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.

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.