Melo IMAI

Mero Imai, or Mero Narita as she was then known, and her brother Dumo, both learned to snowboard whilst on a skiing trip to Canada when she was seven. Upon their return to Japan, their father became their coach after he established the Dream Club snowboarding club, and at the age of 12 Mero became the youngest professional Japanese snowboarder. However, after being subjected to a strict regime by their father, the siblings split with him in 2005. At the same time, Mero announced she was changing her surname to Imai, her mother’s maiden name. Having won the 2004 All-Japan Ski Championship Tournament Snowboard Competition, she won an FIS Snowboarding World Cup event in Switzerland shortly after the split from her father, and then went to the 2006 Olympics in Italy, but failed to qualify in the half-pipe event.

After her failure at the 2006 Olympics she quit the sport and after a spell as a recluse, embarked on a new career, firstly as a hostess in Osaki, which led her into prostitution and ultimately adult videos. However, her life was at times tragic and she even attempted suicide. Between 2010 and 2012 she was twice married, twice divorced, and had two children.

Just before the release of her first adult video in May 2017, Mero returned to snowboarding, and took first place in the halfpipe at the 35th All Japan Snowboarding Championships in March, her first halfpipe tournament for 11 years.