Pity poor Shigeo Tokuda, who is still working even after he retired from his travel agency job.
From the Globe & Mail (UK):
Husband, grandfather, retiree – and a Japanese porn star
Mark MacKinnon
Tokyo— From Monday’s Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Oct. 03, 2010 10:14PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Oct. 04, 2010 4:36PM EDT
It’s said that everyone has a secret. What was unique about Shigeo Tokuda’s fib was that everything he wasn’t telling his wife and daughter was on recorded on hundreds of videos, and that thousands of admirers knew exactly who he was and what he was trying to hide.
For a long time, Mr. Tokuda was not just the world’s oldest porn star, he was perhaps its most anonymous. His family didn’t know where the 76-year-old really went and what he did when the retired travel agent pulled on his blazer and went off to “work” in the morning.
But among his fans – and there are enough of them to justify the making of at least one new film a month – Mr. Tokuda is the superstar of the rising genre of “elder porn,” movies that feature older actors (at least the male ones) and plotlines in which the growing number of Japanese senior citizens (again, at least the males) can picture themselves. His most famous role is as a senior citizen who acts anything but his age with an assortment of nurses, as well as with his twentysomething daughter-in-law.
[...]
Mr. Tokuda’s secret blew up in his face two years ago, when a lengthy fax arrived at his Tokyo home that his 35-year-old daughter was the first in the family to lay eyes on: the script to Prohibited Elderly Care Vol. 20. It didn’t take her long to figure out what it was she was reading and which role her father – who also stars in a series called Maniac Training of Lolitas – was cast to play.
“The whole story was right there, so it was obvious what kind of movie it was,” Mr. Tokuda says, grimacing a bit at the memory. In person, the father of two and grandfather of one looks the part he plays: an elderly Japanese any man, standing 5-foot-3 with just a few wisps of white hair covering his shining scalp, and a smile dominated by oversized front teeth.
And most people are simply concerned about a family member discovering a few sex toys.
But while his daughter was “shocked” at her discovery, Mr. Tokuda says his wife was unbothered to find out about his raunchy part-time profession. “My wife lets me do whatever I want now that I’m retired,” he says. “She’s just concerned about my health and tells me not to work too hard.”
I’m sorry. I had to go back and read that again.
“There’s no jealousy as far as I can tell. But last year while I was drinking with my wife in Asakusa [a neighbourhood of Tokyo], someone came up to me and asked for an autograph. She was surprised, but it didn’t lead to an argument. She understands it’s a job and she trusts me.”
Okay, just so we’re clear on all this.
[...]
He said he has occasionally acted with women closer to his own age, including 71-year-old Fujiko Ito, whom he shared the screen with a few years ago. But there isn’t the same audience for movies starring older women as there is for films about older men still able to attract women a third their own age.
[...]
While he says he still enjoys his job, Mr. Tokuda says he’s thinks he may retire for good some time in the not too distant future. “I think I’ll stop when I’m 80,” he says, sounding uncertain of the words.
And what will he do then? “I don’t know. Maybe spend more time going hiking with my wife.”
Okay, so maybe it’s more of a hobby, a desire to keep busy. I do recommend reading the entire article here.
A lot of guys joke that they would like to have a job such as this, but very few of us can look as ugly as Ron Jeremy, et alia. But after looking at some of the websites on which “elder porn” is being reported, I get the impression that it’s less about having a 12″ schlong, and more about simply the fantasy role play. Interesting, too, are the comments on these sites. “Disgusting,” “Old guy sex? Ugh!” and “Who the hell would want to see this?” are typical, although the Globe & Mail are more accepting.
So, knowing that quite of few of you are middle-aged, I wonder how many of us will still be looking at porn when we’re 70 or 80?
