Life is funny. It starts out one way, with you wearing Soviet uniforms, brandishing machine guns and wearing thongs, and then the next thing you know you're wearing a frock and releasing a cookbook. See, funny.
That's exactly the odyssey of Yinling Yen—better known as Yinling of Joytoy, or Yinling the "ero terrorist".
Warning: This post might contain imagery some find offensive.
Born in Taiwan, Yinling was living in Tokyo in the mid 1990s, and befriended a photographer who used a Russian-inspired moniker, Hiraokanovsky Kuratachenko, for his work. The duo formed "Joytoy", a multimedia collective that released politically charged photographs, laced with Soviet imagery.
In her DVDs, Yinling would wear USSR military uniforms, and then tear them off, revealing a string bikini. Or, she'd push the envelope by feigning to get herself off in China's Forbidden City. Or, she'd simply do small things, like wear Chairman Mao buttons. Or big things, like jump on an inflatable rocket-shaped American flag.
Besides provocative photos and videos, Yinling and Kuratachenko also recorded music together—even releasing a couple of albums during the last decade when her popularity was at its peak.
While most pin-up models were simply happy to spread their legs—and Yinling did that, too—she, along with Kuratachenko, trafficked in provocation rather than simple titillation. Her Taiwanese background made the Communist imagery seem even more relevant and pressing. No wonder she appeared in a live art performance in her homeland in which she appeared in lingerie with a skeleton and two men wearing wearing military uniforms.
(Hiraokanovsky Kuratachenko | Joytoy Stately's Garden,Co.,Ltd. NSFW)
The Joytoy photos were in direct contrast to the simple, sun soaked Japanese pin-up pics, which felt devoid of any meaning whatsoever. On her website, Yinling would attack George W. Bush, saying she wanted him dead, and offer her solution for world peace: sex.
As Yinling's celebrity grew, she did what so many up and comers do—she appeared in video games. In 2004, Yinling appeared in Goichi Suda's PS2 horror game Michigan: Report from Hell; not only was she an in-game character, but she also appeared in a live-action short and did publicity for the title (such as the shower pic above). In 2008, she returned to gaming: Yinling appeared in Sega's Yakuza: Kenzan! as "Libido Waterfall", showing off her infamous spread eagle crotch pose. She also got involved with Japanese wrestling, and would humiliate opponents by sitting on them, spread eagle.
That was then. This month, Yinling released her latest work: a cookbook. It seems so normal—like something any female Japanese celebrity would do. On the cover, she's not wearing a thong or Communist military grab. She's wearing a dress, and Yinling, who recently gave birth to a son, looks motherly. Her blog is now dotted with photos of her holding her son. People change. People grow up. And as often is the case, young revolutionaries become the establishment, cooking book and all.
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(Top photo: Hiraokanovsky Kuratachenko | Joytoy Stately's Garden,Co.,Ltd. NSFW / Sega / Spike)