Asuka Sawamoto is famous for one thing: flashing her tush in the streets of Tokyo's anime, manga and video game mecca, Akihabara. The 32-year-old is doing a lot more than that in her first adult movie.
The self-described "multi-sexy idol" first aroused attention in spring 2008. Her "performances", which consisted of her raised her legs and flashing her thong, caused considerable media attention and drew hordes of dudes with cameras and erections.
In 2008, before the Akihabara Massacre, the area streets and sidewalks were turned into "Pedestrian Paradise" every Sunday. Maids handed out fliers, wannabe idols sang for fans and Asuka Sawamoto flashed crowds.
When her actions drew complaints, Sawamoto told the Mainichi Shimbun, "I've been doing this stuff in Akihabara since July last year... And I'd say the warmer weather probably means I'll be showing even more skin than I have until now." She also said she couldn't help it if people wanted to complain.
Her antics made the nationwide TV. And Sawamoto, enjoying her new found celebrity, continued to flash.
The concerns were safety — that she was inciting a mob and causing a media circus. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police department had already been cracking down in Pedestrian Paradise in accordance with traffic laws. Sawamoto was thumbing her ass nose at all that! She was finally arrested arrested in late April for causing a public nuisance.
In June 2008, tragedy struck Tokyo's geek center Akihabara. A 25-year-old man named Tomohiro Kato drove a rented truck into a crowd of pedestrians. He then got out of the truck and began wildly stabbing bystanders. Seven ended up dead and ten were injured. Akihabara has begun to normalize, and slowly return to its former self.
This past January, Sawamoto, who had previously claimed to be 22 years-old, made her hardcore adult video debut. It has also been revealed that Sawamoto was arrested last December in a brand-name clothing boutique in Shinjuku for shoplifting three items of clothing. She confessed to shoplifting as a junior high school student as well.
That's right, a woman whose claim to fame has been removing clothes was arrested for stealing clothes.
沢本あすか"服の窃盗罪"で逮捕 服を脱ぎたいのか着たいのかと話題 [スピードネーター] [Pics]