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| The smolderingly HOT Iijima Naoko |
With the new year just beginning, it’s time to replace all those 2011 calendars with spiffy new 2012 ones, and while shopping for a few to adorn my workspace wall, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen any Japanese stores here selling any j-entertainment calendars for quite some time now. This was quite an eye opener for me, because once upon a time, the interest in j-pop, j-dramas and entertainment was so huge here in Hawaii, there were multiple places to purchase calendars, including Hakubundo, BunBundo, Iwase Books, and all three Tower Records!
While my calendar purchases had always leaned towards my j-pop artist faves like Reiko Miura, Morning Musume and MAX, the very first j-related calendar I ever hung upon my wall was one given to me by the j-pop buyer of Tower, a poster-sized calendar featuring a model named “Naoko Iijima”. Naoko Iijima? Well, I had no idea who this girl was, but I knew one thing: SHE WAS STEAMING HOT AS HELL!
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| 1996 Naoko Iijima Calendar! |
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| 1996 Naoko Iijima Calendar! |
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| My Workspace in early 1996 |
I remember picking up my Naoko Iijima Photobooks from BunBundo and stopping by to visit some co-workers at my job nearby, and it was hilarious watching all those guys huddled around the Naoko Book, OOHING and AHHHING over each turned page! And they had great cause to celebrate, too! Check these scans out and see what I mean!
From there Naoko became a fixture in my gallery of hot models; little did I know that in a few months I would soon begin to see her in some of my favorite Japanese dramas as well! As I recall, the first shows I saw her in were bit-parts in dramas like Mahiru No Tsuki, Jinsei wa Jojo Da, and a great part in the awesome Karasawa Toshiaki/Nakayama Miho show Oishii Kankei, before heading out to a fun turn in the highly wacky Tomoko To Tomoko. My sexy li’l gravure idol had made the move to mainstream, where she would remain for years to come! By the time I saw her as a single mother in Otosan, she had changed a bit from the young sex kitten in that calendar of mine, and turned into more of an adult contemporary star. Well…
While going through my old calendars one day, I came across those dusty old Naoko Iijima one-sheets, and I gotta say, I was taken aback- I had forgotten how frickin’ GORGEOUS she was! I made it a point to dig up my old shashinshuus, scan some of my favorite ones, a task indeed as the calendar pages were all 16x20! Ahhh, but it was worth it and I just HAD to share! Experience the awesomeness that is Naoko Iijima!
