I sure wonder what "an appreciation for Western aesthetics" actually means to a Japanese mind. I get what we are likely to interpret it as - female-friendly porn with a more relaxed, happy, and sensual pace and tone (though no less explicit) - but how does a native Japanese viewpoint conceptualize "Western aesthetics", both generally and in a pornographic context?
Not that I'm an expert on porn or anything (cough) but I have often noticed that in a typical Japanese porn video there's very little more to be found than two naked people going at it. A run-of-the-mill lesbian porn video, for example, starts with two naked girls on a plain white bed, against a plain white wall, who then proceed to have sex and go thro the whole gamut of sexual positions in a methodical and mechanical way. Then the video ends. We never learn who they are or what's their relationship, we never hear them chat, we never find if they were playing characters with some kind of backstory or if there are plot events that lead them to have sex.
In a Western lesbian porn video, even a cheap one, they will give the girls names and some basic character info, they will place them in a well-defined setting (if possible something lavish and pleasant to the eye), they will dress them in sexy clothes (that oc eventually come off) and they will have them talk a bit about their relationship and why they desire each other. I believe "Western aesthetics" in this case refers to these points: the attention paid to story & setting, the modicum of depth granted to the characters, and the varnish of realism it gives to the movie.
i've noticed a lot of japanese porns, like you've said, are a lot more simplistic and "natural", not just with the surroundings but with the women too. you don't see much of their porn actresses dressed up with make up and jewelry on compared to american porn actresses that go out of their way to doll up.
not saying one is better than the other. nothing wrong with make up and dressing up, just different aesthetics culturally.
