On her website, http://Mimi4Governor.com,
the 32-year old Philippine-American, has posted positions on issues ranging
from terrorism and Iraq to problems in schools and the criminal justice system.
Hinting that there may be a touch of the dominatrix to her political views,
Miyagi says of American schools: "There's no order, little security and little
discipline."
An early supporter of the War in Iraq, she thinks President George W. Bush has
fallen down on the job. "The coalition that was formed appears superficial,"
she says.
On economic issues, she holds a mixed bag of positions. She wants to see tax
rates slashed like a good libertarian but also wants a substantial increase in
the minimum wage. And despite her Asian heritage, Miyagi may be a protectionist
at heart: "We have to find a way to manufacture products here with our own
American workforce," she says.
Miyagi was born in the Philippines in 1973 and claims on her web site to have
been a child prodigy who graduated from high school - the Mindanao Mission
Academy in her hometown of Davao City - in one and half years. She also claims
to be a classical pianist and to have taken several courses in marksmanship and
criminal investigation. She is a member of the National Rifle Association.
She went into the porn business in 1993 after answering an ad but was
disillusioned because the profits from her numerous on-screen romps were going
into the pockets of producers. "She realized that if she wanted to make money
in this business, she had to take control of her career," her official
biography says. She became the publisher of Oriental Dolls, an erotic Asian
magazine now called Asian Hotties and also pioneered streaming video on porn
websites targeting men with erotic fantasies about Asian women. She has also
appeared in Playboy magazine as a "pro-wrestling student."
The run for governor is just one of many ways this enterprising Filipina
packages and sells her Mimi Miyagi persona. On the "official" website dedicated
to her adult endeavors, for example, fans can purchase a life size plaster cast
of the "Famous and well known Butt that all her fans came to love and want."
For US$400 you can "have a piece of Mimi" in a choice of four colors. For
another US$75, the ass sculpture is delivered in air-brushed flesh tones that
"make Mimi's Skin tone come to life." She also continues to attend erotic
conventions and dance at strip clubs in between campaign appearances.
Also on her site are links to a porn-star auction site that offers various bits
of lace she has worn in her movies. Bidding is currently open on a thong bikini
and a "Pink See-Through Nightie & Lace Panties with 3 Autographed Photos
& the DVD In Which Mimi Wears Your Lingerie Just For You!" Fans who donate
$25 to her campaign for governor will also receive an autographed picture of
the candidate stripped down and ready to make policy.
Also a mom, Miyagi devotes considerable time on her Mimi's Diary, her blog
(http://mimimiyagi.blogspot.com/), to talking about her daughter and musing
over plans for the future. Perhaps wanting to follow in the footsteps of
porn-star-turned-actress Traci Lord, she wants to be a serious actress. She
recently filled the role of a senator for a movie called "Devil's Canyon" in
which she apparently keeps her clothes on. "I realized how much I thoroughly
love and enjoy acting now!" she blogged of her experience. "I've never had the
luxury to devote so much energy into a character. All my acting experience was
usually during an adult film, and the distraction of knowing I had to have sex
on camera never gave me the full satisfaction of what fun acting can be. Now I
understand the passion for the craft! I want to start takin' some acting
workshops now."
Her desire to enter into politics appears to stem from an experience in 2004.
At the time, she claims in her blog, her daughter Isabela, now seven, was
abducted by a family member and she was forced to go to court to get her back.
In the process, she claims she "suffered from judicial activism" and had to
file for bankruptcy and sell her extensive gun collection to pay court fees.
After a year-long court battle in Las Vegas, the child was returned but not
before Miyagi says she was persecuted for being an adult star and forced to
undergo drug tests and court-ordered psychiatric examinations at her own
expense. "Just because I have a porn past, doesn't mean I should be treated
'less than human,'" she wrote on her blog in 2004 as she asked fans to
contribute to a legal defense fund.
It was as a result of the court battle that "Mimi Miyagi", a garishly dolled up
character that one might assume was vaguely Japanese, instead was revealed as a
Filipina. "I'm slowly but surely allowing my general public to know more TRUTHS
about me," she wrote in 2004. "Now you all know my real name: Melody. Now you
all know where I was really born and my true heredity: Filipina. You all know
my real age."
On the day of her filing, the candidate did not dwell on her past travails but
summed up her reasons for running with characteristic good humor: "Look, I'm
not some old bastard playing golf. I'm for the people, which means raising the
minimum wage and getting rid of business taxes for entertainers. I'm a
Republican because I love to bear arms and breasts!"
That's a platform anybody could support.
Copyright 2006, Asian Sex Gazette
