Kuki Inc. Industry Pornography Founded 1977 Founder(s) Nakagawa Noriaki Headquarters Ebisu Minami, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan Products Pornographic films Employees about 100 Website Kuki Kuki Inc. (株式会社九鬼, Kabushiki gaisha Kuki?) is a Japanese adult video (AV) company which has its headquarters in Ebisu Minami in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo. The company is involved in the production and distribution of videos, satellite and cable TV, and a large internet site, X CITY.1 Contents 1 Company history 1.1 "John See" 1.2 Labels 2 Actresses 3 X CITY 4 AV Grand Prix 5 Notes 6 External links Company history The corporation was founded by Nakagawa Noriaki (中川徳章) in 1977, making it one of the oldest adult products firms in Japan. The company was originally involved in producing adult magazines but with the growth of the adult video industry, Kuki released its first AV, Keshi Wasure Bideo (消し忘れビデオ?), in 1983.23 Among their early stars was Sakura Sena, who made her AV debut with Kuki in 1994 under the name Shiho Fujiwara.4 In the Spring of 1995 Kuki started a website, www.kuki.co.jp, which eventually became X CITY. Some six months later, the web services division became a separate company, Alchemia Inc. (株式会社アルケミア). An English sister site was launched in 1997 and a Korean site in 1998.56 The company built its reputation on softer aspects of Japanese porn, and with the exception of an occasional bondage or rape-themed video, most of their output consisted of new actresses in their first videos.7 By at least 1997, a number of the other older AV companies had gathered around Kuki to pool resources and use the X CITY website for sales and video on-demand: Alice Japan, Atlas21, Max-A, Big Morkal, Media Station (Cosmos Plan) and (later) Sexia. Together, they formed the largest porn conglomerate in Japan at that time although they have been surpassed since by Soft On Demand (SOD) and the Hokuto Corporation.89

In 2004 the entire Kuki group had more than 100 employees, about 20 of them at web-hoster Alchemia.5 Like many of the older and larger AV companies in Japan, Kuki has been a member of the ethics group Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA) which regulates content and the censorship mosaic required in Japanese porn videos.10 This resulted in many of the older videos produced by Kuki having a large, blocky analog mosaic as opposed to the newer thinner digital mosaics now in common use. From late 2007, Kuki has been re-issuing many of its older videos in the new mosaic as the Kuki Pink (KUKIピンクファイル) series.1112 "John See" The "John See" series was a collaboration between Kuki founder Nakagawa Noriaki and performance artist John Duncan who resided in Japan from 1982 to 1986. Noriaki offered to produce a series of commercial adult videos through Kuki which were written, directed and edited by Duncan under the name John See. Duncan looked on the experience as an experiment and an attempt to stretch the stereotypical boundaries of adult film. For Kuki, which may not have recouped their investment in the videos, it was good publicity. Reviews were mixed, those viewing them as art were positive but those looking at them strictly as hardcore porn were quite negative.6 Labels In addition to the Kuki and Kuki Pink labels, the company has also released videos under several other labels:13 Tank Vinl Toriko Grand Prix Bouken Gorilla GirlG Actresses Over its long history of more than 25 years in the adult video world, a number of AV Idols have appeared in Kuki videos, including the following actresses, several of whom made their debut with Kuki:14 Yua Aida Hotaru Akane Hotaru Aki Kyoko Ayana Izumi Hasegawa Milk Ichigo Ai Ijima Chinatsu Izawa Anna Kanzaki Sakurako Kaoru Mariko Kawana Eri Kikuchi Mariko Kishi Hitomi Kobayashi Miki Komori Yuri Komuro Nana Konishi Mayu Kotono Yaya Kouzuki Ai Kurosawa Aika Miura Ayano Murasaki Yu Namiki Asuka Ozora Rui Sakuragi Fuuka Sakurai Sakura Sena Manami Suzuki Maki Tomoda Aki Tomosaki Akira Watase Manami Yoshii Sally Yoshino Nao Yoshizaki Maria Yumeno X CITY

The X CITY website advertises itself as the "Biggest Adult Site in Japan!". The site charges a monthly flat fee for access to its services which include photographs, video clips and a streaming movie library from several AV companies. The website is run by a separate Kuki-owned corporation, Alchemia Inc. (株式会社アルケミア).15 The site was originally launched as www.kuki.co.jp in 1995 under Chief Operating Officer Tadasu Isogawa (五十川 匡). The commercial site Kuki Tower opened later that same year and a paysite was operative by the end of 1995. In 1996 the site was renamed as "THE CITY" and later as "X CITY". Streaming on-demand AV became available at the site in October 1997 and by 2001, broadband support was developed. An English version of the site was in operation by 1997, a Korean version followed in 1998 and a Chinese one in 2002.16 From 1998 to 2004, X CITY sponsored an award competition based on fan votes, the X CITY Grand Prix Awards which awarded various prizes to actresses and videos in companies associated with the Kuki group. The site also contains an extensive searchable database of AV Idols and their videos with data on release dates, co-stars, directors and production codes in English.17 A number of companies associated with Kuki are represented at the X CITY site. AV producers include:1819 Kuki Alice Japan Atlas21 Big Morkal Bouken Gorilla Cosmos Plan Max-A Off Side SexiA VIP Other companies include adult magazine publishers, anime producer Fiveways, Shin-Toho which makes pink films, ENGEL, a non-porn movie producer, and the SKY PerfecTV! satellite TV channel Cherry Bomb. AV Grand Prix

Kuki was a participant in the AV Grand Prix contest in 2008 with the entry Grand prix Nana Konishi (AVGP-10) starring Nana Konishi.20 The company also competed in the 2009 AV Grand Prix with First Flowering Hatsuhana (AVGP-112) starring Junko Hayama and directed by Johnny Shibuya.21 Notes ^ "Company Info for xcity.jp". Alexa. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/xcity.jp. Retrieved 2009-03-27.  ^ Otsubo, Kemuta (February 20, 2009). "アダルトビデオクロニクル　81’～85’/1" (in Japanese). All About. http://allabout.co.jp/entertainment/adultvideo/closeup/CU20090220A/. Retrieved 2009-10-31.  ^ Otsubo, Kemuta (February 20, 2009). "アダルトビデオクロニクル　81’～85’/2" (in Japanese). All About. http://allabout.co.jp/entertainment/adultvideo/closeup/CU20090220B/. Retrieved 2009-10-31.  ^ "1994" (in Japanese). AV 研究所 (AV Research Laboratory). http://homepage3.nifty.com/kurokami/years/years_1994.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-31.  ^ a b Ochs, Stephen (January 1, 2004). "Cross-Cultural Porn Digressions With Kuki Group's Tadasu Isogawa". business.avn.com. http://business.avn.com/articles/Cross-Cultural-Porn-Digressions-With-Kuki-Group-s-Tadasu-Isogawa-38603.html. Retrieved 2010-10-14.  ^ a b Peralta, Steve. "John Duncan". Neoaztlan. http://www.neoaztlan.com/issue-three/art/john-duncan/. Retrieved 2009-03-27.  ^ Banana Boy. "Who makes AV?". Japan AV. http://memweb.newsguy.com/~japanav/other/avfaq.html. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "-THE CITY Participants-". Archived from the original on 1997-01-08. http://web.archive.org/web/19970108101627/www.kuki.co.jp/MAIN_E.HTM. Retrieved 2010-05-10.  ^ Banana Boy. "JAV Production Companies". Japan AV. http://memweb.newsguy.com/~japanav/links/links.html. Retrieved 2009-03-27.  ^ "Fix for Japan Pop-Culture Addicts". Wired. April 12, 2004. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/04/63009?currentPage=all. Retrieved 2009-02-08.  ^ "レーベル > KUKI Pink (Label > KUKI Pink)" (in Japanese). DMM. http://www.dmm.co.jp/mono/dvd/-/list/=/page=2/article=label/id=7557/. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "KUKI ピンクファイル (KUKI Pink File)" (in Japanese). Kuki. http://kuki.jp/catalog/series_pink.html. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "Kuki labels". Urabon Navigator. http://urabon-navigator.com/?p=maker&maker_id=67. Retrieved 2009-03-27.  ^ "Movie Makers - Kuki". Urabon Navigator. http://urabon-navigator.com/?p=movie&mode=3. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "X CITY Membership Agreement". X City (English). https://regist.xcity.jp/english/member/free/agreement.php. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  ^ "アルケミア「儲かるのはアダルトサイト」 (Alchemia - Adult site is profitable)" (in Japanese). New Media. June 7, 2002. http://www.newww-media.co.jp/backnumber/y2002/r0207b.html. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "AV Idol Directory". AV Idol Directory. http://xxx.xcity.jp/idol/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  ^ "X CITY Adult Companies". X City (English). http://xxx.xcity.jp/MAIN/MAKER/. Retrieved 2009-03-28.  ^ "X City Main Page - Makers". X City (English). http://xxx.xcity.jp/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  ^ "AV Grand Prix 2008 Grand Prix Stage" (in Japanese). www.dmm.co.jp. http://www.dmm.co.jp/avgp/sp/gp_list.html. Retrieved 2008-10-05.  ^ "綺麗な女の子　裸のデビュー　もうひとつの初花-hatsuhana-　葉山潤子" (in Japanese). www.av-gp.com. http://www.av-gp.com/works/avgp112/bottom.html. Retrieved 2010-05-09.  External links "X CITY Website (English)". http://xxx.xcity.jp/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  "X CITY Website (Japanese)". http://xcity.jp/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  "Kuki Official Website". http://kuki.jp/main.html. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  "AV Idol Directory (English)". http://xxx.xcity.jp/idol/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  "AV Idol Directory (Japanese)". http://xcity.jp/idol/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.  v · d · eJapanese erotic cinema Actresses Yua Aida · Kyōko Aizome · Hotaru Akane · Runa Akasaka · Izumi Aki · Kokoro Amano · Minori Aoi · Sora Aoi · Rin Aoki · Minami Aoyama · Kate Asabuki · Mayu Asada · Ran Asakawa · Yuma Asami · Asami · Kyoko Ayana · Ami Ayukawa · Mari Ayukawa · Risa Coda · Akira Fubuki · Fuko · Shoko Goto · Meisa Hanai · Lemon Hanazawa · Chihiro Hara · Saori Hara · Mai Haruna · Chihiro Hasegawa · Hitomi Hayasaka · Yumika Hayashi · Hotaru Hazuki · Hikari Hino · Rinako Hirasawa · Honoka · Mayura Hoshitsuki · Milk Ichigo · Ai Iijima · Reiko Ike · Ayame Ikehata‎ · Kiyomi Itō · Asami Jō · Bunko Kanazawa · Sakurako Kaoru · Yuria Kato · Tamaki Katori · Mariko Kawana · Azumi Kawashima · Kyōko Kazama · Eri Kikuchi · Hitomi Kobayashi · Riri Kōda · Yuri Komuro · Konatsu · Meguru Kosaka · Hikaru Koto · Mayu Kotono · Hitomi Kudo · Emi Kuroda · Kaoru Kuroki · Ai Kurosawa · Jun Kusanagi · Miho Maeshima · Megumi Makihara · Kaede Matsushima · Marina Matsushima · Kimiko Matsuzaka · Mihiro · Saya Misaki · Ryōko Mitake · Junko Miyashita · Aika Miura · Miki Mizuasa · Haruki Mizuno · Kei Mizutani · Nozomi Momoi · Mariko Morikawa · Kurumi Morishita · Rena Murakami · Ayano Murasaki · Kyoko Nakajima · Keiko Nakazawa · An Nanba · Nana Natsume · Anna Ohura · Nao Oikawa · Madoka Ozawa · Maria Ozawa · Naho Ozawa · Nao Saejima · Asuka Sakamaki · Sakura Sakurada · Rui Sakuragi · Motoko Sasaki · Yōko Satomi · Miki Sawaguchi · Sakura Sena · Hitomi Shiraishi · Kazuko Shirakawa · Miki Sugimoto · Suzi Suzuki · Riko Tachibana · Maria Takagi · Runa Takamura · Rumi Tama · Hitomi Tanaka · Naomi Tani · Noriko Tatsumi · Yui Tatsumi · Maki Tomoda · Aki Tomosaki · Hime Tsukino · Akira Watase · Manami Yoshii · Riria Yoshikawa · Sally Yoshino · Akiho Yoshizawa · Asuka Yūki · Maiko Yūki · Maria Yumeno · Tina Yuzuki Actors Taka Kato · Kin'ichi Kusumi · Mitsuyasu Maeno · Yoshiya Minami · Chocoball Mukai · Ken Shimizu · Shirō Shimomoto · Shigeo Tokuda · Micky Yanai Directors Kaoru Adachi · Hideto Aki · Zack Arai · Tarō Araki · Sachi Hamano · Yasuharu Hasebe · Katsuyuki Hirano · Noboru Iguchi · Toshiharu Ikeda · Yutaka Ikejima · Shinji Imaoka · Takashi Ishii · Teruo Ishii · Shunya Ito · [Jo]Style · K*WEST · Shūji Kataoka · Yoshikazu Katō · KINGDOM · Satoru Kobayashi · Kazuo "Gaira" Komizu · Masaru Konuma · Minoru Kunizawa · Kiyoshi Kurosawa · Tatsumi Kumashiro · Alala Kurosawa · Kazuhiko Matsumoto · Company Matsuo · Mitsuru Meike · Yoshimitsu Morita · Kan Mukai · Toru Muranishi · Giichi Nishihara · Dragon Nishikawa · Koyu Ohara · Randa Mai · Kazuhiro Sano · Uzumaki Sasaki · Hisayasu Satō · Toshiki Satō‎ · Kōji Seki · Kazuyoshi Sekine · Chūsei Sone · Masayuki Suo · Norifumi Suzuki · Yūji Tajiri · Banmei Takahashi · Tetsuji Takechi · Tetsuya Takehora · Yojiro Takita · Rumi Tama · Goro Tameike · Noboru Tanaka · Tohjiro · Naoyuki Tomomatsu · Kaoru Toyoda · Toshiya Ueno · Kōji Wakamatsu · Mamoru Watanabe · Yumi Yoshiyuki · Tadashi Yoyogi · Takahisa Zeze Films List of Japanese sexploitation films · List of Nikkatsu Roman Porno films Tarō Araki filmography · Sachi Hamano filmography · Yumika Hayashi filmography · Hotaru Hazuki filmography · Yutaka Ikejima filmography · Shinji Imaoka filmography · Kiyomi Itō filmography · Sakurako Kaoru filmography · Kyōko Kazama filmography · Kan Mukai filmography · Maria Ozawa filmography · Sakura Sakurada filmography · Motoko Sasaki filmography · Yōko Satomi filmography · Rumi Tama filmography · Yumi Yoshiyuki filmography Writers Oniroku Dan · Takao Nakano · Koichiro Uno Studios Alice Japan · Athena Eizou · Atlas21 · Attackers · CineMagic · Cross · Crystal-Eizou · DAS · Dogma · Glory Quest · h.m.p. · Hokuto Corporation · IdeaPocket · Japan Home Video · KMP · Kuki · Madonna · Max-A · Maxing · Media Station · Million Film · Moodyz · OP Eiga · Real Works · S1 No. 1 Style · Shuttle Japan · Soft On Demand · TMA · Try-Heart Corporation · V&R Planning · Waap Entertainment · Wanz Factory Awards Adult Broadcasting Awards · Japanese Adult Video Awards · Pink Grand Prix · Pinky Ribbon Awards Related articles AV idol · AV Open · Bukkake · Chronology of adult videos in Japan · Cosplay · Eroge · Futanari · Gokkun · Hamedori · Hentai · Japanese bondage · Junior idol · List of hentai computer games · List of Japanese celebrities · List of Japanese idols · List of Japanese gravure idols · Lotion play · Net idol · NEVA · Nyotaimori · Omorashi · Panchira · Pink film · Pornography in Japan · Shunga · Ganari Takahashi · Tamakeri · Tarento · Ushiro Takatekote · Wakamezake