U-15 Japanese Gravure Idol Rin Aoi

Here’s the super cute U-15 (under 15) Japanese gravure idol Rin Aoi (蒼井凛).  It is hard to believe this Tokyo native beauty is only 13 years old and was the youngest runner-up in the 2009 Gravure JAPAN (グラビアJAPAN) gravure idol contest put up by Shukan Young Jump and Shukan Playboy.

Rin’s got a warm girl-next-door smile and already a pretty healthy looking chest.  She belongs to Poseidon Entertainment talent agency (ポセイドンエンターテイメント), who also has Japanese teen gravure idol Aira Mihana, Honoka Ayukawa and Reina Sakura under its wings.

Gravure Japan Gravure Idol Contest Bonus

What would you do if all of a sudden these 16 cute and sexy young girls showed up on your doorstep?

Here are some group shots of the 16 semi-finalists.  Gravure JAPAN is the result of collaboration between Shukan Young Jump (週刊ヤングジャンプ) and Shukan Playboy (週刊プレイボーイ).  This new gravure idol contest is run as part of the celebration for the 30 year anniversary of Young Jump comic.

In case you haven’t figured out, the “Y” and “J” stand for Young Jump.

Gravure Japan Gravure Idol Contest

As all of you Japanese gravure idol lovers know by now, Japan is the mecca of factories that churn out cute, young idols.  To combat the famous Miss Magazine (ミスマガジン) gravure idol contest put on by Japanese comic publisher Shukan Young Magazine (週刊ヤングマガジン), this year rival publisher Shukan Young Jump (週刊ヤングジャンプ) teamed up with Shukan Playboy (週刊プレイボーイ) and produced their own gravure idol search called Gravure Japan (グラビアJAPAN).

Confusing?  Yeah, I thought so.

Gravure Japan finalists (from L to R): Yuko Shimizu, Nana Seino, Nene Matsuoka, Rin Aoi and Aya Takigawa

Gravure Japan started out with 1200 girls applying.  100 entrants were kept and later 16 girls were selected.  Then the number was further narrowed down to 5 finalists.  The top Grand Prix prize went to Nene Matsuoka (松岡音々).  The part of her body the 21 year old is most proud of is the mole on her neck.  Nene is practicing karate but is still a white belt.  She said, “I’m thrilled to be standing here and I’ll work hard to have a photobook out.”

Runner-up included Rin Aoi (蒼井凛) who is the youngest of the group at just 13 years of age, as well as Yuko Shimizu (清水ゆう子-20), Aya Takigawa (滝川綾-22) and Nana Seino (清野菜名-14).

I don’t know about you guys but I’d much rather watch this contest unfold than a minute of that god awful American Idol!  What kind of “idol” are they talking about exactly?!

1st Row (L to R): Nana Seino and Rin Aoi

2nd Row (L to R): Yuko Shimizu, Nene Matsuoka and Aya Takigawa