Maria Ozawa, who moved to the Philippines at the age of 29 and also manages a casino, “How I became the ‘most famous Japanese’ in the Philippines”.

It has been 13 years since her sudden and heartbreaking retirement. …… Maria Ozawa, 37, a former sexy actress, is now a very successful businesswoman in the Philippines.

Starting with an upscale lounge, she is now involved in casino operations in addition to hotels and restaurants. He is so well known that his private breakup with his girlfriend made headlines, and he is said to be “the most famous Japanese in the Philippines.

We interviewed Ozawa during his “visit to Japan” about his turbulent life.

I asked Ozawa about his turbulent life during his “visit to Japan.　Am I that well known? I first thought, “What’s so well known about me?

In 2005, at the age of 18, Ozawa made her adult film debut and quickly became a top actress in China and Southeast Asia, where her popularity was enormous. When she visited Indonesia for the first time after her debut, she received an enthusiastic welcome.

An immigration official looked me in the face and said, ‘You must be Maria Ozawa. Your name is different from the one on your passport. Is it a fake passport? I told him that Ozawa Maria was my stage name, but he didn’t agree at all. When I visited a few years later, they took my passport away, took me to an office, and made me wait for about an hour. Smiling-faced men came in, signed autographs and took pictures with all of them, and finally I was released (laughs).

After retiring in 2010, he moved to the Philippines in 2004. It all started when he appeared on a radio program there.

When I visited the Philippines on a trip, I appeared on a radio show through a friend. I was asked what I wanted to do in the Philippines, and I answered, ‘Maybe eating and drinking. Then, a well-known business owner in Manila who was listening to the program asked me, ‘Well, why don’t you do it at our place? He put me in charge of the lounge and other operations.

Later, Ozawa’s name spread rapidly as a result of the incident with Benigno Aquino, who was president at the time of his immigration.

“A local entertainment reporter at the airport asked me, ‘President Aquino is a chick-boy, what would you do if he approaches you? I replied, ‘He’s free to approach me, but I’m not.’ Then the president’s sister asked me if I was interested in him. Then the president’s sister became furious with me. I was honestly very scared. To be honest, I was really scared.

However, the Filipinos really liked his blunt remarks. He was featured in advertisements for Viagra and casinos, and he even got to interact with Manny Pacquiao, a national hero.

A member of Team Pacquiao was a customer of ours. I thought his projects to help the poor were great, so I told him, ‘What he’s doing is cool,’ and a replica championship belt with his signature on it was flown in (laughs).

The lounge in the capital city of Manila has been a success, selling nearly 100 million yen a year. Since the year before last, he has also started working for a casino group that operates all over the world.

I had originally appeared in casino advertisements in Asia, so perhaps I had an image of Maria Ozawa = casinos,” he said. So, the boss of one of the casino groups offered me the chance to ‘grow the business together,’ and now I am involved in advertising and apps for the business.

The country’s open temperament suited her skin so well that she now describes herself as “going back” to the Philippines. She also continues, “I am who I am today because I did my best in porn.

I am now a porn star,” she says. “Because I was involved in porn, I became well known in Asia, and that definitely led to my business. What I also felt in the case of Ms. Aquino is that it’s a win-win situation for me to spread my name (laughs).

It is probably because of this cheerful attitude that she has won the hearts of the local people that she has become the “most famous Japanese.

From the February 17, 2023 issue of FRIDAY