Although pornography in Japan has a long history and is a major business, until recently, the adult video industry did not develop a broad-based set of awards for sales or performance such as the AVN Awards in American pornography.
That has changed in recent years, and the two primary awards given at present (which are covered in separate articles) are the AV Grand Prix for retail and internet videos and the Adult Broadcasting Awards for programs broadcast on Japanese satellite TV.
This text is focused on the various earlier Japanese adult video awards given in the period 1991–2008, none of which are presently active. Some were given only infrequently and many were limited to particular studios or groups of companies.
Tokyo Sports Film Awards (1991–1999) The Tokyo Sports Film Awards (東京スポーツ映画大賞) are sponsored by the Japanese tabloid newspaper Tokyo Sports. The award ceremonies are always held in January for movies in the previous year. The first awards were given in 1991 for the 1990 cinema year. The awards were for mainstream movies but occasionally awards were also given for adult video work. The sometimes idiosyncratic selections were made by famed filmmaker and actor Takeshi Kitano. Adult awards ended with the establishment of the Takeshi Kitano Entertainment Awards in 2000.
1st Tokyo Sports Awards (1991) AV Award Best Actress Kasumi Yuka (Kasumi Yuuka)
No AV Awards given 1992–1997
8th Tokyo Sports Awards (1998) AV Award Best Actress Sena Wakana AV Award Best Actor Taka Kato
9th Tokyo Sports Awards (1999) AV Award Best Actress Maria Yumeno AV Award Best Actor Ryuji Yamamoto
Takeshi Kitano Entertainment Awards (2000–2006) The Takeshi Kitano Entertainment Awards (ビートたけしのエンターテインメント賞) were begun by Tokyo Sports in 2000 for the 1999 entertainment year. They run in parallel with the Tokyo Sports Film Awards. Filmmaker, director and actor Takeshi Kitano is the head of the screening committee. Awards are given in the Performing Arts but from the start they have included categories for adult video work. The adult awards ceased after the 2006 presentations.
1st Takeshi Kitano Awards (2000) Star AV Actress Mami Goto Star AV Actor Chocoball Mukai
2nd Takeshi Kitano Awards (2001) Star AV Actress Star AV Actor Shiratama Dango
3rd Takeshi Kitano Awards (2002) Star AV Actress Ryōko Mitake Star AV Actor Mong Mong Best AV Title Dora Eman (ドラえまん) from Natural High starring Kyoka & Uta KomoriCompany & actress details from
4th Takeshi Kitano Awards (2003) Star AV Actress Star AV Actor No Award Best AV Title Battle Without Foreplay? (前戯なき戦い?即入かましてﾖｶですか?) from Crystal-Eizou (Fan label) starring Yayoi Fujino, Reiko Honda, Ryo Aoi, Hikari Tomosaki, Ayaya Hanasaki & Maho HayamiCompany & actress details from
5th Takeshi Kitano Awards (2004) Star AV Actress Nana Natsume Star AV Actor No Award Best AV Title Faithful Pooch Saseko (忠犬サセ公) from the Media Station Exert label, starring Hotaru Akane, Ami Sakuragi, Maki Abe, and Riko MizunoCompany & actress details from
6th Takeshi Kitano Awards (2005) Star AV Actress DEVI Star AV Actor No Award Best AV Title Expo 2005 (液ジュポ2005 マン国博覧会) from SHY, starring Yaya Matsushima, Mari Takeuchi, Haruka Yanase and Aki YatoCompany & actress details from
7th Takeshi Kitano Awards (2006) Star AV Actress Rin Aoki Star AV Actor No Award Best AV Title No Award
X City Adult Video Grand Prix Awards (1998–2004) X City, the "BIGGEST ADULT SITE IN JAPAN!!", is the website of the Kuki Inc. conglomerate of adult video producers which includes Alice Japan, Media Station (Cosmos Plan), Max-A, SexiA, VIP and others. For a time it sponsored a fan vote based competition called the Adult Video Grand Prix (or Grandprix) which gave awards in various categories. Voting was done at the official website usually in November and early December for works and actresses nominated for that year. Results were announced in late December. Most of the nominees and awards for actresses and videos are from companies associated with Kuki.
X City AV '98 Awards Best AV Idol Award Manami Suzuki
The City AVGY '99 Awards Determined by fan e-mail votes from the official website. Votes were for New Faces, Big Breasts, Most Beautiful and Wildest. The overall Grand Prix winner was chosen from a combination these votes. The voting period was from November 12 to December 12, 1999 and the winners were announced December 24, 1999.
Grand Prix Winner Riko Akina
Best Newcomer Award Riko Akina
Best Breasts Award Mai Shiina
Most Beautiful Actress Award Riko Akina
Best Nasty Actress Award Sayuri Honjyou
2000 X City Grand Prix Awards No information on results, From the 2001 website: "Like the last year's Adult Video GRANDPRIX, it was such a tight competition." No other information seems to be still available.
2001 X City Grand Prix Awards Voting was done by making selections by e-mail from the official site. Voting ended December 27, 2001:
Best Actress Award Ai Nagase (2nd place) Ami Ayukawa (3rd place)
Also nominated for Best Actress were Momo Kanda and Koharu Tohno
Best New Actress Award Hitomi Hayasaka Megumi Osawa (2nd place) Ai Kurosawa (3rd place)
Also nominated for Best New Actress were Asuka Ozora and Ayumi Tahara
Best Video Title Award Small Girls' Fuck (ミニモミ。FUCKだぴょん！) from Media Station Bazooka label (starring Sayaka Tsutsumi)
Best Breasts Award Hikari Kisugi
Best Lolita Award Asuka Ozora
Prettiest Face Award Megumi Osawa
Best Mature Actress Award Mariko Kawana
2002 X City Grand Prix Awards Results of the voting:
Best Actress Award Ryōko Mitake Nao Oikawa (2nd place) Hikari Kisugi (3rd place)
Best New Actress Award Sora Aoi (2nd place) Senna Kurosaki (3rd place)
Best Video Title Award Fallen Angel X (堕天使X) series from Media Station Bazooka label
Best Breasts Award Sakurako Kaoru
Best Lolita Award Sayaka Tsutsumi
Prettiest Face Award Senna Kurosaki
Nastiest Actress Award
2003 X City Grand Prix Awards Results of the voting:
Best Actress Award Maria Takagi Ryōko Mitake (2nd place) Sora Aoi (3rd place)
Also nominated for Best Actress were Naho Ozawa, Nao Oikawa, Ran Asakawa, Rei Ito, Sakurako Tokiwa, Izumi Hasegawa and Mai Haruna
Best New Actress Award Maria Takagi Alice Ogura (2nd place) Mai Sakashita (3rd place)
Also nominated for Best New Actress were Akiho Yoshizawa, Miyuki Uehara, Hijiri Kayama, Mirano Matsushita, Yuki Maioka, Yuna Mizumoto and Yuria Yoshinaga
Best Video Title Award Welcome to Max Cafe: Maria Takagi (Max Cafeへようこそ！ 高樹マリア) from Max-A Calen label (starring Maria Takagi and directed by Taira Takano)
Best Breasts Award Sora Aoi
Prettiest Face Award Maria Takagi
2004 X City Grand Prix Awards Results of the voting:
Best Actress Award Sora Aoi (2nd place) Yua Aida (3rd place)
Best New Actress Award Yua Aida Shiori Mizuno (2nd place) Yui Miho (3rd place)
Best Video Title Award Naho Ozawa Reverse Soap Heaven (逆ソープ天国 小沢菜穂) from Alice Japan (starring Naho Ozawa and directed by Shigeo Katsuyama) Complete Body Riko Tachibana (COMPLETE BODY 立花里子) from Leo (starring Riko Tachibana)
Best Body Award Sora Aoi Yua Aida (2nd place)
SOD AV Awards (2002–2006) The Soft On Demand (SOD) porn conglomerate had its own Grand Prix awards before it sponsored the AV Open. The first awards were presented in 2002 and the 5th and last event took place in Tokyo in 2006. As usual with studio awards, prizes were given to actresses and staff from the SOD group of companies.
2002 SOD Awards Best Video Super High Class Soap Lady (超高級ソープ嬢 スペシャル版) from SOD starring Natsumi Kawahama, Ruri Asase and Chiharu Moritaka
2003 SOD Awards The 2003 SOD Award (SOD大賞) ceremony was held on November 26, 2003, at the Century Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, a 40 million yen party with 500 attendees mostly devoted to professional wrestling with AV awards and actresses as a side attraction. Actresses from the American porn company Vivid Entertainment were also part of the scene. Hostess for the awards ceremony was future AV superstar Nana Natsume making her first appearance for SOD.
Best Actress Award
2004 SOD Awards No information
4th Annual SOD Awards 2005 The 4th SOD Award (2005年 第4回 SOD大賞) ceremony was held December 14, 2005 at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. In addition to the awards, the inauguration of the AV Open competition in association with Tokyo Sports was announced and representatives from the various studios involved in the AV Open contest were present.
SOD Award (for contributions to company sales and image) Nana Natsume
Best Actress Award Nana Natsume
Actress Awards for Excellence Shou Nishino Emi Kitagawa Kaho Kasumi Aya Koizumi
Best Director Award Itaka & Smithring Powder (Natural High) CHAIN Shu (CHAIN宗) (SOD Create)
Director Award for Excellence 槍ヶ崎一 (Otis)
Best New Director Award
Manufacturer's Excellence Award 1st Place: SOD Create 2nd Place: Natural High 3rd Place: Deep's
Writer's Award Nobuyoshi Hirabayashi
Actor's Award Tomohiro Abe
Supporting Actress Award Minaki Saotome
Cinematographer Award Kazuaki Yoshizawa
Still Photographer Award Hisayuki Ubukata
Sound Award Hideki Fujioka
Best Rental Video Award Final Pussy from SOD Create, starring Nana Natsume and directed by Noboru Iguchi
5th Annual SOD Awards 2006 The 5th and last SOD Award (2006年第5回SOD大賞) ceremony was held in Tokyo on December 14, 2006. The SOD awards were subsequently replaced by the broader based AV Open competition.
SOD Award (for contributions to company sales and image) Sasa Handa
Best Actress Award (based on sales) Nana Natsume
Actress Awards for Excellence Hotaru Akane Kaho Kasumi Emi Tojo Tsugumi Nagasawa Sasa Handa YOKO
Best New Actress Award (based on sales) Sasa Handa
Best Director Award (based on sales) Yakumo Matsubara
Director Awards for Excellence Itaka & Smithring Powder (Natural High) GORI (SOD Create) Yukitsugu Tsuchiya (SOD Create) Nomao Beidu
Best New Director Award Keita No. 1 (SOD Create)
Manufacturer's Excellence Award 1st Place: SOD Create 2nd Place: IEnergy 3rd Place: Natural High
New Manufacturer Award AKNR (Akinori)
KMP Million Academy Award Prize 2004 At a ceremony held in Tokyo on December 15, 2004, the KMP studio announced the winners of their in-house Million Academy Award Prize (ミリオンアカデミー大賞受賞) contest which was determined by fan voting:
Academy Award Prize The Woman Called Nao (NAOと呼ばれた女) starring Nao Oikawa and nao, and directed by Goro Tameike
Awards for excellence Best Friend 2 (ベストフレンド2) starring Karen Kisaragi and Kasumi Misato, and directed by Goro Tameike Ayaya Cos 3 (あやや・コス3) starring Ran Monbu and directed by Hideto Aki It's the Occupation of Million's Girls! (ミリオンガールズのお仕事ですよ！) starring nao, Miyuki Uehara, Kyoko Nakajima, Asuka Sawaguchi and Miyu Sugiura, and directed by Goro Tameike Cosplay Superstar Hitomi Hayasaka (コスプレスーパースター完全版 早坂ひとみ) starring Hitomi Hayasaka and directed by Ryoichi Murakami
AV Actress Grand Prix 2006 The Hirorin awards (ヒロリン大賞2006) were determined by a combination of viewer votes and total sales of videos. This award from the "AV Actress Hirorin Fan Blog" website seems to have been given only for 2006. It should be distinguished from the 2006 AV Open contest awards and from the later AV Grand Prix competition.
AV Grand Prix Winner Yuma Asami
Best Actress Winner Honoka Best Actress Awards for Excellence Akiho Yoshizawa Mihiro Nayuka Mine An Nanba Yua Aida Risa Coda
Best New Actress Winner Tina Yuzuki (Rio) Best New Actress Awards for Excellence Tsugumi Nagasawa Sasa Handa Rin Aoki Megumi Haruka Arai Mieko Azumi Harusaki
Best Video Award Nana Natsume for Face Within Japan, Body Within a Vehicle!! (顔は日本カラダは車中！！) from SOD (directed by Masaaki Kai)
Special Award Sora Aoi
Dogma D-1 Climax Awards (2005–2007)