Ai Iijima(1973-2008)
- Actress
- Writer
Iijima Ai was born in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Her birth name was Matsue Ookubo, but she would later also use Ai Candy and Mitsuko Ishii as stage names. She had a troubled childhood, according to her autobiography, where she hated her parents so much that she ran away from her home and lives on the streets. She lost her grandfather at a young age and despite doing well at elementary school could not pass to enter high school from junior high. She made a living as a hostess at night clubs, engaging in compensated dating and working at a karaoke bar. She began her adult video acting in 2002 and in one year became Japan's top porn star. She concurrently made the transition to TV by appearing on TV Tokyo's Gilgamesh Night, which was an erotic early morning show. She released a music single called Naisho De Ai Ai bizarrely involving uncoordinated children dancing, an up-skirt shot, soldiers in uniform and her with a tank and obtained a regular spot on a TV talk show. She also appeared in the mainstream movie Purupuru Tenshi Teki Kyujitsu as an angel in 1993. Her 2000 novel Platonic Sex was a bestseller in Japan selling over a million copies. She would incorporate many autobiographical details in it. Fuji TV made a four-hour mini-serial and Toho a movie based on the book. Both were toned down. She was a regular on TV on a show called KinSuma (SNAP band's Friday program). By now she had become an AIDS activist, something which is rare in Japan, and had worked with the United Nations and the Japanese government among others. By 2006 she was in ill health and had taken time off from appearing in variety shows. There was a report that her talent agency, or employee thereof, had ripped off the equivalent of a million dollars from her and she was in emotional and physical pain. These lead to her retirement from television with the announcement coming on TBS' Sunday Japan. She was 34. She had suffered from kidney and urinary tract infection. She was found dead in hey Shibuya, Tokyo apartment in on December 24th, 2008. The autopsy report assessed that she had been dead for a week. She was 36 when police reported cause of death as pneumonia. Others suspected and reported suicide or aids-related illness. Her legacy likely remains her openness and honesty regarding herself, her life and others.
