Naho Ozawa

Naho Ozawa (小沢菜穂, Ozawa Naho) (born January 26, 1983) is a Japanese model, singer, and a former AV idol.^[1] She retired from the adult industry in 2007.

Life and career

Early life and AV debut

Naho Ozawa was born on January 26, 1983 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan according to some online profiles,^[1][2] but a 2012 interview has her birthplace as Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture.^[3] She trained as an esthetician, but the company she was about to join went bankrupt, leaving her unemployed.^[3] She was recruited into the adult video (AV) industry by a scout in Shibuya, Tokyo,^[3] and she made her debut as an AV actress in April 2002 at age nineteen. Her first video was My Birthday for the Try-Heart Corporation's Sexia label.^[4] In 2002, Ozawa made several other videos for the Sexia label, including the year end compilation SEXIA Collection 2002.^[5] For her work in her first year in the adult industry, Ozawa was awarded the 2002 X City Grand Prix Best New Actress Award, which was determined by an AV fan vote.^[6]

By the beginning of 2003, Ozawa was working for other AV companies as well as Try-Heart, including Max-A, Alice Japan, and VIP.^[5] In addition to her hardcore work in 2003, Ozawa also starred in the role of a school teacher in the softcore V-Cinema production Nō pan onna kyōshi 2 (ノーパン女教師２), which was directed by Katsumi Nojiri and released by GP Museum.^[7] A DVD version came out in 2005.^[8] Also, in 2003, Ozawa teamed up with five other AV actresses, Saori Kamiya, Hitomi Hayasaka, Cocolo, Rei Itoh, and Natsuki, to film a 60-minute DVD showcasing their singing talent. The DVD, P.I.N. (Perfect Idol's Numbers), was released by Vega Factory in March 2003. Ozawa contributed to two numbers, a duet with Rei Itoh and the final ensemble piece.^[9][10] At the 2003 X City Grand Prix Awards held in December 2003, Ozawa was one of the actresses nominated for Best Actress.^[11]

In March 2004, Ozawa starred in an installment of the Alice Japan series Reverse Soap Heaven, which took the Best Video Title award at the 2004 X City Grand Prix Awards.^[12] Also, in 2004, Ozawa and five other AV Idols formed a group called L-Girls, and they released a DVD photo collection.^[6]

As a singer, Ozawa released a musical DVD and CD through the Sexual Kiss company entitled Little Lover in November 2004.^[13] Ozawa also hosted Night TV, an adult cable show featuring interviews with fellow AV idols.^[6] She again played a teacher in a second V-cinema erotic feature called Shin kōkō kyōshi hito natsu no omoide (新 高校教師 ひと夏の思い出), which was directed by Hideo Jōjō and released in 2004.^[14]

Later career and retirement

In 2005, Ozawa appeared with fellow AV actresses Hitomi Hayasaka, Maria Yumeno, and Ran Monbu as well as AV actor Chocoball Mukai, in the erotic comedy film Ecstasy Express (シベリア超特急・欲望列車, Shiberia Chōtokkyū: yokubō ressha). The movie had its debut at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 2005,^[15] and it was shown theatrically in Tokyo later that year in August.^[16] The film, which starred gravure idol Miku Matsumoto, was subsequently released on DVD.^[17][18]

In April 2005, Max-A released Ozawa's last video for the company, My History, which was a review of her more than two-year association with the studio.^[19] After her final Max-A video, Ozawa joined KMP as part of their exclusive promotional group, the 2005 "Million Girls" (ミリオンガールズ, Miriongāruzu), along with Akane Sakura and Karen Kisaragi.^[20] She was also part of the lineup of actresses advertised for the startup studio Real Works in 2005.^[21] One of her early videos for KMP was Best Friends 3 with Hitomi Hayasaka and directed by Goro Tameike.^[22] In her official blog, Hayasaka describes Ozawa as her real life good friend.^[23]

Ozawa continued making videos with KMP and Real Works until 2006 when she released two retirement videos, Naho Ozawa Retirement - Going Back Home with Taka Kato^[24] on April 28 for KMP and First Bukkake! First Anal Sex On to Retirement!, which included her first extended bukkake scene and her first anal sex, for Real Works on May 19.^[25] However, less than six months later, she returned to the adult video industry with Naho Ozawa Encore, released by Maxing on October 16, 2006 as part of that company's first set of videos.^[26] In April 2007, she announced on her official blog that she was leaving AV work again. She began a "final countdown" to retirement with Naho Ozawa Emergency Nakadashi, and she released her final retirement video with Maxing in May 2007, Nao Ozawa - The Final.^[27]

After retirement, Ozawa joined friend Hitomi Hayasaka at her cabaret, "Club@virgin", in Tokyo's Roppongi district in December 2008, and she was one of several active or former AV actresses providing hostess conversation.^[28][29] Ozawa was again associated with Hayasaka in 2012 at her new establishment, the bar and lounge "Hinaka" in Roppongi, where customers paid for a seat and their company.^[3] Also, in 2012, Ozawa talked of plans to open her own beauty salon.^[3]

In late 2012, the major Japanese adult video distributor DMM held a poll of its customers to choose the 100 best AV actresses of all time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of adult videos in Japan. Ozawa finished in 73rd place in the voting.^[30]

Selected filmography

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006-2007

Notes and references

External links

• Naho Ozawa at the Internet Movie Database
• 小沢菜穂 おざわ・なほ (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
• "小沢菜穂 (Ozawa Naho)" (in Japanese). JMDB. Retrieved 2007-06-23.  External link in |publisher= (help)
• "小沢菜穂の部屋へようこそ (Ozawa Naho no Heya e Youkoso) VIDEO IDOL INTERVIEW" (in Japanese). www.b-v.co.jp/. Retrieved 2007-06-23.  External link in |publisher= (help)
• "小沢菜穂出演DVD一覧 (Naho Ozawa: Maxing profile and filmography)" (in Japanese). http://www.maxing.jp. Retrieved 2009-09-30.  External link in |publisher= (help)
• "小沢菜穂　naho ozawa (profile)" (in Japanese). Sexual Kiss Records official site. Archived from the original on 2006-06-18. Retrieved 2009-03-08.  External link in |publisher= (help)