is a Japanese former AV idol, nude model, and film and television actress. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2002 and 2011, Aoi is widely considered one of the most famous AV idols of the 2000s, with her popularity as an adult video actress leading to celebrity status as a media personality both in Japan and abroad. Life and career Early life and AV debut Sora Aoi was born on April 26, 1981, in Kanagawa. As a student, she worked at various part-time jobs in the food-service industry, such as pizza parlors, pubs and sushi bars with the intent of becoming a pre-school teacher. While in her third year in high school, Aoi was scouted in Shibuya by a talent agency for gravure modelling. She decided to enter the adult entertainment industry with the aim of eventually working on TV and in other parts of the entertainment industry, stating that "If there was only the AV industry, I couldn't do it." When asked how her stage name was chosen, Aoi explained: "My agency asked what color I liked. I said blue [aoi in Japanese]. He also asked what I like in general. I said sky [sora in Japanese]. So, he chose Aoi Sora." Aoi appeared as a gravure idol in the June 2002 issue of Bejean and then made her debut in adult videos (AV) at age eighteen in July 2002, with Happy Go Lucky! for the Alice Japan studio, part of the Kuki Inc. group which was one of Japan's largest producers of pornography at the time. The next month, she appeared in the AV The Blue Sky on the Samansa label for the Max-A studio, also part of the Kuki group. For her video appearances in 2002, Aoi was awarded the Second Place Award as Best New Actress in the 2002 X City Grand Prix Awards. Aoi continued making videos for both Alice Japan and Max-A for almost two-and-a-half years until late 2004. While continuing to perform in hardcore AVs, Aoi also appeared in the first video release of the Shuffle company's new label Believe. Entitled The Naked Body, this June 2003 release was an "image video", which has nude modeling but features no sex. Into mainstream entertainment During this period, Aoi also started making appearances in mainstream media. In May 2003, she had a role in the theatrical release Gun Crazy 4: Requiem for a