Tsukino - Life and Career

Life and Career

Hime Tsukino was born in Osaka, Japan on March 25, 1985. Her stage name "Hime" translates to "princess" and derives from her childhood nickname. Tsukino is a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, in that she has transitioned to female in all respects except undergoing genital surgery. The Japanese slang term for such individuals is "new half" (ニューハーフ) and this term is also used for the Japanese porn genre which features transsexuals. It is equivalent to the English porn term "shemale" and both are considered pejorative when applied to individuals.

Although still a niche market, transsexual themed videos have increased in sales and popularity in Japan in recent years. Tsukino has been described as "one of the biggest newhalf superstars in Japan" and along with fellow transsexual actress Miki Mizuasa, she qualifies as a true AV idol

Tsukino made her debut in adult videos in 2006 and appeared regularly as a featured performer for over two and a half years. Many of her videos were with other transsexual actresses but she has also worked with mainstream actresses including a December 2006 title with AV superstar Riko Tachibana. In her 2008 video Hime Tsukino's She-male Nampa! You Wanna Check My Thing?, she "goes to hunt amateur girls" at the beach and shows them her penis. In a 2008 production for Soft On Demand (SOD), New Half Public Bath, co-starring Miki Mizuasa, the actresses are at a Japanese public bath where they are welcomed in both the male and female sections (and engage in sex with both clienteles). The steamy action is all captured on "hidden cameras".

Lost Male Virginity With New Half, released in 2008 for the new SOD label Ningen Kousatsu (Human Inquiry), is in documentary style and follows five virgin males who must decide to lose their virginity either to a chubby girl, an old woman, or a slim model type (Tsukino). The video records their reactions as they discover Tsukino's "secret". Tsukino also made two "uncensored" videos (without the usual mosaic pixelation to obscure the genitals found in all mainstream Japanese AV) with Mizuasa, J-Girls With Cocks, for Oriental Dream in May 2008 and Red Hot Jam Vol.68 He/She Transsexual : Miki Miasa, Hime Tsukino for Sky High Productions in November 2008.

Although Tsukino sometimes played the active ("male") role in sex with both male and female actors in AV, she definitely identifies herself as "Gender:Female" (性別：女性) in her blog. In a late 2008 filming of a sex scene for an uncensored online streaming-video production, she insisted on remaining clothed "so she can use the photos to show herself as a girl".

Tsukino has twice received recognition for her role in the AV industry - her video How to New Half (produced by Dream Ticket and directed by R40) won the 2nd Place Award in the 2007 AV Open Challenge Stage competition and her ensemble video Shemale & Celebrity was nominated as the Alpha International entry in the 2008 AV Grand Prix contest. She was also crowned as the New Half Queen (ニューハーフクイーン) at the 8th annual contest in 2008. At the beginning of 2008, the DMM website, part of the Hokuto Corporation, ranked Tsukino #8 in DVD sales for transsexual actresses on their site.

Tsukino closed her Livedoor blog in November 2008 and announced her retirement from AV work but opened a new blog to keep in touch with her fans. Although retired from AV work, Tsukino did appear in an uncensored shoot in 2009 for SheMaleJapan.com, a US website owned by Grooby Productions.

Also in September 2009, Tsukino was featured in the softcore pink film Hot Audition: Just Do It (本番オーディションやられっぱなし?). The romantic comedy released by Shintōhō centered on the TV business and co-starred Yuria Hidaka and Ami Natsui.