Popular models are expanding their skill sets and pursuing interests outside the world of fashion to show there is more to life than strutting up and down the catwalk.
One of them is Moe Oshikiri, 33, a model for the fashion magazine AneCan who often appears on TV.
In August, she published her first novel, "Asaki Yumemishi," which sold 20,000 copies in about two months, according to publisher Shogakukan Inc. The title is a phrase from an ancient "iroha" poem.