared in her second photobook, Kubire, which was released in April 1998. This was her first appearance under the name Jun Kusanagi. She continued appearing in videos for Alice Japan as Mizuho Kano, while making video and magazine appearances as Jun Kusanagi when working for Eichi during this same period. The photobook Kubire 2 came out in December 1998.

Kusanagi's videos at this time delved into several of the genres in Japanese adult videos including S&M, and cosplay. Two other videos were in the documentary style genre and focused on the video audience. The plot of Home Delivery Soapland has her character making house-calls for "the poor lonely guy who watches our videos" and in the January 1999 release, Saint Lady Molester, the plot involves sex with the winners of an Internet contest.

Second retirement and come-back

In August 1999, Kusanagi again released a farewell appearance, the photobook Jun, and a calendar for the year 2000. Two years later, with Playboy photographer, Kim Mizuno, Kusanagi produced an 80-page, hardcover volume entitled Dangerous Curve which was released in April 2001. In her diary she expressed disappointment that she felt her career had failed. It could be due to a combination of bad business decisions, and the fact that she had passed her prime so quickly. Another retirement from public life during the first half of the 2000s followed, during which time the Alice Japan, Atlas21 and MAX-A labels released several compilations of scenes from Kusanagi's previous work, as well as re-issues of the original videos.

In July 2003, Kusanagi followed AV idols Ai Iijima and Madoka Ozawa by seeking to expand her career in Taiwan. She performed at a multimedia show in Taipei's World Trade Center. One news report declared her appearance in the country had created a "media storm", but also found that her "dancing prowess and stage show were unimpressive" and that her audience was generally "disappointed". She became a subject of controversy when it was claimed that she was working in the country without a permit. She had to cancel performances on the second day of her planned 3-day tour of the country. Kusanagi's agent in Taiwan claimed that she was not actually working in the country, but that she was only engaging in photo opportunities, shopping and visiting fans. Local Chinese-language newspapers, however, reported that she had been paid.

In May 2006, ten years after her debut, she released a new DVD with Crystal-Eizou called Comeback!! Queen of Kubire Jun Kusanagi (復活！！くびれの女王 草凪純). The June issue of Urecco magazine devoted a feature to Kusanagi's return to the AV world. Kusanagi made several more videos after this second comeback, many in the "mature woman" or "madame" genre for Madonna, but also including nakadashi and simulated rape releases for Attackers and an interracial video (Black Men And Promiscuity) for Moodyz. She also began to appear in a number of "uncensored" videos, those without the pixelation used to disguise the genitals required in Japanese videos.

Kusanagi has been featured in U.S. publications Playboy and Penthouse, an unusual achievement for a Japan-based model. She has appeared on various Japanese TV shows including Gilgamesh Night and the TV Asahi variety show Tonight 2. With her long and varied career, Kusanagi has been called "one of the legends of AV".

As of 2013, Kusanagi was billed at the hostess club Club Lucy in Roppongi.