Background
Rui Sakuragi was born on March 8, 1970.
桜樹ルイ
Rui Sakuragi was born on March 8, 1970.
She has also appeared widely in mainstream films and videos and on television
After having previously been a "gravure" (non-sex) model, she made her adult video (AV) debut for the Very Important Person label in April 1989 under the name Masako Ichinose but took the name Rui Sakuragi the following year. She sometimes worked for other studios but Very Important Person (and its successor Atlas21) was her main label for the next two years. Her work for them included a 7-man orgy in Golden Pavilion Temple 2 and cosplay in The Uniform Connection Special.
Sakuragi announced that her April 1992 release for Very Important Person, The Last of Rui Sakuragi would be her final work and left with a tearful farewell.
According to a 1992 article, whereas an attractive leading lady in AV could command 1.5 to 2 million yen (about $10,000 to $15,000) for a video, "Sakuragi, the biggest star at present" made 3 million yen (more than $20,000) per project Sakuragi had married just before her retirement and bored with nothing to do started a career as a stripper in clubs throughout Japan.
Almost 4 years later and once again single (and poor), Sakuragi returned to AV with a contract with Atlas21 for 3 videos beginning with Phoenix Once Again in March 1996. After the third video, Super AV Idol Legend, fan response convinced her to do a fourth and final film, Good Bye Rui Sakuragi.
Since her retirement, Atlas21, Kuki, and Alice Japan have all released compilations of her earlier videos.
During her AV career and after her retirement, Sakuragi also worked extensively in mainstream movies and softcore pink film and V-Cinema productions. In February 1992 she appeared in Sakuragi Rui: Gushonure Kahanshin, directed by the noted pink film woman director Sachi Hamano. Another early movie was the March 1992 Paris Fantasy (幻想のＰａｒｉｓ, Gensō no Paris), a drama of romance and revenge set in the Parisian fashion industry where she co-starred with Kayo Matsuo.
She also had a leading role in an episode of the long-running television drama Kaseifu ha mita (家政婦は見た!) broadcast by television-Asahi on December 4, 1997.
Later, she was a regular on the NTV love story/suspense drama Tsumetai tsuki (冷たい月) which ran in 10 episodes from January to March 1998. In 2002, she had a voice role in the anime erotic-horror film Youjuu Kyoushitsu Chapter 2 (Demon Beast Invasion Chapter 2) with another former AV Idol, Riria Yoshikawa.
