How JAV product codes work
Japanese adult video is organised by product code. Titles get translated, shortened and reused; the code does not change. If you can read a code, you can find the exact product — and you can tell whether two listings are the same work or two different ones.
Anatomy of a code
SSIS-123
│ │
│ └─ sequential number within that label
└─────── label prefix (letters)The letters identify a label — a product line — not a studio. One studio runs many labels, each with its own prefix and its own numbering that starts at 001 and counts up. Two works with the same number but different prefixes have nothing to do with each other.
The same code, four ways
This is where most people get stuck. One product can appear as:
| Form | Example | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | SSIS-123 |
Discussion, reviews, most sites |
| No hyphen | SSIS123 |
Search boxes, filenames |
| Padded internal | ssis00123 |
Japanese store URLs and databases |
| Prefixed internal | 1ssis00123 |
Some store URLs |
All four refer to the same product. The padded form pads the number to five digits; the leading digit in the fourth form is an internal marker, not part of the code.
Practical rule: search the standard form first (SSIS-123). If you are pasting a URL fragment from a Japanese store, strip the leading digit and read the middle: 1ssis00123 → SSIS-123.
Suffixes you may see
Some listings carry extra characters after the number. These usually indicate a variant of the same release rather than a different work — a different edition, resolution or bundling. The base code is what identifies the product.
What a code does not tell you
- Not the contents. The number is sequential by release order, nothing more.
- Not the format. You cannot tell from a prefix alone whether a work is VR, standard or a compilation. Some prefixes are used exclusively for one format, but this is a convention of that label, not a rule of the system.
- Not the performer. Labels release with many different performers.
Searching by code
Because codes are unique, a code search lands on the right product page far more reliably than a title search. Titles are translated inconsistently — the same work may appear under three different English titles across three sites — while SSIS-123 is SSIS-123 everywhere.
If a code search returns nothing, check that you have the prefix right. O and 0, I and 1 are the usual culprits when a code has been copied by hand.
When you only have a title
Search the title, find the product page, and take the code from it. Then use the code from that point on. This is the reliable direction of travel: title → code → everywhere else.
Where to go next
- Can’t reach the store? → Region guide
- Can’t pay? → Payment guide
- Looking for a performer rather than a work? → Actresses
- Studios and labels → Studios