He reveals his debut salary and current annual income
–Back then (in the SKE48 era), not only Momona (Kito Momona, Mikami’s real name and former stage name), but the SKE girls were dating a lot of different people behind the scenes, though I can’t go into details.
Yua Mikami (hereinafter, the same)It’s not Momona, it’s Mikami (laughs). I really don’t know about that.
–In SKE’s official comment, you wrote, “I decided to do what I wanted to do, and so I decided to graduate,” but had you decided to change industries before you graduated?
It wasn’t confirmed yet, but we did talk about it (laughs).
–How far along had the discussions been?
Someone had told me, “If you’re going to quit, please talk to me,” and before I graduated, I asked the president of the agency that he introduced me to about the adult industry. He kindly responded by saying, “I’m okay with talking to you a few times,” and in the end, I had my graduation performance without having made a firm decision.
–How long did you agonize over this decision?
About a year? I wanted to hang on to the entertainment industry somehow. I thought that if I restarted as a porn actress, I might be able to do that.
–But you were still nervous on set for the first time, weren’t you?
Of course I was nervous. But the atmosphere on set, including the staff and the environment, was very caring, so it wasn’t that hard mentally, but I did feel embarrassed and guilty, thinking “Is it okay for me to show myself like this even though I’m an idol?”
-How much were you paid for your debut work?
As I said on the TV program “Jikkuri Kiki Taro,” it was about the amount I could buy a used house in Setagaya Ward (laughs). I’ve always been the type of person who would spend money little by little, so I wanted to buy something to last me, so I bought a Harry Winston watch for about 2 million yen as a memento.
–To be honest, how much are you earning right now?
I wonder if my annual income last year (2022) was enough to build a new house in Setagaya…? The rent for the room I’m living in now is probably about 10 times what it was when I lived in my hometown of Nagoya? I’m not good at math, so I don’t know exactly (laughs).