Born as in Tokyo, Japan, Iijima described a troubled early life in her autobiography. She was
raped in her early teens and had an
abortion. She ran away from home as a teenager, later stating, "I hated my parents, to the point where I would rather be coached by bums to sleep in parks wrapped in newspaper blankets." In order to make a living during this time, Iijima worked in
karaoke establishments,
snack bars,
Ginza hostess clubs, She quickly became the top AV actress of the time, appearing in over 100 films. In addition to adult videos in the early 1990s, Iijima also acted in a number of softcore
V-cinema works including the August 1992 comedy (with
Hitomi Shiraishi), and the erotic suspense comedy , released in January 1993 by
Japan Home Video. One of the top AV models by the age of 20, with admitted breast implants, a nose job, eyebrow work and bottom work as well, she decided to leave the
porn business, intent on a career in mainstream entertainment. and soon became a regular on daytime TV talk shows. In December 1993, she debuted in mainstream film playing an
angel come down to Earth in the
Toei Company fantasy . She even provided the story for her own
manga series,
Time Traveler Ai, in which she was featured as the main character. Publicly, Iijima became known for her outspokenness and ability to speak frankly about her past and her personal life. In 1997, she released a video game for the
Sega Saturn called
Good Island Cafe. The game operates like an
interactive movie, where players can make clips in black and white, and watch an interview with her. The game is entirely in Japanese.
Platonic Sex In 2000, Iijima published
Platonic Sex, a semi-autobiographical novel about a young girl who leaves home to escape her parents and ends up as an adult movie star. The book was a best-seller, selling over 1.7 million copies. Iijima had been popular in Taiwan since the early 1990s when her adult videos began to be imported and she remained a celebrity there for her entire career. Her novel became the basis for a toned down three-hour television series starring
Mari Hoshino which was broadcast by
Fuji Television in two parts in September 2001. Another adaptation of the novel with
Saki Kagami in the lead role was released as an
R15 rated theatrical film by
Toho in October 2001 titled
Platonic Sex. Iijima's
catchphrase, "watashi teki ni" ("my way"), became well known due to the popularity of the book and the movies.
Later career By 2002, Iijima had become a regular on several TV shows. In November 2004, Iijima was invited to speak about her past at the
Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. She made cameo appearances in the 2005 horror film
The Curse (Noroi) and the September 2006 police show parody,.
Retirement After the difficulties of her early life, Iijima's career in mainstream entertainment had been remarkably free of trouble for over a decade until she was victimized by an embezzler at her talent agency, who took about 100 million yen from her. Iijima's farewell appearance was at the end of March 2007 on the TV program KinSuma, on which she had been a regular for five years. It was described as "a teary two-hour sayonara party complete with speeches, bouquets and lots of blubbering". However, when psychic Fujiko Kimura confronted Iijima on the program, telling her not to retire and suggesting that there was more behind the retirement announcement than had been made public, Iijima "seemed to admit as much and was reduced to tears." She was found lying face-down on the floor when medics forced their way into her place. She had been dead for about seven days, police said. On March 3, 2007,
Sports Nippon had reported that Ai Iijima was suffering from
hay fever,
pyelitis (ascending urinary tract infection that has reached the
pyelum (pelvis) of the
kidney),
cystitis, and acute backache. She had written in her blog that she had kidney problems and inflammation of the urinary tract and bladder. In February 2009, police announced that the pathology examination showed she had died of
pneumonia, and that there was no suggestion of either suicide or murder. On March 1, 2009, a memorial service for Iijima was held at the Tokyo Prince Hotel with 700 friends and relatives attending. Later in the day, some 1500 people offered prayers as the service was opened to the public. All proceeds for the day went to the
Japan Foundation for AIDS Prevention. Iijima was given a posthumous Special Award at the 9th Takeshi Kitano Entertainment Awards for 2009. == References ==