In 2003, after making more adult videos than any other AV idol in Japan within one year, she and her agency petitioned the Guinness World Records for inclusion in their book. At first she was not a popular performer because of her mature looks at a time when very young looking girls were the fashion in porn and she did only about 10 videos in her first six months. However, that changed and Asakawa and her modeling agency submitted an application to the Guinness Book of World Records for making 212 adult videos within the year of 2002, a number unprecedented in the 20-year history of AV in Japan. The next year (2003), she outdid her previous record by appearing in 304 videos but announced her retirement at the end of the year. Her total output in Japan including later re-issues and compilations numbers nearly 800 videos.

Asakawa is quite a popular performer in Chinese-speaking areas where she is known as Ran Muto and she has an entry under that name in the Chinese language Wikipedia. In 2006, rumors began circulating on Chinese websites that Asakawa had died in June 2006 of either cancer or renal failure. The rumors were quickly answered by Asakawa's agent on her official website assuring Chinese fans that she was alive and well.