In case any is interested in how she looks or what she's doing now, she's running a bar, doing a bit of mainstream stuff and dance performances in Japan. Granted the pics are photoshopped but they look amazing. Quietly hoping she's building up hype for a massive comeback.
. "Porn comebacks are rarely successful ..." ... I never thought about the reality of that, but it would seem to me if an actress has broken through the mold, their comebacks can be very successful. I remember running into examples of JAV actresses discussed here on Akiba-Online (although I don't remember their names), where one in particular had disappeared for a long time, and when she came back, she came back full blast, in a good several movies within a short period of time. (And I don't think she was "famous"; I would have classified her as one of the many run-of-the-mill ones, with just a pocket of fans.)
In Western porn, when actresses who made a mark return, they seem to be welcome for as long as they remain "do-able," as with Ginger Lynn and Marilyn Chambers, although the latter was forced to retire for more tragic reasons.
Yes, I know how some pick on poor Maria Ozawa... her acting is not good, or even her vagina is too ugly... (one can get a nice gist of how she is regarded from Baby_Princess' Maria Ozawa, Beauty Is Going Downthread). I do agree that Maria does not look as sensational as she did when she was younger, but that is what happens with everyone. I certainly agree with Jean-luc about how awful those tattoos are, although I don't think they would serve as an absolute detriment, were she to return to JAV in a full-fledged manner.
She has obviously made such an impact (look at the stir she's still causing), what I don't understand is why she's no longer part of the racket, the insinuation being she is no longer popular. With the billions of JAVs being produced, I cannot believe the JAV brass would look the other way were she to show interest; she would have no problem getting roles, certainly starring roles, at least in the beginning. I can't say I know the ins and outs of her story, but on the surface it appears she made the conscious decision to bow out. From the reports above, perhaps she chose to exploit her fame in other avenues (like Sasha Grey), such as appearing in non-porn movies (as Ozone mentioned) and other venues (in the manner our venerable thread-starter, Zen10101, filled us in).
Therefore, for all of those indicating she's got to work hard for a comeback, seems to me the reality is she does not want to come back.