73-year-old porn star is born

By Kyung Lah
CNN
 

(CNN) -- Shigeo Tokuda looks like your average retiree, wearing a classy gray suit and distinguished glasses. But there is nothing average about this 73-year-old when he steps in front of the camera. Shigeo Tokuda is a porn star.

Shigeo Tokuda (his pseudonym) says he hopes to work until he's 80 or even older.

From women in their 20's to their 70's, Tokuda romances them all (sometimes more than one at a time). Tokuda is a genuine leading man in the genre of elderly porn, starring in more than 200 adult videos. Tokuda (that's his porn name) is so successful, he is a brand.

"I retired and didn't have anything to do," says Tokuda, a former 9 to 5 travel agent. "This is my second life. I don't know how long I can keep living, but I want to enjoy the rest of it."

Tokuda certainly looks like he's enjoying life, saying he's healthier now than he's been in years. So are sales of his DVD's, primarily among middle-aged and elderly buyers.

"In his generation, Tokuda is a superstar," says Gaichi Kono, an adult video director who has worked with Tokuda. Watch how Shigeo Tokuda has launched a second career »

"He encourages older people to think, I can do this because that old man can do this."

Ruby Productions produces Tokuda's movies and specializes in elderly porn videos. It's a genre they helped pioneer by accident.

Ryuichi Kadowaki, president of Ruby Productions, says they started producing adult videos with people in their 30's to good sales. They creeped up to 40 year old actors and they sold even better. Kadowaki says they went up to actors in their 50's, then 60's, and now they're producing an entire line of adult videos with actors in their 70's.

And their star, says Ruby, is Tokuda. "To be honest, I don't understand why people are buying these videos," he says. "I think our older customers must feel a sense of security by watching videos with an actor who is in the same generation."

Ruby says it's targeting the elderly audience and considering selling videos in retirement homes. Ruby also says it's just completed a deal to release some of Tokuda's movies in the U.S.

Japan does have a higher percentage of people over the age of 65 than any country in the world. Ruby Productions says it's just meeting a demand of an aging Japanese society.