Kaori Oguri is “always hungry, even when her work is successful.” Ayako Fuji, Kaho Minami, Kumiko Goto, and others have placed their trust in her as a “female P.

Ayako Fuji (63), Kaho Minami (60), Honami Suzuki (57), Kumiko Goto (50), and Megumi Okuna (45), all of whom are major actresses, are captivated by one “female producer” who is rare in the publishing industry. Kaori Oguri (Oguri Kaori).

Kaori Oguri says, “The higher the barriers to my goals, the better. So, no matter how high the hurdle is for an actress, if I think, ‘I want to produce! I will not give up.

Kaori Oguri, 53, who dominated the gravure world at the peak of the bubble era, is now famous as an “astute producer. She is active in a wide range of fields, including gravure production based on her own experience, as well as photo collections and essay books. She also produced Megumi Okuna’s photo book “Okina Megumi,” which was released in April of this year.

When we first offered Okuna the job, she expressed her concerns, saying, “I wonder if I’m the right person for the job. But it is my role to take away those actresses’ concerns and take care of them. Is it that they don’t accept your offer?　Of course, there are many. But I think it is more interesting to accomplish something that is thought to be impossible, and I think readers will enjoy it as well.

Oguri became independent when he turned 30. He boasts more than 20 years of experience as a producer, and has produced a distinguished lineup of celebrities to date.

The actress who impressed me the most was Kaho Minami,” he said. I offered her a job in my “Actress Series” project, but she turned me down at the time. I later heard that she had not heard of it. I made the request again when Ms. Minami became independent from the office, and she accepted the offer. When I met her, I was so overcome with emotion that I cried uncontrollably (laughs). Later, when she released her book of essays, “Otome Obasan” (’22), I felt even more connected to her.

She proved that a project that had once been blocked could take shape if one was enthusiastic about it. On the other hand, she has also been known to sell herself to offices and staff members to bring in a lucky break.

Goto Kumiko called her agency Oscar and received a direct call from the president. When I told her the purpose of the project and my thoughts, she agreed with me, and in the end, she herself willingly agreed to appear in the film. Also, the photographer I was working with at the time was good friends with Ms. Honami Suzuki, so she introduced me to her.

The response to Ayako Fuji’s photo book, which was released in 2010, was even greater than expected.

Originally, it was not a photo book, but rather a photo essay with a few photos. But when it came time to take the photos, the excitement was so great that we said, ‘It would be a waste if it were the size of a photo essay! So, we made a sudden change. Ayako Fuji, who usually does yoga, kickboxing, and muscle training at home, is so beautiful that it is hard to believe she is 60 years old. …… even gave us a swimsuit shot!

Today Oguri is active at the forefront as an “astute female producer,” but she made her debut in the entertainment industry at the age of 17. She made her breakthrough as the cover girl for the legendary late-night TV program “11PM” (Nippon Television Network Corporation), and quickly rose to stardom, appearing in numerous dramas, movies, and commercials.

She recalls how she got into the rough and tumble world of show business.

When I was a senior in high school, I was scouted on my way home from school. I had no interest in the entertainment world, so I turned it down on the spot, but when I got home, for some reason I got a call at home from a scout. At first I was like, ‘How did you get my phone number? I was surprised (laughs).

What today would be considered stalker-like behavior was, in Oguri’s eyes, the image of an “enthusiastic scout.

He said, “I always called home from a pay phone before returning home from school. I called him that day, but the scout looked at the number I had pushed from behind, memorized it, and called me back. I was so moved by his enthusiasm that I agreed to meet with the president of the office. And I decided to start performing.”

After her debut, she attracted a lot of attention with her many jobs, including poster model for PARCO and image girl for Toshimaen. What she particularly enjoyed was working on gravure shoots, which were only possible during the height of the bubble economy.

I went to Saipan, Bali, Guam, Thailand, and Hawaii…… most of the southern islands for gravure shoots. I went to overseas shoots at least twice a month, and photo books were selling well if they were published. Back then, it was considered a good idea to have a healthy, wheat-skinned body, so I was able to eat a lot of delicious food from all over.

Work came in steadily, but she was very busy, with hardly any time off. He was busy with his work, but he had very few days off, and he had to work around his jam-packed schedule every week.

I enjoyed the work, but it was physically demanding because I was so busy. I finished recording “11PM” on Friday, and from the next day to Thursday of the following week, I would travel to several locations to shoot on location, and then on Friday, I would record “11PM. I had only one day off a month, and I could not see my friends or go home to my parents. But I was spending such a busy life that I didn’t have time to think about quitting.

Oguri dominated the world of gravure and ran through her twenties. However, he often felt uneasy about the fact that he only knew the world of show business.

When I got used to working in the entertainment industry, I suddenly became afraid of not knowing anything about the world at all, and I began to feel a sense of crisis that it would be bad if I were to turn 30. So I started looking for ways to make a living, such as going to a fashion school because I liked clothes, or transferring to a music agency because I liked singing. But none of them seemed to fit, and I spent many days worrying about it. ……”

It was at the age of 28 that she reached a turning point in her life.

A producer friend of mine had a health problem and asked me to help him out, so I started helping him along with my entertainment career. It was very new for me to do behind-the-scenes work, such as arranging lunches for the talent, and talking with the location bus drivers and makeup artists. I had been trained as a gravure idol not to talk and just smile all the time, so it was like I had seen the complete opposite world.

Thirty-five years have passed since his debut. At the end of last year, Oguri released “Kaori Oguri 35th Anniversary Photo Book: Charming 1988-2004” (Shogakukan), a compilation of her photogravure work, from her first full face to full nudes after her debut. She produced the book herself and chose her favorite photo for the cover.

She says, “I carefully selected photos from my gravure days, from my first photo book to my last nude photo book in 2004. I was conscious of making a photo collection that would make people feel “newness” even though the photos are from the past, so I dared to use the title “Charming” (laughs), which has a retro feel. I hope people who don’t know Kaori Oguri will pick it up and enjoy it!

Even when she succeeds in a big job, she is never satisfied. This hungry spirit is what drives Kaori Oguri.