The AV company VIP Enterprise was founded in June 1981 and issued its first video, titled Women's Toilet Series, in December of that same year making it one of the first adult video companies to be established in Japan. The studio continued production in 1982 with works that included S&M and scatological themes. In 1983, the company changed its name from VIP Enterprise to VIP Incorporated. By 1985, the studio was using actresses with some background in entertainment, such as Anri Inoue who made her AV debut with VIP in August 1985 with the video Venus With Teardrops. The major event in the company's history in the 1980s was the debut of Hitomi Kobayashi in 1986 in her video Forbidden Relationship. With her style and looks, Kobayashi was a major factor in bringing in the concept of the AV Idol to the fledgling Japanese adult video industry, and, as the "AV Queen", she brought outstanding sales to VIP. In February 1987, Nao Saejima debuted with the company. Another early star for VIP was Rui Sakuragi, who made her debut in April 1989 under the name Masako Ichinose but took the name Rui Sakuragi the following year.
Stella / Atlas21
In January 1990, a new AV company, Stella, was formed as a subsidiary to VIP and, four years later in May 1994, the company's name was changed from Stella to Atlas21. By July of that year, the company had undergone a major reorganization, and the VIP company name and label were dropped in favor of the Atlas21 name and Atlas label. Two new labels, "OZ" and "SAURS", were also introduced as part of the newly named Atlas21 studio. Sometime before 1997, Atlas21 joined with the Kukigroup of companies, which, in addition to Kuki, comprised Alice Japan, Max-A, Media Station, Big Morkal and Sexia. They were, at one time, the largest family of AV companies in Japan. Along with the other companies in the Kuki group, Atlas21 belonged to the voluntary ethics organization called the Nihon Ethics of Video Association or 日本ビデオ倫理協会, usually abbreviated as ビデ倫. Prominent AV actresses who appeared in Atlas21 videos in the late 1990s included Asami Jō, Jun Kusanagi, Yuri Komuro, Madoka Ozawa and Bunko Kanazawa.
Recent history
In August 1998, the company revived the VIP name as a separate subsidiary company, Video Information Products Inc.. In addition to earlier Atlas21 AV stars Ai Kurosawa and Bunko Kanazawa, the new VIP also featured such actresses as Akira Watase, Nao Oikawa, Naho Ozawa and Riko Tachibana. In 2005, the Atlas21 company reported capital of 13 million yen, and it had 11 employees. Both Atlas21 and VIP ceased production of new adult video products in December 2006. From its , the company gives access to which offers downloads of many of the early classic videos produced by the company, including works by Hitomi Kobayashi, Rui Sakuragi and Ai Iijima. The VIP label is now used by Media Bank, another AV production company, which has been issuing videos under this label since at least 2001.
Labels
Atlas21 In addition to the Atlas label, the studio also used:
Gaia
Oz
Saurs
VIP In addition to the VIP label, the following were also used:
Chao
God
Ribon
Directors
Noted directors who have worked for VIP or Atlas21:
