Yua Mikami

Momona Kitō (Japanese: 鬼頭桃菜 Hepburn: Kitō Momona)(born August 16, 1993), known professionally as Yua Mikami^[1] (Japanese: 三上悠亜 Hepburn: Mikami Yua), is a Japanese AV actress and an idol singer. She debuted as a member of the idol group SKE48 in 2009 before leaving in 2014. She entered the adult entertainment industry in 2015 under the Muteki label with huge success. As of 2019, she's one of the most popular and best-selling contemporary AV idols winning several awards. She's currently performing under the S1 No. 1 Style label and appeared in over 100 adult films (including compilations and VR-based AV's as well).

Apart from performing in adult films, Mikami also remained active as a singer and idol. She became part of the idol group Ebisu Muscats in 2015 and also debuted in South Korea as a member of the idol group Honey popcorn in 2018. She also makes a special guest appearance in Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami^[2].

Mikami was born as Momona Kito on August 16, 1993 in Nagoya. Having clear aspirations to become an idol, Mikami auditioned for Morning Musume's 8th generation in 2006, at the age of 13, but she was eliminated during the first round.[3] In March 2009, she debuted as a second-generation member of the idol group SKE48 on Team E. Her career in SKE48 saw numerous setbacks, including a demotion to Kenkyuusei (trainee) status on December 2010[4], as well as an underage drinking/dating scandal that broke out on July 2013.[5] On March 16, 2014, she announced her graduation from the group and her last performance with the group was on April 9, 2014.[6] During her tenure, she appeared in eight B-side singles with SKE, as well as an appearance on the sister group AKB48's B-side single "Gingham Check".

On June 1, 2015, she debuted in the adult entertainment industry under the name Yua Mikami with her first video, Princess Peach, produced by Muteki, a label that specialized in the adult film debuts for former gravure idols and minor celebrities.[7][8] While Mikami originally planned it as a one-film career, Princess Peach turned out to be a huge success, becoming one of Muteki's highest-selling film and one of the highest-selling AV's of 2015.[9][10]. The unexpected positive reaction of her debut motivated Mikami to remain in the industry as an active performer.[11] On November 12, 2015, she launched her official website. Her Twitter and Instagram accounts were also created on the same day.[12] In an interview, Mikami stated: "I entered the world of AV without consulting with anyone, It is my life, so I have to choose for myself."[13]

Her second AV, Pleasure was released on January 1, 2016.[14] Mikami's first titles were under the Muteki label (becoming of the few AV actresses who done more than one title under the studio), before transferring to S1 No. 1 Style in November 2016. On May 13, 2016, Mikami won her first major award at the 2016 DMM Adult Awards at the "Best New Actress" category presented to her by fellow AV actress Moe Amatsuka[15].On April 13, 2016, she joined the Ebisu Muscats as a second-generation member.[16][17] She was the poster girl for the 2016 AV Open along with Masami Ichikawa [ja] and Rika Hoshimi.[18] She was the event campaign girl for the National Fan Thanksgiving Festival 2016 along with Hibiki Ōtsuki.[19]

Mikami's popularity continued to grow, as she became one of S1's "flagship" actresses, with her films regularly appearing on the best selling charts. In 2018, when Fanza did a research on the Top 10 highest selling AV actresses of the year, Mikami came out at #8 at digital downloads, and #5 at physical DVD/Blu-Ray sales.[20] Mikami won her second major award, at the "Best Actress" category in the 2017 DMM Adult Awards. She also presented the "Best New Actress" award to former gravure idol and debuting AV actress Shoko Takahashi.[21] With both of them debuting at Muteki and being Nagoya-based, Mikami and Takahashi formed a close friendship and started to appear in the variety show "SHOW YOUR ROCKETS".[22] For Muteki's tenth anniversary, the pair appeared in their first joint AV-title, These Two Have No Equal released in December 1, 2018.[23] The four-hour-long film was also accompanied by a two-hour-long VR-based adult release[24]. It also became the second best-selling Japanese adult film of 2018.[25]

Mikami also appeared in S1's 15th-anniversary special, along with the studio's other exclusive performers: Tsukasa Aoi, Ayami Shunka, Moe Amatsuka, Arina Hashimoto, Usa Miharu, and Nene Yoshitaka.[26] As of 2019, Mikami continues her AV career at S1 and appeared in over 100 titles so far.

Despite mainly being an adult performer, Mikami stayed close to her musical roots. On November 22, 2016, she released a solo single, Ribbon (リ・ボ・ン).[27] In 2018, she debuted as a member of the South Korean-based idol group Honey Popcorn with AV idols Moko Sakura and Miko Matsuda.[1] The group was funded by Mikami herself as a passion project. However, the group's debut provided to be controversial due to the member's line of work which went against the "pure" image associated with Korean idols. The group was forced to cancel their debut concert due to the outrage[29] and a petition with over 50.000 signatures was passed to the Blue House, demanding the group's ban[30][31]. Due to the intense backlash, Matsuda left Honey Popcorn in December 2018, but Mikami managed to revive the group with three new members, and they released their second EP, “De-aeseohsta” in July 2019.[32]

Mikami also started her own clothing brand, "YOUR'S", a career choice largely inspired by her close friend and AV idol Asuka Kirara.[33]