Defunct Gravure Idol Web Sites List

This document is a list of defunct official, image-based gravure idol web sites/services, sorted by each website's end of service date.

スピグラNet (Spi-Gra Net)

• Date of shutdown: 2004-04-28
• Owner: Shogakukan
• References: Announcement of shutdown (on standalone version for Biglobe), post-shutdown notice (on Bitway)

A somewhat short-lived service, first launching in 2002. Despite the shutdown in 2004, six of the released content continued to be available through the pay-per-view Spi-Gra Net 1 Day (スピグラNet 1 DAY) service until June 2009, by which point Shogakukan already dropped The Internet SPIRITS branding for the Big Comic Spirits' website, and with it, the spi-gra.net domain. (Note that the home page on spi-gra.net does not include an post-mortem end-of-service notice, only the banner for the 1 Day service.)

This service was likely redundant to Young Sunday Visual Web, as both are tied to Shogakukan's major seinen manga magazines. Ironically, Weekly Young Sunday ceased publication in 2008, leaving just Weekly Big Comic Spirits as the sole major weekly seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan. (Some manga series published in former did get moved to latter, either as full continuation or as part of YS Special, whose purpose is to wrap up Weekly Young Sunday storylines that needed to conclude.)

マガジングラビアNet (Magazine Gravure Net)

• Date of shutdown: 2007-09-28
• Owner: Kodansha
• References: Post-shutdown notice (on Bitway)

The first iteration of Weekly Young Magazine's gravure web service. Also abbreviated as MGNet.

After it was discontinued, subscribers were directed to image.tv service, which is still around to this day, except Kodansha and image.tv eventually parted ways at an unknown time. That service is currently run solely by Miyazawa Masaaki and Fanplus, Inc., as the former is its exclusive photographer; the service was also previously affiliated with Shinchosha's Digital Gekkan Factory (月刊デジタルファクトリー) in the past.

GRAPHYweb

• Date of shutdown: 2008-09-30
• Owner: KK Bestsellers
• References: Home page in it's final days, with shutdown notice

A tie-in to KK Bestsellers' men's/gravure magazines, mainly The Best (ザ・ベスト), which ceased publication in 2011.

Unlike most websites other websites on this list, there is no separate end-of-service announcement page, before or after it has closed. The announcement was posted on the front page is the only proof. The domain appeared to have expired almost immediately after it ceased operations; by December that year, it was parked by its registrar, Onamae (GMO Internet).

ザ・テンメイワールド (The Tenmei World)

• Date of shutdown: 2009-05-31
• Owner: Tenmei Kano, Telenet Jr (iLogos), Digital Adventure, Inc. (Bokenya Amusement Convenience)
• References: Shutdown announcement buried on June 2009 captures of Azumi Harusaki set from December 2008 (broken images) and Kazuki Aso set from April 2009 (broken images and CSS)

A website exclusively photographed by Tenmei Kano, with "scandalous" aura from the website theming. It features a mix of gravure idols and AV actresses, the latter without nudity, similar to Digital Adventure/Bokenya's other gravure service at the time, Desktop Gal Collection (DGC), which still exists to this day (somehow).

As Wayback Machine did not have any of the service's front page captures from the final months (the last capture was from September that year, by which time Bokenya had removed the website from their servers), for reference purposes, the end of service announcement was found in at least two image set pages, captured from June that year (which so happens to be AV actresses).

Since the final release was in May and the webpage remained accessible the following month, the website likely was taken down by Bokenya by July or August - however, it was still present on the Entertainment portion of the main Bokenya site until somewhere between April to August 2011 (for comparison, in March 2011; the URL currently redirects to curent DGC website, dgcidol.jp). The Tenmei World's content was also still available on the @misty website for a year or so after the original service shut down (last capture in May 2010; removed in January 2011).

Tenmei Kano's blog (tenmei-blog.jp; last working capture on February 2009) was also gone around the same time, as the URL was taken over by a squatter that same month as the first known home page 404 capture on Wayback Machine.

iiv -ikuteru idol visual-/JUICY×JUICY

• Date of shutdown: 2011-12-26
• Owner: GignoSystem Japan, Inc. (Tokyo FM Broadcasting)
• References: Announcement on prism (art side) blog (archived); post-shutdown notice

iiv originally stood for "internet interactive TV" and was originally an online television/video-on-demand website, run by Papple, Inc. and TFMi, the online division of Tokyo FM Broadcasting (see also the TFM+ article on Japanese Wikipedia). In October 2009, TFMi was restructured to become GignoSystem Japan, Inc., and all internet TV programming moved to Mopal, run solely by Papple, Inc. GignoSystem/Tokyo FM retained the domain and promptly converted it into a (primarily) gravure idol website as they retained the content relating to JUICY×JUICY - one of the programs featured there. It also featured hand-drawn artwork under the prism: Moe Idol Illustration Calendar (prism 萌えドルイラストカレンダー) banner, among other "visual"/"moe" content.

Bizarrely, starting in May 2024 the website went online again using Wayback Machine data from 2011-10-09, minus the swf/Flash files; Wayback Machine signatures were also stripped out. Starting in September 2025 (judging from the dates of the posts), spam articles in English began to appear on the website as well.

週刊.jp (Shukan.jp)

• Date of shutdown: 2012-03-31
• Owner: Shinchosha, Ensites, Inc. (web admin)
• References: Post-shutdown notice

One of the two websites that serves as a tie-in to Gekkan Series (月刊シリーズ), Shinchosha's monthly gravure photobook/magazine hybrid (these hybrids are called mook in Japan). The other tie-in website is miss actress; in mid-2011, Shinchosha's credit was removed in favor of Neo Co., Ltd, which may have operated that website for Shinchosha. (It is not clear when miss actress was closed, as it did not have it's own website; it was hosted on Bitway's website only.)

Shukan.jp's end-of-service announcement in the service's final months appear to be lost, as there's no waybacks from February or March 2012.

Both Shukan.jp and miss actress were superseded by the Digital Gekkan Factory (月刊デジタルファクトリー), launched in 2013. The current website was also advertised on miss actress' website following its launch, in what would be the final year for Bitway, even with Shinchosha no longer credited on miss actress. (image.tv was also formerly related to Digital Gekkan Factory at one point.)

ビジュアルヤングジャンプ (Visual Young Jump)

• Date of shutdown: 2012-05-31
• Owner: Shueisha
• References: Post-shutdown notice

A tie-in to Weekly Young Jump, Shueisha's major weekly seinen manga magazine, in case that wasn't obvious. Abberivated as VYJ, an abbreviation also used in branding. After it ceased operations, existing subscribers were directed to the WPB-net service.

Rumor has it that the leak of raw, high-resolution cuts of AKB48-related photoshoots in August 2011 was a probable factor in its shutdown, although it was also reported the breach may have also included WPB-net images. (The following month in September, VYJ's homepage informed the users about a "service interruption" - likely referring to the raw photos breach.) The leak later resurfaced, at least in English, in 2016 on /jp/ (4chan)'s AKB48 general.

The YJ Photo Book series of digital photobooks have since effectively replaced the service, continuing with trend of digital/online gravure content switching from subscription model to sales of digital photobooks on a-la carte basis.

TWO (Tatsuo Watanabe Online Photography)

• Date of shutdown: 2012-10-31
• Owner: Tatsuo Watanabe
• References: @s_hituji tweet (archived)

A website exclusively photographed by Tatsuo Watanabe. It also featured non-idol photos from his portfolio and technique information for aspiring photographers.

The Biglobe version website's Wayback Machine data, located at http://bitway.cplaza.ne.jp/two/, unfortunately didn't go past May 2012, as the pages are actually stored at http://www.bitway.ne.jp/two/biglobe/ (list of URLs with that suffix on Wayback Machine; the standalone Bitway version at https://www.bitway.ne.jp/two/club/ also only goes until that same month); therefore, the pages announcing that it will cease operations, as well the message after it have closed, are lost. Only the aforementioned tweet served as a hint of when it ended service.

N/S Eyes

• Date of shutdown: 2014-02?
• Owner: Seiichi Nomura
• References: Post-shutdown notice: Earliest instance (2014-03-31), last known working instance (2014-06-20) (both contain the same content)

A website containing the works of photographer Seiichi Nomura. This service also, occasionally, featured general, non-idol photos from Nomura's portfolio. His current professional homepage also uses the "N/S Eyes" branding; however there is no clue about when the original N/S Eyes service closed there, nor on his Japanese Wikipedia article.

The exact date of when N/S Eyes closed is murky, but it is believed to be somewhere in late February 2014: OCN dropped N/S Eyes payment after January 2014, while the first instance of "end of distribution" page Wayback Machine have is from March 2014.

Bejean On Line

• Date of shutdown: 2014-09?
• Owner: GOT Corporation (DMM/Fanza group)
• References: Archive.today capture of website home page from 2014-09-07, with a link of service closure (重要なお知らせ) - unfortunately, the page announcing its closure was not saved on either Archive.today or Wayback Machine.

Bejean, a erotic magazine featuring mix of gravure idol and AV actresses (though heavily AV-adjacent), had ceased publication after its October 2014 issue, releasing in August that year, so it's web counterpart also followed suit a month after the release of the last issue.

Due to lack of (surviving) sources regarding its closure, it is not possible to determine when it exactly closed, but a likely time frame is around 2014-09-30, coinciding with announcement that magazine's Twitter account (@Bejean_got) would be repurposed (mirrors: tweet 1, tweet 2), first for Mega Beppin SP (メガベッピンSP; @megabeppinsp) and later after that also eventually ceased publication, DX Beppin R (デラべっぴんR; @dxbeppin_GOT), an AV news website.

生撮り素人ハンター キャンギャルDEコスプレ (Ikedori Shirouto Hunter: Campaign Girl de Cosplay)

• Date of shutdown: 2015-08-31
• Owner: Digital Adventure, Inc. (Bokenya Amusement Convenience) → iLogos?
• References: Post-shutdown notice (not waybacked until 2022, somehow)

Originally a "sister" service to Desktop Gal Collection (DGC) when it launched in 2002, this service was also abbreviated as CDC in English. Its name refers to its focus on thematic costume play, such as office ladies (OL) and high school uniforms.

Several leftover assets can still be found (for both DGC and Campaign Girl de Cosplay) on the website to present day, which explains why the post-shutdown notice was not in Wayback Machine until 2022 (and why both bokenya.jp/entertainment and bokenya.jp/dgc redirects to DGC's current website, dgcidol.jp).

Despite the closure, some content from prior to December 2011, as well as from 2014-2015, remained available on @misty's website (it is likely at that point, the rights to the images were with iLogos) until @misty also eventually closed in 2018. Coincidentally, starting somewhere in September 2017, @misty began cross-promoting DGC on its news site, Itopix (アイトピックス!; itopix.jp) and on the main @misty site (note the DGC ad on the @misty version of the CDC page). Additionally, as mentioned earlier, The Tenmei World (another Digital Adventure/iLogos-owned site) content was also available on the @misty website for around a year until TTW also shut down.

ヤングマガジン・グラビアネット (Young Magazine Gravure Net)

• Date of shutdown: 2016-05-31
• Owner: Kodansha, Sweet Room Inc. (web admin?)
• References: Post-shutdown notice

The second iteration of Young Magazine's gravure web service, launched in 2010 to replace MGNet which closed three years prior. The current iteration is Yanmaga Web at yanmaga.jp, which seemingly also features manga content, so that the manga and gravure content is on one website (while also selling digital photobooks, for those who prefer that way).

ワニブックスグラビアコレクション (Wanibooks Gravure Collection)

• Date of shutdown: 2017-12-25
• Owner: Wanibooks
• References: Shutdown announcement tweet (archives: part 1, part 2; unrolled), post-shutdown notice

A service that essentially features photobooks published by Wanibooks in digital form on monthly basis. Abbreviated as WBGC; often listed simply as "Wanibooks" in English.

The website also had a back number PPV service called ワニブックスお宝コレクション (Wanibooks Otakara Collection), which closed ten days prior to the main website's closure.

@misty

• Date of shutdown: 2018-03-28
• Owner: Misty, Inc. → Asuka International Corp./AMS Holdings (Japan Media Supply, Co., Ltd.)
• References: Shutdown notice

A gravure website with a long storied existence dating back to 2000 (although earliest Wayback Machine capture only go to 2002; was it on an different domain in 2000/2001?) featuring not only its own content, but also as marketplace/host for content from other gravure producers (including Digital Adventure/iLogos' The Tenmei World and CDC, as mentioned above). It also ran an idol news website, Itopix (アイトピックス!, itopix.jp), which closed with @misty's closure. (While Itopix's last known working capture was in 2018-03-14, news articles began to slow down in 2010s, culminating with just six articles in 2014, none in 2015, one last article in 2016, and none after that.)

Starting in 2009, it also produced image videos (IVs) branded as such, in association with Japan Media Supply, usually co-branded with their M.B.D. Media Brand (M.B.D.メディアブランド) branding. (Whether if this did eventually result in JMS buying @misty and turning Misty Inc. to Asuka International is unclear, though their corporate website at at-misty.jp stopped being updated for that purpose in 2011, before being converted to a link to @misty and Itopix websites in 2014. Additionally, some of its later photo sets are essentially digital photo versions of IVs produced by Japan Media Supply.)

Despite the announcement that its closure date being on 2018-03-28, the main @misty continued to operate until at least April or May that year, given the date of the Wayback Machine capture of the end-of-service announcement used for reference. IV/digital photobook/points sales probably had ended by that date, however. (Additionally, only the main web gravure was still updated to its final month of operation - Pure Idol Collection stopped updates in 2013 and Kiss Collection EX was last updated in 2009.)

Its "lineup showcase" website (at-misty.jp), originally its corporate website, is still online to this day, primarily for information on its DVDs (with regards to web gravure content, only samplers for some of that from 2012 and 2013 appear to remain there). Some of @misty's digital photobooks are still purchasable on Entaland, however some items are available in PDF form only instead of image sets. (Some @misty digital photobooks can also still be purchased from Asuka International Online Shop.)

Additionally, the talent recruitment page on at-misty.jp, which also contains information on procedure behind IV shoots, uses M.B.D. branding, although the inquires button for non-nude IVs redirects to m-misty.com's contact page (which uses the @misty branding). In addition, some M.B.D. branded content were also posted on the @misty's official blog on Ameblo in 2019 and 2020, and @misty's Twitter account (@idol_misty) also posted content relevant to M.B.D.'s works around the same time, before both accounts eventually went dormant.

TopQueen

• Date of shutdown: 2021-03-31
• Owner: Now International Co., Ltd.
• References: Shutdown news announcement (missing timeline image), post-shutdown notice

A race queen (grid girls, as they are known elsewhere) gravure website. Somewhat ironically, there were no photoshoots in team outfits in it's main site since 2019, probably due to effects of COVID affecting Japanese motorsports in 2020/2021.

TopQueen also featured some sister/sub websites. At the time of it's closure, the only remaining sister/sub site was TopQueen Excite, which featured the RQs in other than team outfits, usually the usual gravure idol fare. Two other sister sites, RQ Club, which featured swimsuits (mizugi) exclusively (and was originally a replacement for the Gals Paradise Web service, which tied in to the magazine of the same name, when RQ Club launched in February 2008), and MaidQueenz, which featured them in maid cosplay, had closed earlier in December 2013. The Shop TopQueen/RQ Web Shop, which have not stocked new products since 2014/2015, also closed with the main TopQueen service in 2021.

Following the closure of the service, Now International's corporate website (nowint.com) was replaced with a CentOS HTTP Server Test Page, indicating that the company is currently dormant.

週プレnet (WPB-net/Shupure-net)

• Date of shutdown: 2021-05-31
• Owner: Shueisha
• References: WPB-net to WPB Plus! campaign page

In April 2021, after over 20 years (having launched in May 2000, itself replacing BARTCLUB as Weekly Playboy's online counterpart), Shueisha replaced both WPB-net and it's mobile counterpart, Shupure Mobile, with WPB Plus! (週プレプラス!). Users were given until either service's shutdown date to migrate subscriptions. Both news announcements on old service (WPB-net) and new one (WPB Plus!) site are lost, but the GraJapa campaign page addressing the shutdown of WPB-net is archived.

After WPB-net closed, the shupure-net.shueisha.co.jp domain temporaily redirected to the WPB Plus! landing page (part of the GraJapa! store website), until Shueisha dropped the sub-domain. Some (but not all) WPB-net content are apparently still available for WPB Plus! subscribers (WPB Plus! also functions similarly to WPB-net, anyway), others reportedly converted to digital photobooks purchasable from GraJapa! store.

プリンセスコレクション (Princess Collection)

• Date of shutdown: 2021-08-31
• Owner: Comdoors, Inc., Pyramid
• References: Post-shutdown notice

Originally a keitai (mobile)-only service when it launched in 2003, a desktop service was launched in 2006.

The desktop service is known to be heavily protected, in which not only right-clicking is not possible, selecting text is also impossible. This stayed the case even on its end-of-service page.

ビジュアルウェブS (Visual Web S)

• Date of shutdown: 2021-09-30
• Owner: Shogakukan
• References: Post-shutdown notice

Formerly known as Young Sunday Visual Web (ヤングサンデービジュアルWeb, often abbreviated outside Japan as "YS Web" even after name change) until the namesake magazine ceased publication in 2008. Even though Weekly Young Sunday had ceased publication in 2008, the service continued to run from the visual.youngsunday.com domain to the very end, and coincidentally many still refer it by its previous name.

As it primarily ties to content present on Shogakukan's manga magazines (after Weekly Young Sunday had ceased publication, the tie-in status passed to both Big Comic Spirits and Weekly Shonen Sunday), digital photobooks branded スピ/サン (Spirits/Sunday, referring to the two publications) effectively served as its replacement. Following the launch of Gravidia, Shogakukan's gravure web store (essentially their counterpart to GraJapa!, operated by its corporate sibling within the Hitotsubashi Group, Shueisha) in mid-2021, advertising for it were placed on Visual Web S' home page.

ガールズエンターテイメント★BWH★ (Girls Entertainment -BWH-)

• Date of shutdown: 2024-04-30
• Owner: Takanori Yazawa, WhiteBaseSystemsLimited (web admin?)
• References: Home page with shutdown announcement, shutdown announcement/details, post-shutdown notice, copy of post-shutdown notice text on 5ch's gravure thread

Featuring the works of race queen (among others) photographer Takanori Yazawa and having operating since 2004, BWH's shutdown was announced on 2024-01-12, with content being purchasable from the website until 2024-03-31. Because of the pay-per-view nature of BWH (purchased content have a limited viewing period of 15 days; after it expires, the user has to rebuy to view it again), the viewing period following the purchase during this period was extended from 15 to 20 days following the shutdown announcement; as such, contents purchased on the final day would de facto expire on 2024-04-20. At the time of its closure, it had two sub-sites: Y-Mode (with YMD code) and Another Queen (with ANQ code). It also had various other sub-sites in the past, such as Hyper Race Queen (HRQ code).

Wayback Machine data from 2024, which contained historical record of its end of service, was thought to be lost until a capture from 2024-03-03 was added to Wayback Machine at an unspecified time. The captures confirmed that its last release was on 2024-02-29, a Y-Mode set (YMD0418; An Aono Part 2).

Yazawa's other web content, Cyber Cafe on DMM, also ended production around the same time.

Authored by gravity_etcher. For inquiries about this list, contact me on Discord or Twitter.