Riko Tachibana

Early life

Riko Tachibana was born in Tokyo on November 10, 1984. Tachibana is tall for a Japanese woman, reportedly standing 172 cm (nearly 5' 8") in early publicity, though her height was later reported to be 168 cm (5' 6"). Tachibana was not comfortable with her above-average size, saying, "I used to have a real inferiority complex about my height. I always thought guys liked little girls better." Tachibana's inferiority complex began to dwindle as she noticed that many men were attracted to her because of her height, wanting her to baby them. For example, when she was in a relationship with a high-level salaryman in his 30s, he asked her to pat his head while he lay in her lap, and tell him, "Good boy, good boy."

AV debut

Like many AV stars, Tachibana was found by a talent scout in Shinjuku. She made her AV debut in 2003. The first volume in the Hibino label's Women Taller Than 170 cm series was released in November 2003, and became a huge hit with AV audiences, reflecting a demand for taller models. Tachibana's height helped her get the starring role in the third entry in the series, released in May 2004. When interviewed for the video release, Akinori, the director of the video, commented, "You've got no idea how hard it is to come up with tall actresses... the demand is just too great to fill."

"Riko-pin"

As she gained in popularity, Tachibana acquired a nickname, Riko-pin (リコぴん). She became a prolific star of AVs, performing in a variety of themes and roles.

In one of her earliest roles, Hibino's cosplay Super Knight Atliger, Riko plays one of a trio of Power Ranger type heroines. In VIP label's Popular Old People's Home, released in December 2004, Tachibana was part of the female staff at a rest home populated by sexually aggressive senior citizens. AV Actress Is A Receptionist, released in January 2005, was part of a humiliation-themed series on the Hot Entertainment label. The situation, claimed to have been rehearsed for two months and employing thirty extras, has Tachibana taking a job as a receptionist at a job fair. While she is engaged in the duties of her job, an actor has sex with Tachibana from behind. The video records Tachibana's embarrassed efforts to maintain a straight face while performing her receptionist role.

Female Prisoner Amazons from September 2005 was a women in prison-themed DVD with Tachibana heading a large cast of AV idols. In her starring role in the ninth entry in CineMagic's Bondage Doll, Tachibana underwent training designed to lead her to the pleasures of masochism. Bondage, gagging, and blind-folding ensue. In July 2006, Tachibana was again the star of a humiliation-themed DVD, Lesbian Teachers' Water Spanking. In the DVD, she played the role of a teacher who is tied up and dowsed with bodily fluids.

I'm Her Pet from November 2006 had Tachibana in the role of the humiliator, as she embarrasses her male co-star. A scene in which Tachibana provokes her partner's genitalia with cotton swabs and a toothbrush is singled out as a highlight.

Among the many DVDs exploiting Tachibana's height, Tall Actresses vs. Small Actors joined Tachibana with eleven other tall AV idols to engage in sex with diminutive men. The October 2007 DVD, Lewd-1 Grand Prix, pitted Tachibana against AV actress Noa. In the DVD, these two highly skilled AV performers compete for the title of "Lewdest" in Japan. The two actresses were again paired in the January 2008 DVD, Double Dream Super Special, this time working together, rather than in competition, in lesbian-themed performances.

Career recognition and retirement

Within four years of her debut, Tachibana had appeared in over 200 titles. In recognition of her highly prolific career, Tachibana was given the award for Most Appearances at Japan's Adult Broadcasting Awards in 2007. When accepting the award, Tachibana impressed the audience by lifting her dress and squatting with her legs apart. She promised the crowd that she would continue her work in the industry, saying, "I still want to make other people orgasm, and me as well. So why don't we orgasm together again?"

Tachibana acted her favored "Perverted Women" role for the last time in her farewell video, released on the Real Works label in March 2008. In the title of the video, an entry in the "Perverted Woman from Hell" series, Tachibana proclaimed herself the "Eternal Strongest Perverted Woman".

When in 2012, the major Japanese adult video distributor DMM held a poll of its customers to choose the 100 all-time best AV actresses to celebrate the 30th anniversary of adult videos in Japan, Tachibana was voted into 39th place in the balloting. Tachibana also had fans outside Japan as well; a 2012 article in the Taiwanese online news service NowNews listed her as one of the top 10 Japanese AV idols.

Magazine appearances