Melo Imai
{{Short description|Japanese snowboarder (born 1987)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Melo Imai
| native_name = 今井 メロ
| native_name_lang = ja
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|10|26|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan
| occupation = Snowboarder
| country = Japan
| event = Snowboarding
}}
{{nihongo|Melo Imai|今井 メロ, 今井 夢露|Imai Mero|born 26 October 1987 in Suminoe-ku, Osaka}}{{cite web|url=http://www.and-m.net/product/model/imai_mero/|title=今井メロ|work=&M|language=ja|access-date=11 Dec 2016|archive-date=7 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907182256/http://www.and-m.net/product/model/imai_mero/|url-status=dead}} is a Japanese TV personality and half-pipe snowboarder. Her maiden name is {{nihongo|Narita|成田}}.
Imai's father is snowboarding coach Takashi Narita, and she has two brothers: former snowboarder Dome Narita and trampoliner Grim Narita.
She gave up snowboarding after the 2006 Winter Olympics and became a television presenter, then a nude model appearing in several gravure DVDs. In 2017 she had a short career as pornographic film actress and in 2018 announced a return to snowboarding.{{cite news|url=https://www.tokyoreporter.com/2017/04/10/ex-olympic-snowboarder-melo-imai-set-to-make-porn-debut/|title=Ex-Olympic snowboarder Melo Imai to make porn debut|publisher=Tokyo Reporter|date=10 April 2017}} The same year she won the All Japan Snowboarding Championships.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}
Early life
From the age of 7, Imai's father, snowboarding coach Takashi Narita ({{lang|ja|成田 隆史}}), trained her and her brother Dome in snowboarding. They trained up to 18 hours a day, and when they finished high school, he had them forgo post-secondary education to focus on snowboarding. Imai has said she envied others her age for being able to lead ordinary lives, and at one point attempted to take her life by slashing her wrists.{{sfn|Del Pino|2018}}
Early snowboarding career
Imai specialized in the half-pipe. She participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, but came in last after severely injuring herself. Upon her return to Japan, she suffered public humiliation, with commenters calling her "a waste of tax money" and "a national embarrassment". She later stated, "For many athletes, the Olympics are the peak of their career, but for me it was a nightmare." She suffered from depression, and gave up the sport.{{sfn|Del Pino|2018}}
Career in the sex industry, nude modelling and AV career
After leaving the sport, Imai supported herself over the years by working in bars, and soon became a hostess and then an escort, working three days at a sex parlor.{{cite web |title=Melo Imai opens up about her troubled past, return to snowboarding |url=https://www.tokyoreporter.com/entertainment/adult-video/av-star-melo-imai-opens-up-about-her-troubled-past-return-to-snowboarding/ |website=Tokyo Reporter |date=16 November 2017 |access-date=4 April 2020}} She moved on to appearing in television programs as a tarento and as a nude model in pornographic magazines. Between 2014 and 2016 she appeared in over a dozen nude gravure DVD's, a genre of softcore pornography, all of them being produced by the company Kingdom.{{cite web |title=Melo Imai softcore movies |url=http://www.javlibrary.com/en/vl_star.php?&mode=2&s=ay5fo&page=2 |website=Javlibrary |access-date=4 April 2020}} In 2017 she made her hardcore pornographic video début in Snow Drop and Snow Out. Both movies were released by Muteki, an AV company specializing in making the adult film debuts of gravure idols and minor celebrities. Upon being asked why she didn't maintain a longer career in AV, Imai said that she was more interested in returning to snowboarding and "didn't wanted to overdo it in AV".{{cite web |title=Melo Imai: 'I don't want to overdo it in AV' |url=https://www.tokyoreporter.com/entertainment/adult-video/snowboarder-turned-adult-video-star-melo-imai/ |website=Tokyo Reporter |date=11 July 2018 |access-date=4 April 2020}}
Return to snowboarding
Imai returned to snowboarding in 2017, and won gold at the All Japan Snowboarding Championships in 2018.{{sfn|Del Pino|2018}}
Personal life
Imai has a son and daughter, whom she has raised as a single mother.{{sfn|Del Pino|2018}} Imai has stated she is not embarrassed by her past in pornography, as she did it voluntarily out of the need for money, and considers herself to have been a good mother who did everything to support her children.{{sfn|Del Pino|2018}}
Main results
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| scope="col" | Outcome
! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Championship ! scope="col" | Summary ! scope="col" | Reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Won | 2001 | All Japan Ski Championships Snowboarding | ||
| | Won | 2002 | World Junior Championship | ||
| | Won | 2004 | All-Japan Ski Championship Tournament Snowboard Competition | ||
| | Won | 2005 | 2004–05 FIS Snowboard World Cup Korea Star Capital Association | ||
| | Third | 2005 | World Cup Lake Placid Tournament | ||
| | Overall win | 2005 | World Cup Event | ||
| | Won | 2005 | 2004–05 Season World Cup Saas Fee Olympics | ||
| | Qualified | 2006 | Turin Olympics | Sunday Japon. Tokyo Broadcasting System. 18 Mar 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.j-cast.com/2012/03/18125814.html?p=all|title=今井メロ、6年越しの告白 あのラップは「大人」にやらされていた|work=j-cast News|language=ja|date=18 Mar 2012|access-date=11 Dec 2016}}{{cite news |url= https://www.express.co.uk/videos/527033/Japanese-snowboarder-Melo-Imai-competed-at-the-2006-Winter-Olympics |title= Japanese snowboarder Melo Imai competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics |date= 16 February 2018 |publisher= The Express }} | |
| | Won | 2008 | Takasago Cup | ||
| | Won | 2018 | All Japan Snowboarding Championships | She won with 90.75, bettering second place's 76.75 of Momoa Mori | {{citation needed|date=April 2023}} |
Filmography
=TV drama=
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Network ! scope="col" | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 2015 | Garo: Gold Storm Sho | Begul's tongue form | TV Tokyo | Episode 13 |
Bibliography
| class="wikitable" | |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title | |
|---|---|
| | 2012 | Naite, Yande, demo Waratte |
=Photo albums=
| class="wikitable" | |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title | |
|---|---|
| | 2013 | Mellow Style |
| | 2015 | Melodious |
=DVD=
| class="wikitable" | |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title | |
|---|---|
| | 2008 | mellow lee; |
| | 2014 | mellow Style |
| | 2014 | I've been mellow |
| | 2014 | mellow juice |
| | 2014 | mellow time |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
=Works cited=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite news
|last = Del Pino
|first = Andrea M. Rosa
|title = Melo Imai, la deportista olímpica japonesa que deja el porno para volver al snowboard
|date = 2018-02-22
|newspaper = El Mundo
|url = http://www.elmundo.es/loc/celebrities/2018/02/22/5a8d5b59e2704e7c3b8b45d7.html
|access-date = 2018-02-22
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180222062100/http://www.elmundo.es/loc/celebrities/2018/02/22/5a8d5b59e2704e7c3b8b45d7.html
|archive-date = 2018-02-22
|language = es
}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105070252/http://www.wws-channel.com/news/imaimero/ WWS Channel interview] {{in lang|ja}}
- {{official website|http://www.and-m.net/|&M official website}} {{in lang|ja}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Melo}}
Category:Japanese female adult models
Category:Japanese female snowboarders
Category:Olympic snowboarders for Japan
Category:Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Category:Sportspeople from Osaka