TOKYO – Years spent working in the adult entertainment industry can make one jaded about porn. After a while, nothing really stands out. Everything becomes product and process.
Accordingly, it has been a long time since anything directly related to porn production really impressed me, or threatened to carve a notch for itself in my memory. All that changed when I read the Details feature on Japanese porn superstar Shimiken.
There’s a lot to like about this article, including Shimiken’s candor and willingness to speak frankly about the challenges and downsides of being in his line of work in Japan, including having to literally eat shit as his introduction to life as a porn performer (no word in the article whether he was working for Ira Isaacs at the time.).
What impresses me most, though, is the sheer scale of Shimiken’s output and fierce dedication to his craft.
For once, I’m being serious — no sarcasm intended.
As Shimiken’s fame rose and demand for his performances increased, he adopted habits akin to a professional athlete pursuing a championship ring, switching to an all-protein diet, refraining from drinking booze, even staying up late at night practicing honing his money-shot skill.
“It’s rude to get it in a girl’s eyes,” Shimiken explained. “I wanted to make it perfect.”
That, my friends, is true porn professionalism.
It’s important to bear in mind Shimiken took his work ethic to this extreme level before he was making the sort of money he earns these days (around $24,000 a week, according to the article). Shimiken, now 35, still did well back then — but only because he was shooting up to 21 scenes per week at $400-$500 a pop.
I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty this sum averages out to three scenes per day … which makes my dick hurt just to contemplate. More amazing still, Shimiken eschews the use of performance-enhancing drugs in his pursuit of porn perfection, saying of Viagra “I haven’t had to use it … yet.”
Another clear mark of Shimiken’s professionalism: He’s committed to doing work he obviously doesn’t particularly enjoy.
“The reality is that porn is mostly a shitty place filled with shitty people,” Shimiken Details, a line probably not scripted by his publicist. “I’d just like to be a light among the shit.”
Being a light among shit certainly beats eating said shit, but one still has to wonder if the desire to be a ray of sunshine in a dark world of smut is really enough to drive a man to pornographic productivity as prolific as Shimiken’s.
The answer, for the moment at least, appears to be Shimiken simply can’t stop. Japan’s domestic porn industry literally might collapse were it deprived of his Herculean sexual feats.
“In this industry there are only 70 male porn stars to 10,000 women,” Shimiken recently tweeted. “The number of male porn stars in Japan is less than that of Bengal tigers. With 4,000 new films every month, the number of male actors simply isn’t enough. This industry is like a hole in the wall that needs to get bigger!”
I hear a faint hint of frustration in his tweet, one that could presage a looming early retirement on the part of Japan’s most steadfast cocksman.
Have no fear, Shimiken fans: Overworked though he may be, it appears Shimiken is in the game for the long haul. Noting the recent popularity of “elder porn” in Japan, he uttered the words his most dedicated fans want to hear.
“Until I die,” vowed Shimiken. “I will be doing this until I die.”
