Life and career

Her mother is Japanese and her father is French-Canadian,^[2] which gives her a look that has been described as "a perfect balance of Japanese beauty mixed with a dash of exoticism."^[2] Since she attended an international school from primary school to high school, she claims that her English reading and writing ability is better than her Japanese.^[3] While at school, she played hockey every day, and often went to karaoke after class.^{[3] [4]} Ozawa had her first sexual experience at the age of 13,^[3] and learned the "48 sexual positions" through a book that she bought herself.^[3]

In 2002, while still in high school, Ozawa appeared in a short (30 second) Japanese TV commercial for DARS Chocolate with the two members of the Japanese pop group KinKi Kids. The commercial has her sharing chocolate with one of the duo while secretly holding hands with the other.^[5]

AV Debut and Career

She first encountered AVs by watching several tapes that belonged to a friend's brother.^[3] Unlike most AV actresses, Ozawa was not scouted. Instead, she was introduced to the AV industry through a friend that was working in AVs.^[3] Ozawa was interested in the industry, and researched companies until she found B-open, a model agent which she liked. She applied for an interview with the company and was accepted.^[4] She started modeling as Miyabi for the site Shirouto-Teien.com in June 2005, which resulted in several sets of photographs and a short hardcore gonzo video released in CD-R and DVD-R formats.^[6] She was then signed by the S1, an AV company that produces light hardcore pornography, premiering for them as Maria Ozawa on October 7, 2005 with the video New Face – Number One Style (新人xギリモザ ナンバーワンスタイル).^[7] Ozawa remembers that she was so nervous during the filming of her first AV that she could not look the male actor in the face.^[3]

At S1, Ozawa subsequently appeared in one original video per month until February 2007. She has also been involved in several S1 compilation videos including the company’s entry in the 2006 AV Open, a competition between Japanese porn studios for the best selling video. The S1 video Hyper – Barely There Mosaic (ハイパーギリギリモザイク), featuring Maria Ozawa along with other AV idols Sora Aoi, Yua Aida, Yuma Asami, and Honoka (plus a short preview for Rin Aoki), won first place.^[8] Maria Ozawa and S1 parted ways in early 2007.^[9] Along with Rin Suzuka, Reina Matsushima and Rin Aoki, she moved from the safe, but popular S1 to a new startup company, Dasdas (DAS).^[10] On April 25, 2007, Dasdas released the first videos of the company, one which (Beautiful Eurasian News Anchor Maria Ozawa Desiring Nakadashi Rape) featured Maria Ozawa. Dasdas videos contain scenes of rape, creampie, urolagnia, enema and physical torture, themes not featured in the light hardcore style of her S1 videos. Her first "interracial" title Multiple Black Rape (黒人輪姦) was released from Dasdas in May 2008.

By the end of 2007, she signed (not exclusively) to Attackers' (アタッカーズ), an established AV studio that specialises in thematic rape pornography.^[11] In June 2008 she changed studios once again, going to the small start-up studio Ranmaru^{[12] [13]} which released her first video with them on July 19, 2008. The latter part of 2008 has seen Ozawa in a variety of videos from different producers including her first exclusively lesbian (Rezu - レズ) video (W Cast Premium Lesbian) for LADYxLADY, a division of the Japanese porn conglomerate Soft On Demand. In a more drastic career move, Ozawa decided to appear in her first "uncensored" movies which do not have the mosaic pixellation which is used to obscure the genitals in all standard Japanese porn videos. Four uncensored 45-minute videos of Ozawa and a single male actor were released online at XVN in September 2008.^[14] This same material, specifically the first two (2) videos, was edited for a 90 minute DVD (Tora-Tora Platinum Vol.49 Maria Ozawa) released September 26, 2008.^[15]

Other Activities

Besides adult videos, she has appeared in V-Cinema films, a photobook and several glamour ("gravure") videos. In 2007, she played the character Anita (ｱﾆｰﾀ) on the popular Japanese TV drama Tokumei Kakarichō Tadano Hitoshi (特命係長・只野仁) on TV Asahi.^[16] In addition, Ozawa was on a 2007 episode of the Japanese variety show Megami no hatena ("The Goddess of What Is That") on Nihon TV as part of a series with AV actresses telling why they went into AV work.^[17][18] She has also appeared on Japanese MTV with the hip hop artist SEAMO, who is also a fan,^[2] and in the 2007 music video Summer Time in the D.S.C. with the Yokohama hip hop group DS455.^[19]

Ozawa could be seen in 2007 performing twice at the Shinjuku striptease bar "Shinjuku New Art". She took dance lessons to prepare but was still very nervous. She danced in a variety of outfits including appearing as a belly-dancer, a geisha and a cowgirl. Three videos were released of her performance and a behind-the-scenes interview.^[20]

In 2008, Ozawa definitely moved into mainstream cinema with a role in the theatrical movie Invitation Only billed as "Taiwan's First-Ever Slasher Horror".^[21] The film is produced by Three Dots Entertainment in Taipei, Taiwan and co-stars Julianne Chu. Ozawa plays a supermodel and has dialog in English and Japanese. Her professionalism impressed her co-workers and her role was expanded to include further scenes. The film was released in Taiwan in August 2008.^[22][23][24]

Personal Life

Her hobbies include cooking, which she is good at, and watching AVs on her flatscreen television set.^[4] She also enjoys playing video games, and owns a pink Nintendo DS Lite,^[25] and a pink PlayStation 2 console.^[26] Ozawa has been fairly open about her private life granting several interviews and keeping a very detailed text and picture blog of her life and activities dating back to October 2005.^[27]

During a 2007 interview, Ozawa reported that her interest in the AV industry remains high, and her video cabinet contains nothing but AVs. She makes a good living from the industry, living in a mansion (a high-class apartment) with a US$1,682-per-month rent, and earning a minimum of $8,000 per month.^[4] However, while she says that she would quit the industry only if she is forced to do something else, she would try to prevent a friend from beginning work in the AV industry.^[4] Ozawa's family and friends are against her chosen profession in spite of her apparent pride in her work. When she brought several of her videos home to show her parents, they refused to watch them and told her to get out.^[4]