TOKYO (TR) – Fumika Nakayama, a popular adult video (AV) actress who debuted in 2019, has revealed the bizarre reality of her early career, admitting she maintained a secret double life as a cafe worker before making an abrupt confession to snooping colleagues.
Nakayama, 29, entered the AV industry on a whim. For the first six months, she operated entirely in the shadows—utilizing no social media, holding no promotional events, and shooting scenes just once a month. The rest of her time was spent working at a local cafe.
However, her cover was nearly blown the day after her debut release, she tells Nikkan Spa! (Oct. 24).
“Male coworkers at the cafe asked me, ‘Do you know Fumika Nakayama?'” she recalled. Initially playing dumb, she secretly checked the internet and found her debut video topping sales charts. After a month or two of dodging suspicions, she finally gave up the act.
“It became too bothersome, so I just told them, ‘That’s me,'” Nakayama said. “I wasn’t doing anything criminal. Rather than them whispering behind my back, I figured I’d just let them ask me whatever they wanted to know directly.”
Permanent switch
Her dedication to her day job was so intense that she actually took a six-month hiatus from the AV industry simply because December was the cafe’s busy season. But when the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the food and beverage industry’s stability, Nakayama made the permanent switch to adult entertainment.
Before launching her full-time comeback, she dropped the bombshell on her parents, announcing it as if it were a standard corporate transfer.
“I told them, ‘Things are on track, so I’m changing industries. I’m going to be an AV actress,'” she said. Their reaction was surprisingly muted. “My family’s policy has always been ‘as long as it’s not a crime, it’s fine.’ They raised me to take personal responsibility.”
Barren personal life
Nakayama is no stranger to the camera, having briefly worked as a child actress before her mother pulled her out of the industry. Yet, despite her on-screen popularity, her personal life remains entirely barren. She admits she hasn’t had any romantic encounters in seven years.
“Even when I was a cafe worker, a boyfriend asked me, ‘Which is more important, me or your job?’ It just made me cringe,” she confessed, adding that she requires a partner who accepts her need for absolute freedom and isolation during busy shooting schedules.
Transition from “cute” roles
As she approaches her seventh anniversary in the industry, anxious fans have speculated about her potential retirement — a fear exacerbated by her previous sudden six-month disappearance.
Nakayama, however, was quick to shoot down the rumors.
“My fans get scared and think I’m retiring anytime I say ‘I have an announcement,'” she said. “So I want to be clear: there is no retirement!”
Now, the actress says she is instead eyeing a transition from “cute” roles to more mature, sensual productions that utilize the experience she has gained with age.