Why you'll fall in love with Mari 'Marilyn' Motohashi

Even in preparation for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the charismatic 23 year-old Aomori athlete Motohashi leads a double life as a (tasteful) gravure idol

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Thanks to the hijinks of Team Aomori, the self-introduction of the teams is the highlight of every curling match for many viewers. (Video from YouTube user showshow2)

Kyodo News, via The Japan Times, managed to get us pumped up for the Women's Curling competition at the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 by shining a light on Japanese curling pin-up girl: Mari 'Marilyn' Motohashi.

Motohashi, 23 and a native of rural Aomori Prefecture, has become a cult figure in Japan thanks to her comely looks and quirky behavior. Fans follow her every move at her personal website Mari Motohashi Curling Life.

In January, the ice queen Marilyn went even deeper into multimedia with the release of her DVD "Motohashi Mari Days Off." While Motohashi frolicks in sunny Okinawa on the video, she doesn't necessarily pose in bikinis. The DVD takes its pace and content style from the standard gravure idol video. In other words, this is a video to help men develop romantic feelings towards the curler.

Motohashi will be one of two original 2006 Turin Olympics team members returning with Team Aomori this year. Motohashi says she's improved her game over the last four years, but no matter what the final outcome is, she's already increased her audience.

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W. David Marx is CNNGo's Tokyo City Editor. Originally hailing from the American South, David studied East Asian Studies in New England and then worked for the magazine Tokion in the Lower East Side. After moving to Tokyo in 2003, he has completed a M.A. in Consumer Behavior, worked for an ad agency, written freelance for magazines such as GQ, Brutus, Weekly Diamond, and Nylon, founded numerous niche blogs, and recorded two albums on New York-based indie labels.