In 2005, Dome left their father's side and started practicing himself. A few
months later, Mellow left, too, returning to live with her mother, who she
hadn't lived with since she was 4, and taking her mother's maiden name of
Imai," a sports reporter tells Shukan Bunshun.
A snowboarding circles insider explains what Imai has been doing since her
ignominious end at Turin.
"She released a rap song, 'Yume,' ('Dream') at the Olympic team party and was
planning to become a rap singer when the Olympics were over. But that talk all
ended when she flopped in the competition," the insider says.
They call her fellow's Mellow. (Quite rightly?)"The last time I saw her
competing was at the national championships in March, where she finished
fourth. I'd heard she was living with her mom and her brothers after the
Olympics and though there were rumors she was turning tricks, I didn't believe
them. Until I saw that magazine article."
That magazine article was a pictorial spread in the July edition of Bubka.
Running under the headline "Beautiful M.I. from the Turin Winter Olympic Team
now turning tricks part time," the article featured several photos of a young
woman clad in sexy lingerie performing sexual services in an Osaka hotel.
Shukan Bunshun probes into the story, finding the woman pictured is working
under the name "Koyuki." Further investigation among other sex workers from the
same establishment finds at least one who is willing to say "Koyuki" is
actually Mellow Imai.
"Well, I've gotta tell youse now. Only a few of the girls actually know Koyuki
is in fact Mellow Imai. I clearly heard her saying it once. I saw her write her
real name down for one of the other girls once," an Osaka sex worker tells
Shukan Bunshun.
"She used to go around saying that she'd been in the Olympics. And I saw her
show her driver's license to one of the other girls once. The girl was really
surprised and said Mellow wasn't lying."
Koyuki-Mellow wasn't the most popular of the establishment's sex workers.
"Koyuki used to wear a lot of clothes from Roxy, which had been one of her
sponsors when she was still competing. And she carried around a Chanel bag and
Louis Vuitton purse. She seemed to like the designer label stuff," another lady
of the night says.
"I heard she used to hang out with a friend at a host club in (the Osaka
entertainment district of) Minami. She was apparently really keen on a host
there."
Nobody in the media has been able to contact Imai directly to confirm the
rumors about her having turned into a sex worker. They have talked to her
management, though.
"Our agency hasn't been able to talk to her about the matter. We want to
confirm the facts of the story, consult with our lawyer and decide what to do
from there," Imai's manager tells the weekly.
"Mind you, the mother said that when she asked the girl about the rumors, she
said it couldn't possibly be true. We believe what they said."
Imai's mother was unavailable for comment when the weekly sought her out, but
the younger brother who lives with them spoke to the weekly.
"Look, I don't really know what's going on, even though she's me sister," the
boy tells Shukan Bunshun.
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