Yoshiya Minami - Life and Career

Life and Career

Minami was born on January 24, 1971 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. He has become one of Japan's most popular adult video (AV) actors but he has introduced a new aspect to Japanese porn by his extraordinary appeal to women due to his good looks and gentle sex technique.

He was discovered by female porn director Minami Nagasaki who from 2002 directed him in a series of videos "Mumy I Can't Wait Any More!" (義母さんもうガマンできない) for Paris Video. The incest-themed stories have him as a young man introduced to sex for the first time by an older woman.

He also appeared in several of the videos in the series "Nagasaki-Minami" for Graffiti Japan, mostly in romantic or incest roles. Many of the video box covers from these series feature Minami, often as prominently as the main actress, a sharp departure for Japanese porn where the male actors are mostly anonymous. In fact, two of the videos, Face & Body Collection (MIDV-011) from 2006 and Face & Body Collection 2 (MIDV-015) from 2007 are a celebration of the male physique. Not surprisingly, Minami also appeals to the gay community and several gay websites internationally display his photos and (heterosexual) videos.

In the latest video series from Minami and director Nagasaki, "Eternal Record" (2008), his picture and name dominate the video box cover and the actresses are not even named. The romantic illustrations seem to be definitely aimed towards a female audience.

Minami is not a newcomer to the adult video world; in a story dated October 2002, he was said to have made about 1,500 videos in the previous five years.