Melo Imai

Melo Imai (今井 メロ, 今井 夢露, Imai Mero, born 26 October 1987 in Suminoe-ku, Osaka)[1] is a Japanese tarento and half-pipe snowboarder. Her maiden name is Narita (成田).

Melo Imai
Personal information
Native name今井 メロ
NationalityJapanese
Born (1987-10-26) 26 October 1987
Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan
OccupationSnowboarder
Sport
CountryJapan
Event(s)Snowboarding

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 DVD's. In 2017 she had a short career as pornographic film actress and in 2018 announced a return to snowboarding.[2] The same year she won the All Japan Snowboarding Championships, greatly outpacing the competition with an overwhelming win and only 4 days of training for the event.[3]

Early life

From the age of 7, Imai's father, snowboarding coach Takashi Narita (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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6] 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 maintained 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".[7]

Return to snowboarding

Imai returned to snowboarding in 2017, and won gold at the All Japan Snowboarding Championships in 2018.[4]

Personal life

Imai has a son and daughter, whom she has raised as a single mother.[4] 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.[4]

Main results
Outcome Year Championship Summary Reference
Won2001All Japan Ski Championships Snowboarding
Won2002World Junior Championship
Won2004All-Japan Ski Championship Tournament Snowboard Competition
Won20052004–05 FIS Snowboard World Cup Korea Star Capital Association
Third2005World Cup Lake Placid Tournament
Overall win2005World Cup Event
Won20052004–05 Season World Cup Saas Fee Olympics
Qualified2006Turin Olympics[8][9][10]
Won2008Takasago Cup
Won2018All Japan Snowboarding ChampionshipsShe won with 90.75, bettering second place's 76.75 of Momoa Mori[3]

Filmography

TV drama
Year Title Role Network Notes
2015Garo: Gold Storm ShoBegul's tongue formTV TokyoEpisode 13

Bibliography
Year Title
2012Naite, Yande, demo Waratte

Photo albums
Year Title
2013Mellow Style
2015Melodious

DVD
Year Title
2008mellow lee;
2014mellow Style
2014I've been mellow
2014mellow juice
2014mellow time

See also

References
  1. "今井メロ". &M (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 Dec 2016.
  2. "Ex-Olympic snowboarder Melo Imai to make porn debut". Tokyo Reporter. April 10, 2017.
  3. Gabriel Zamfir (16 February 2018). "Snowboarder ditching porn for another shot at Olympic glory". New York Post.
  4. Del Pino 2018.
  5. "Melo Imai opens up about her troubled past, return to snowboarding". Tokyo Reporter. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. "Melo Imai softcore movies". Javlibrary. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  7. "Melo Imai: 'I don't want to overdo it in AV'". Tokyo Reporter. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  8. Sunday Japon. Tokyo Broadcasting System. 18 Mar 2012.
  9. "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". j-cast News (in Japanese). 18 Mar 2012. Retrieved 11 Dec 2016.
  10. "Japanese snowboarder Melo Imai competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics". The Express. 16 February 2018.

Works cited
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