7 Most Famous Japanese Gravure Idols

A gravure idol (グラビアアイドル gurabia aidoru), often abbreviated to gradol (グラドル guradoru), is a Japanese female model who primarily models on magazines, especially men's magazines, photobooks or DVDs.

"Gravure" (グラビア) is a Wasei-eigo term derived from "rotogravure", which is a type of intaglio printing process that was once a staple of newspaper photo features. The rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and cardboard product packaging.[71]

Gravure idols appear in a wide range of photography styles and genres. Their photos are largely aimed at male audiences with poses or activities intended to be provocative or suggestive, generally accentuated by an air of playfulness and innocence rather than aggressive sexuality. Although gravure models may sometimes wear clothing that exposes most of their body, they seldom appear fully nude. Gravure models may be as young as pre-teen age up to early thirties. In addition to appearing in mainstream magazines, gravure idols often release their own professional photobooks and DVDs for their fans. Many popular female idols in Japan launched their careers by starting out as gravure idols