Pinku eiga
Encyclopedia
is a style of Japan
ese softcore pornographic
theatrical film. Films of this genre first appeared in the early 1960s, and dominated the Japanese domestic cinema from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. In the 1960s, the pink films were largely the product of small, independent studios. In the 1970s, some of Japan's major studios, facing the loss of their theatrical audience, took over the pink film. With their access to higher production-values and talent, some of these films became critical and popular successes. Though the appearance of the AV
(adult video) took away most of the pink film audience in the 1980s, films in this genre are still being produced.
," "soft porn" and "sexploitation
" have been suggested as more appropriate, although none of these precisely matches the pink film genre. Due to the nature of Japanese censorship laws, the display of genitals, and even pubic hair, were long-held taboos in the genre. This restriction forced Japanese filmmakers to develop sometimes elaborate means of avoiding showing the "working parts", as Richie puts it. In order to work around this censorship, most Japanese directors positioned props—lamps, candles, bottles, etc.—at strategic locations to block the banned body parts. When this was not done, the most common alternative techniques are digital scrambling, covering the prohibited area with a black box or a fuzzy white spot, known as "fogging
".
Some have claimed that it is this censorship
which gives the Japanese erotic cinema its particular style. Donald Richie says, "American pornography is kept forever on its elemental level because, showing all, it need do nothing else; Japanese eroductions have to do something else since they cannot show all. The stultified impulse has created some extraordinary works of art, a few films among them." Writing in 1972, at the commencement of the Second Wave of pink film, he qualifies his statement with, "None of these, however, are found among eroductions." Contrasting the pink film with Western pornographic films, Pia Harritz says, "What really stands out is the ability of pinku eiga to engage the spectator in more than just scenes with close-ups of genitals and finally the complexity in the representation of gender and the human mind."
Richie and Harritz both enumerate the fundamental elements of the pink film formula as:
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946. Although throughout the 1940s and early 1950s nudity in Japanese movie theaters, as in most of the world, was a taboo, some films from the mid-50s such as Shintoho
's female pearl-diver films starring buxom Michiko Maeda
, began showing more flesh than would have previously been imaginable in the Japanese cinema. During the same period, the taiyozoku films on the teen-age "Sun Tribe", such as Kō Nakahira
's Crazed Fruit
(1956), introduced unprecedented sexual frankness into Japanese films.
Foreign films of this time, such as Ingmar Bergman
's Summer with Monika
(1953), Louis Malle
's Les Amants
(1958), and Russ Meyer
's The Immoral Mr. Teas
(1959) introduced female nudity into international cinema, and were imported to Japan without problem. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
's film The Pornographers
(1966).
genres, the "nudie-cuties" and "roughies". Nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema with Satoru Kobayashi
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962), which is considered the first true pink film. Made for 8 million yen, Kobayashi's independent feature film took in over 100 million yen. Kobayashi remained active in directing pink films until the 1990s. Tamaki Katori
, the star of the film, went on to become one of the leading early pink film stars, appearing in over 600, and earning the title "Pink Princess".
In 1964, maverick kabuki
, theater and film director Tetsuji Takechi
helped invigorate the "First Wave" of pink film, by directing Daydream
, the first big-budget pink film. Takechi's Black Snow (1965), resulted in the director's arrest on charges of obscenity, and a high-profile trial which became a major battle between Japan's intellectuals and the establishment. Takechi won the lawsuit, and the publicity surrounding the trial helped bring about a boom in the production of pink films.
In her introduction to the Weisser's Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, actress Naomi Tani
calls this period in pink film production "The Age of Competition". Though Japan's major studios, such as Nikkatsu
and Shochiku
made occasional forays into pink film territory in the 1960s, such as director Seijun Suzuki
's Gate of Flesh
(1964)—the first mainstream Japanese film to contain nudity, the pink films of this era were mainly independent, low-budget productions. Independent studios such as Nihon Cinema and World Eiga made dozens of cheap, profitable "eroductions". Among the most influential independent studios producing pink films in this era were Shintōhō, Million Film
, Kantō, and Ōkura
. Typically shown on a three-film program, these films were made by these companies to show at their own chain of specialty theaters.
Another major pink film studio, Wakamatsu Studios, was formed by director Kōji Wakamatsu
in 1965, after quitting Nikkatsu. Known as "The Pink Godfather", and called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film genre", Wakamatsu's independent productions are critically respected works usually concerned with sex and extreme violence mixed with political messages. Three other important pink film directors of this time, Kan Mukai
, Kin'ya Ogawa and Shinya Yamamoto are known as "The Heroes of the First Wave". In 1965, the same year as Wakamatsu became independent, directors Kan Mukai and Giichi Nishihara
established their own production companies—Mukai Productions and Aoi Eiga.
The "first queen of Japanese sex movies" was Noriko Tatsumi
, who made films at World Eiga and Nihon Cinema with director Kōji Seki
. Other major Sex Queens of the first wave of pink film included Setsuko Ogawa, Mari Iwai, Keiko Kayama, and Miki Hayashi. Other pink film stars of the era include Tamaki Katori, who appeared in many films for Giichi Nishihara and Kōji Wakamatsu; Kemi Ichiboshi, whose specialty was playing the role of a violated innocent; and Mari Nagisa. Younger starlets like Naomi Tani, and Kazuko Shirakawa
were starting their careers and already making names for themselves in the pink film industry, but are best remembered today for their work with Nikkatsu during the 1970s.
In order to tap into this lucrative audience, major studio Toei
entered the sexploitation market in 1971. In films like his ero-guro series and Joys of Torture
series of the late 1960s director Teruo Ishii
had provided a model for Toei's sexploitation ventures by "establishing a queasy mix of comedy and torture." Producer Kanji Amao designed a group of series—shigeki rosen (Sensational Line), ijoseiai rosen (Abnormal Line), and harenchi rosen (Shameless Line), today collectively referred to as Toei's "Pinky Violence". Most of Toei's films in the pink film style used eroticism in conjunction with violent and action-filled stories. Several of these films have the theme of strong women exacting violent revenge for past injustices. The series was launched with the Delinquent Girl Boss (Zubeko Bancho) films starring Reiko Oshida
. Other series in the Pinky Violence genre included Norifumi Suzuki
's Girl Boss (Sukeban
) films, and the Terrifying Girls' High School
films, both starring Reiko Ike
and Miki Sugimoto
. Other examples of Toei's films in this genre include Shunya Ito
's Sasori (Scorpion) series of women in prison films
based on Toru Shinohara
's manga
. Starting with Female Convict #701: Scorpion
(1972), the Scorpion series starred Meiko Kaji, who had left Nikkatsu Studios to distance herself from their Roman Porno series.
Also in 1971, Takashi Itamochi, president of Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, made the decision to take his own company's high production values and professional talent out of action films and put them into the pink film genre. Like Toei, Nikkatsu had made some previous films in the sexploitation market, such as Story of Heresy in Meiji Era (1968) and Tokyo Bathhouse (1968), which featured over 30 sex-film stars in cameo appearances. Nikkatsu launched its Roman Porno series in November 1971 with Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon
, starring Kazuko Shirakawa
. The film became a huge hit, inspired 20 sequels within seven years, establishing Shirakawa as Nikkatsu's first "Queen", and successfully launched the high-profile Roman porno series. Director Masaru Konuma
says that there was essentially no difference between the pink films and Roman Porno except for the studio's higher budget. Nikkatsu would make these higher-quality pink films almost exclusively, at an average rate of three per month, for the next 17 years.
Nikkatsu gave its Roman porno directors a great deal of artistic freedom in creating their films, as long as they met the official minimum quota of four nude or sex scenes per hour. The result was a series that was popular both with audiences and with critics. One or two Roman Pornos appeared on the top-ten lists of Japanese critics every year throughout the run of the series. Nikkatsu's higher-quality sex films essentially took the pink film market away from the smaller, independent studios until the mid-1980s, when the AV
all but ended the theatrical pornographic film.
Tatsumi Kumashiro
was one of the major directors of the Roman Porno. Kumashiro directed a string of financial and critical hits unprecedented in Japanese cinematic history, including Ichijo's Wet Desire (1972) and Woman with Red Hair
(1979), starring Junko Miyashita
. He became known as the "King of Nikkatsu Roman porno" Noboru Tanaka
, director of A Woman Called Sada Abe
(1975), is judged by many critics today to have been the best of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno directors. The S&M subgenre of the Roman Porno was established in 1974 when the studio hired Naomi Tani
to star in Flower and Snake
(based on an Oniroku Dan
novel), and Wife to be Sacrificed
, both directed by Masaru Konuma. Tani's immense popularity established her as Nikkatsu's third Roman Porno Queen, and the first of their S&M Queens. Other subgenres of the pink film developed under the Roman Porno line included "Violent Pink", established in 1976 by director Yasuharu Hasebe
.
(the Japanese film-rating board) and the pink-film companies added to Nikkatsu's difficulties by putting drastic new restrictions on theatrical films. Theatrical pink movie profits dropped 36% within a month of the new ruling. Eirin dealt the final blow to theatrical pornography in 1988 by introducing stricter requirements for sex-related theatrical films. Nikkatsu was finally forced to concede defeat to the AV industry, and closed its production facilities in April 1988. Bed Partner (1988) was the final film of the venerable 17-year-old Roman Porno series. Nikkatsu continued to distribute films under the name Ropponica, and theatrical pornography through Excess Films, however these were not nearly as popular or critically respected as the Roman Porno series had been in its heyday. By the end of the 1980s, the AV had become established as the main form of adult cinematic entertainment in Japan.
The dominant directors of pink films of the 1980s, Genji Nakamura, Banmei Takahashi
and Mamoru Watanabe
are known collectively as "The Three Pillars Of Pink". All three were veterans of the pink film industry since the 1960s. Coming to prominence in the 1980s, a time when the theatrical porn film was facing considerable difficulties on several fronts, this group is known for elevating the pink film above its low origins by concentrating on technical finesse and narrative content. Some critics dubbed the style of their films "pink art".
By the time Nakamura joined Nikkatsu in 1983, he had already directed over 100 films. While the plots of his films, which could be extremely misogynistic, were not highly respected, his visual style earned him a reputation for "erotic sensitivity." Nakamura directed one of Japan's first widely distributed, well-received films with a homosexual theme, Legend of the Big Penis: Beautiful Mystery (1983), for Nikkatsu's ENK Productions, which was founded in 1983 to focus on gay-themed pink films. Some of Nakamura's later pink films were directed in collaboration with Ryūichi Hiroki
, and Hitoshi Ishikawa under the group pseudonym Go Ijuin.
Banmei Takahashi directed "intricate, highly stylistic pinku eiga", including New World of Love (1994), the first Japanese theatrical film to display genitals. Another prominent cult director of this era, Kazuo "Gaira" Komizu, is known for his Herschell Gordon Lewis
-influenced "splatter-eros" films, which bridge the genres of horror and erotica.
" in Japan. So long as the director provided the requisite number of sex scenes, he was free to explore his own thematic and artistic interests.
Three of the most prominent pink film directors of the 1990s, Kazuhiro Sano
, Toshiki Satō
and Takahisa Zeze
all made their directorial debuts in 1989. A fourth, Hisayasu Satō
, debuted in 1985. Coming to prominence during one of the most precarious times for the pink film, these directors worked under the assumption that each film could be their last, and so largely ignored their audience to concentrate on intensely personal, experimental themes. These directors even broke one of the fundamental pink rules by cutting down in the sex scenes in pursuit of their own artistic concerns. Their films were considered "difficult"—dark, complex, and largely unpopular with the older pink audience. The title
was applied to these directors, at first sarcastically, by disgruntled theater owners. On the other hand, Roland Domenig, in his essay on the pink film, says that their work offers "a refreshing contrast to the formulaic and stereotyped films that make up the larger part of pink eiga production, and are strongly influenced by the notion of the filmmaker as auteur."
, Shinji Imaoka
, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshiro Enomoto, Yūji Tajiri
, Mitsuru Meike
and Rei Sakamoto. Ueno was the first director of this group to rise to prominence, acting as an "advance guard" for the group when his Keep on Masturbating: Non-Stop Pleasure
(1994) won the "Best Film" award at the Pink Grand Prix
. Founded in 1989, the Pink Grand Prix has become a yearly highlight for the pink film community by awarding excellence in the genre and screening the top films.
The 2000s have seen a significant growth in international interest in the pink film. Director Mitsuru Meike's The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai
(2003) made an impression in international film festivals and gained critical praise. A planned annual "women-only" pink film festival was first held in South Korea
in 2007, and again in November 2008. In 2008 a company called Pink Eiga was formed with the sole purpose of releasing pink films on DVD in the U.S.
{|
1979
1969
1972
studio's in-house awards.
1985
1987
1976
1985
1980 Zoom-Up Awards
1984 Zoom-Up Awards
1985 Zoom-Up Awards
- Held in Shinjuku, Tokyo in May 1985.
1986 Zoom-Up Awards
1989 Zoom-Up Awards
1994 Zoom-Up Awards
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese softcore pornographic
Softcore
Softcore pornography is a form of filmic or photographic pornography or erotica that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography. It is intended to tickle and arouse men and women. Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic...
theatrical film. Films of this genre first appeared in the early 1960s, and dominated the Japanese domestic cinema from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. In the 1960s, the pink films were largely the product of small, independent studios. In the 1970s, some of Japan's major studios, facing the loss of their theatrical audience, took over the pink film. With their access to higher production-values and talent, some of these films became critical and popular successes. Though the appearance of the AV
Chronology of adult videos in Japan
This is a chronological history of the AV industry in Japan. The main events relevant to the AV industry are discussed for each year, as well as notable debuts. Notable AV actress names are in bold font...
(adult video) took away most of the pink film audience in the 1980s, films in this genre are still being produced.
Description of the pink film
The pink film, or "eroduction" as it was first called, is a cinematic genre without exact equivalent in the West. Though called pornography, the terms "eroticaErotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
," "soft porn" and "sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
" have been suggested as more appropriate, although none of these precisely matches the pink film genre. Due to the nature of Japanese censorship laws, the display of genitals, and even pubic hair, were long-held taboos in the genre. This restriction forced Japanese filmmakers to develop sometimes elaborate means of avoiding showing the "working parts", as Richie puts it. In order to work around this censorship, most Japanese directors positioned props—lamps, candles, bottles, etc.—at strategic locations to block the banned body parts. When this was not done, the most common alternative techniques are digital scrambling, covering the prohibited area with a black box or a fuzzy white spot, known as "fogging
Fogging (censorship)
Fogging is a type of visual censorship. An area for a picture or movie is blurred to obscure it from sight. This form of censorship is used for sexually related images/scenes, hiding genitals, pubic hair, or sexual penetration of any sort. Pixelization is a form of fogging...
".
Some have claimed that it is this censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
which gives the Japanese erotic cinema its particular style. Donald Richie says, "American pornography is kept forever on its elemental level because, showing all, it need do nothing else; Japanese eroductions have to do something else since they cannot show all. The stultified impulse has created some extraordinary works of art, a few films among them." Writing in 1972, at the commencement of the Second Wave of pink film, he qualifies his statement with, "None of these, however, are found among eroductions." Contrasting the pink film with Western pornographic films, Pia Harritz says, "What really stands out is the ability of pinku eiga to engage the spectator in more than just scenes with close-ups of genitals and finally the complexity in the representation of gender and the human mind."
Richie and Harritz both enumerate the fundamental elements of the pink film formula as:
- The film must have a required minimum quota of sex scenes
- The film must be approximately one hour in duration
- It must be filmed on 16 mm or 35 mm film within one week
- The film must be made on a very limited budget
Background to the pink film
In the years since the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946. Although throughout the 1940s and early 1950s nudity in Japanese movie theaters, as in most of the world, was a taboo, some films from the mid-50s such as Shintoho
Shintoho
was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big-6 film studios during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Tōhō Company...
's female pearl-diver films starring buxom Michiko Maeda
Michiko Maeda
is a Japanese film and television actress. After becoming known as the first Japanese actress to appear in a nude scene in a mainstream film, Maeda was banned from the Japanese cinema after an incident in which she refused to obey a director, and did not return to the Japanese screen until 42 years...
, began showing more flesh than would have previously been imaginable in the Japanese cinema. During the same period, the taiyozoku films on the teen-age "Sun Tribe", such as Kō Nakahira
Ko Nakahira
- Filmography as assistant director :* Ojōsan shachō, lit. "Madame Company President" - Filmography as director :* Kurutta kajitsu * Gyūnyū-ya furanki * Bitoku no yoromeki * Kurenai no tsubasa)...
's Crazed Fruit
Crazed Fruit
, also known as Juvenile Jungle, is a 1956 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Kō Nakahira. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara, the older brother of Yujiro Ishihara.- Cast :* Masahiko Tsugawa - Haruji...
(1956), introduced unprecedented sexual frankness into Japanese films.
Foreign films of this time, such as Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
's Summer with Monika
Summer with Monika
Summer with Monika is a 1953 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It sparked controversy abroad for its frank depiction of nudity, and along with the film One Summer of Happiness from the year before, directed by Arne Mattsson, it started the reputation of Sweden as a sexually liberated...
(1953), Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
's Les Amants
Les Amants
The Lovers is a 1958 French film about adultery and rediscovering human love, directed by Louis Malle and starring Jeanne Moreau. It was Malle's second feature film, made when he was 25 years old. The film was a box office hit in France when released theatrically gaining 2,594,160 Admissions in...
(1958), and Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
's The Immoral Mr. Teas
The Immoral Mr. Teas
The Immoral Mr. Teas is the first commercially successful film of director Russ Meyer.-Etymology:The name "Teas" is a homophone of the word tease, and one of the meanings of "tease" includes to sexually excite another person by subtle means, usually explicitly avoiding advancement to more...
(1959) introduced female nudity into international cinema, and were imported to Japan without problem. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
Shohei Imamura
was a Japanese film director. Imamura was the first Japanese director to win two Palme d'Or awards.His eldest son Daisuke Tengan is also a script writer and film director, and worked on the screenplays to Imamura's filmsThe Eel , Dr...
's film The Pornographers
The Pornographers
The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura and based on a novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Its original Japanese title is Erogotoshitachi yori Jinruigaku nyumon , which means 'An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers'. It tells the story of porn...
(1966).
First wave (The "Age of Competition" 1962–1971)
The first wave of the Pink film in Japan was contemporary with the similar U.S. sexploitation filmSexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
genres, the "nudie-cuties" and "roughies". Nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema with Satoru Kobayashi
Satoru Kobayashi (director)
was a Japanese film director most famous for directing the first pink film, the type of softcore pornographic films that became the most prolific film genre in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s...
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962), which is considered the first true pink film. Made for 8 million yen, Kobayashi's independent feature film took in over 100 million yen. Kobayashi remained active in directing pink films until the 1990s. Tamaki Katori
Tamaki Katori
is a Japanese actress best known for her appearances in pink film during the 1960s and early 1970s. Katori was the star of Flesh Market , the first of these softcore pornographic films made in Japan...
, the star of the film, went on to become one of the leading early pink film stars, appearing in over 600, and earning the title "Pink Princess".
In 1964, maverick kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
, theater and film director Tetsuji Takechi
Tetsuji Takechi
was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and...
helped invigorate the "First Wave" of pink film, by directing Daydream
Daydream (1964 film)
is a 1964 Japanese Pink film. The first of these softcore pornographic films to have a big budget and a mainstream release in Japan, it was shown at the Venice Film Festival and given two releases in the United States. Director Tetsuji Takechi remade the film in hardcore versions in 1981 and 1987...
, the first big-budget pink film. Takechi's Black Snow (1965), resulted in the director's arrest on charges of obscenity, and a high-profile trial which became a major battle between Japan's intellectuals and the establishment. Takechi won the lawsuit, and the publicity surrounding the trial helped bring about a boom in the production of pink films.
In her introduction to the Weisser's Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, actress Naomi Tani
Naomi Tani
is a Japanese actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films with an S&M theme during the 1970s.-Early career:Born October 20, 1948, in the Hakata ward of Fukuoka, Naomi Tani moved to Tokyo at the age of 18. After arrival in Tokyo, she was featured in a photo layout...
calls this period in pink film production "The Age of Competition". Though Japan's major studios, such as Nikkatsu
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
and Shochiku
Shochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...
made occasional forays into pink film territory in the 1960s, such as director Seijun Suzuki
Seijun Suzuki
, born Seitaro Suzuki on May 24, 1923, is a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are renowned by film enthusiasts worldwide for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility...
's Gate of Flesh
Gate of Flesh
is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki.-Synopsis:In an impoverished and burnt out Tokyo ghetto of post-World War II Japan, a band of prostitutes defend their territory, squatting in a bombed-out building. Somehow they eke out a living together...
(1964)—the first mainstream Japanese film to contain nudity, the pink films of this era were mainly independent, low-budget productions. Independent studios such as Nihon Cinema and World Eiga made dozens of cheap, profitable "eroductions". Among the most influential independent studios producing pink films in this era were Shintōhō, Million Film
Million Film
was one of the early independent studios which produced pink films. Along with OP Eiga, Shintōhō, Kantō and Kōji Wakamatsu's production studio, Million Film was one of the most influential on the genre during its first decade...
, Kantō, and Ōkura
OP Eiga
, also known as is the largest and one of the oldest independent Japanese studios which produce and distribute pink films. Along with Shintōhō, Kantō, Million Film, and Kōji Wakamatsu's production studio, Ōkura was one of the most influential studios on the pink film genre...
. Typically shown on a three-film program, these films were made by these companies to show at their own chain of specialty theaters.
Another major pink film studio, Wakamatsu Studios, was formed by director Kōji Wakamatsu
Koji Wakamatsu
is a Japanese film director who directed such pinku eiga films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film In the Realm of the Senses...
in 1965, after quitting Nikkatsu. Known as "The Pink Godfather", and called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film genre", Wakamatsu's independent productions are critically respected works usually concerned with sex and extreme violence mixed with political messages. Three other important pink film directors of this time, Kan Mukai
Kan Mukai
aka Hiroshi Mukai and was a Japanese film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter, known for his pioneering work in the pink film genre...
, Kin'ya Ogawa and Shinya Yamamoto are known as "The Heroes of the First Wave". In 1965, the same year as Wakamatsu became independent, directors Kan Mukai and Giichi Nishihara
Giichi Nishihara
aka is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor best known known for his low-budget and sensationalistic pink films made for his Aoi Eiga studios in the 1960s and 1970s...
established their own production companies—Mukai Productions and Aoi Eiga.
The "first queen of Japanese sex movies" was Noriko Tatsumi
Noriko Tatsumi
is a Japanese actress known primarily for her appearances in pink films of the 1960s. During the "First Wave" of pink film, Tatsumi became known as the first "Queen" of Japanese softcore sex movies, a title which she held from 1967 through 1970...
, who made films at World Eiga and Nihon Cinema with director Kōji Seki
Kōji Seki
aka is a Japanese film director known for his pioneering work in the pink film genre. Among the accomplishments of Seki's career: he directed the first pink films for Kokuei, the oldest pink film company, Japan's first 3-D film, the world's first 3-D sex film, and Japan's first "invisible man"...
. Other major Sex Queens of the first wave of pink film included Setsuko Ogawa, Mari Iwai, Keiko Kayama, and Miki Hayashi. Other pink film stars of the era include Tamaki Katori, who appeared in many films for Giichi Nishihara and Kōji Wakamatsu; Kemi Ichiboshi, whose specialty was playing the role of a violated innocent; and Mari Nagisa. Younger starlets like Naomi Tani, and Kazuko Shirakawa
Kazuko Shirakawa
is a Japanese actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films during the 1970s. She appeared in Nikkatsu's first film in the Roman Porno series, Apartment Wife , and is considered the first of the three "Nikkatsu Queens" of the 1970s...
were starting their careers and already making names for themselves in the pink film industry, but are best remembered today for their work with Nikkatsu during the 1970s.
Second wave (The Nikkatsu Roman Porno era 1971–1982)
Until the late 1960s, the "pink film" market was almost entirely the domain of low-budget independent companies. At the beginning of the 1970s, now losing their audiences to television and imported American films, Japan's major film studios were struggling for survival. In 1972, Richie reported, "In Japan, the eroduction is the only type of picture that retains an assured patronage."In order to tap into this lucrative audience, major studio Toei
Toei Company
is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
entered the sexploitation market in 1971. In films like his ero-guro series and Joys of Torture
Shogun's Joys of Torture
is a 1968 Japanese film in the Ero guro sub-genre of Toei's style of Pink film. Directed by Teruo Ishii, the film is considered a precursor to Toei's ventures into the "Pinky violent" style in the early 1970s.-Availability:...
series of the late 1960s director Teruo Ishii
Teruo Ishii
was a Japanese film director best known in the West for his early films in the Super Giant series, and for his films in the Ero guro subgenre of pinku eiga such as Shogun's Joys of Torture . He also directed the 1965 film, Abashiri Prison, which helped to make Ken Takakura a major star in Japan...
had provided a model for Toei's sexploitation ventures by "establishing a queasy mix of comedy and torture." Producer Kanji Amao designed a group of series—shigeki rosen (Sensational Line), ijoseiai rosen (Abnormal Line), and harenchi rosen (Shameless Line), today collectively referred to as Toei's "Pinky Violence". Most of Toei's films in the pink film style used eroticism in conjunction with violent and action-filled stories. Several of these films have the theme of strong women exacting violent revenge for past injustices. The series was launched with the Delinquent Girl Boss (Zubeko Bancho) films starring Reiko Oshida
Reiko Oshida
Reiko Oshida is a Japanese actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in Toei's action/erotic "Pinky Violence" series, which the company designed to compete with the popular independent genre of movies known as "pink film."-Biography:Oshida's career started after winning the 1966...
. Other series in the Pinky Violence genre included Norifumi Suzuki
Norifumi Suzuki
', also known as Norifumi Suzuki, is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his works for studio Toei , especially the Red Peony Gambler and Truck Yarō series.Suzuki was born November 26, 1933 in Shizuoka...
's Girl Boss (Sukeban
Sukeban
means delinquent girl or boss girl in Japanese, equivalent to the male banchō. A dictionary of says that sukeban only refers to the leader of a girl gang, not any member of the girl gang.-Characteristics:...
) films, and the Terrifying Girls' High School
Terrifying Girls' High School
is a 4-film series of Pinky violence pink films made by Toei during 1972 and 1973. Reiko Ike was the star of all four films, and Miki Sugimoto co-starred in the first two.- The Films :# Director: Norifumi Suzuki)...
films, both starring Reiko Ike
Reiko Ike
, is a Japanese actress, singer, and entertainer. She is best known for her roles in the genre of action/erotic movies known as pink films. Ike also released an album of songs in 1971, Kôkotsu No Sekai...
and Miki Sugimoto
Miki Sugimoto
is a Japanese actress best known for her roles in the sukeban sub-genre of Toei's action/erotic form of "pink film" known as Pinky Violence.-Life and career:...
. Other examples of Toei's films in this genre include Shunya Ito
Shunya Ito
is a Japanese film director famed for starting the Sasori series of 1970s exploitation films based on Toru Shinohara's manga and starring Meiko Kaji. Itō worked for Toei Company for most of his career...
's Sasori (Scorpion) series of women in prison films
Women in prison films
Women in prison film is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the late 1960s and continues to the present day.Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by sadistic male or female prison wardens and guards...
based on Toru Shinohara
Toru Shinohara
is a Japanese manga artist.He was born in Niihama, Ehime. After graduating from high school on March 1955, he started working at a factory in Osaka making car parts but quit after only ten months. He studied manga via a mail-offered course and wrote to various manga magazines...
's manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. Starting with Female Convict #701: Scorpion
Female Convict 701: Scorpion
is a film based on a manga by Tōru Shinohara in the "Women in Prison" sub-genre of Pinky violence Pink films made by Toei Company in 1972. The first in a series, the film starred Meiko Kaji and was Shunya Itō's directorial debut.-Plot:...
(1972), the Scorpion series starred Meiko Kaji, who had left Nikkatsu Studios to distance herself from their Roman Porno series.
Also in 1971, Takashi Itamochi, president of Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, made the decision to take his own company's high production values and professional talent out of action films and put them into the pink film genre. Like Toei, Nikkatsu had made some previous films in the sexploitation market, such as Story of Heresy in Meiji Era (1968) and Tokyo Bathhouse (1968), which featured over 30 sex-film stars in cameo appearances. Nikkatsu launched its Roman Porno series in November 1971 with Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon
Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon
aka From 3 to Sex is a 1971 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series. The first film in this successful new direction for the studio, it was directed by Shōgorō Nishimura and starred Kazuko Shirakawa.-Synopsis:...
, starring Kazuko Shirakawa
Kazuko Shirakawa
is a Japanese actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films during the 1970s. She appeared in Nikkatsu's first film in the Roman Porno series, Apartment Wife , and is considered the first of the three "Nikkatsu Queens" of the 1970s...
. The film became a huge hit, inspired 20 sequels within seven years, establishing Shirakawa as Nikkatsu's first "Queen", and successfully launched the high-profile Roman porno series. Director Masaru Konuma
Masaru Konuma
is a Japanese director most famous for his Roman Porno films for Nikkatsu during the 1970s.-Early life:Masaru Konuma was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, on December 30, 1937. Konuma retains no memories of his father who was a teacher...
says that there was essentially no difference between the pink films and Roman Porno except for the studio's higher budget. Nikkatsu would make these higher-quality pink films almost exclusively, at an average rate of three per month, for the next 17 years.
Nikkatsu gave its Roman porno directors a great deal of artistic freedom in creating their films, as long as they met the official minimum quota of four nude or sex scenes per hour. The result was a series that was popular both with audiences and with critics. One or two Roman Pornos appeared on the top-ten lists of Japanese critics every year throughout the run of the series. Nikkatsu's higher-quality sex films essentially took the pink film market away from the smaller, independent studios until the mid-1980s, when the AV
Chronology of adult videos in Japan
This is a chronological history of the AV industry in Japan. The main events relevant to the AV industry are discussed for each year, as well as notable debuts. Notable AV actress names are in bold font...
all but ended the theatrical pornographic film.
Tatsumi Kumashiro
Tatsumi Kumashiro
was a Japanese film director best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning Roman Porno films, such as Ichijo's Wet Lust and The Woman with Red Hair...
was one of the major directors of the Roman Porno. Kumashiro directed a string of financial and critical hits unprecedented in Japanese cinematic history, including Ichijo's Wet Desire (1972) and Woman with Red Hair
Woman with Red Hair
is an award-winning Japanese pink film in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series.-Wins:* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Hochi Film Awards* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Kinema Jumpo* Best Supporting Actress, Ako - Yokohama Film Festival...
(1979), starring Junko Miyashita
Junko Miyashita
is a Japanese actress who had a long and varied career working both in pink film and mainstream cinema.- Career :Junko Miyashita was born in Tokyo on January 29, 1949. She was working as a waitress at a coffee shop when she was recruited to work in Pink films....
. He became known as the "King of Nikkatsu Roman porno" Noboru Tanaka
Noboru Tanaka
was a Japanese film director best known known for his Roman Porno films, including three critically respected films known as the Showa trilogy: A Woman Called Sada Abe , Watcher in the Attic , and Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture! , all three starring Nikkatsu Roman porno queen Junko Miyashita...
, director of A Woman Called Sada Abe
A Woman Called Sada Abe
aka Sada Abe: A Docu-Drama is a Roman porno version of the Sada Abe story directed by Noboru Tanaka.It is based on the true story of a woman who strangled her lover during a love-making session, then severed his penis, which she carried with her until her arrest...
(1975), is judged by many critics today to have been the best of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno directors. The S&M subgenre of the Roman Porno was established in 1974 when the studio hired Naomi Tani
Naomi Tani
is a Japanese actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films with an S&M theme during the 1970s.-Early career:Born October 20, 1948, in the Hakata ward of Fukuoka, Naomi Tani moved to Tokyo at the age of 18. After arrival in Tokyo, she was featured in a photo layout...
to star in Flower and Snake
Flower and Snake
aka Flowers and Serpents is a Japanese soft-core S/M film starring Naomi Tani, directed by Masaru Konuma and produced by Nikkatsu. Based on a novel by Oniroku Dan , Japan's best-known author of S&M fiction, Flower and Snake was the first of Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno films to deal with an S&M theme...
(based on an Oniroku Dan
Oniroku Dan
was a Japanese author who had been called, "the most celebrated writer of popular SM novels in Japan." Many of his stories have been filmed, most notably by Nikkatsu studio in their Roman Porno series. Dan had a close professional association with actress Naomi Tani throughout her career...
novel), and Wife to be Sacrificed
Wife to Be Sacrificed
is a Japanese soft-core pornographic S/M film starring Naomi Tani and directed by Masaru Konuma. The film was produced by Nikkatsu studios as part of their Roman Porno series.- Background :...
, both directed by Masaru Konuma. Tani's immense popularity established her as Nikkatsu's third Roman Porno Queen, and the first of their S&M Queens. Other subgenres of the pink film developed under the Roman Porno line included "Violent Pink", established in 1976 by director Yasuharu Hasebe
Yasuharu Hasebe
was a Japanese film director best known known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the Pink film, such as Assault! Jack the Ripper , Rape! , Rape! 13th Hour and Raping!...
.
1980s
When ownership of VCRs first became widespread in the early 1980s, AVs (adult videos) made their appearance and quickly became highly popular. As early as 1982 the AVs had already attained an approximately equal share of the adult entertainment market with theatrical erotic films. In 1984, new government censorship policies and an agreement between EirinEirin
is the abbreviated name for , Japan's movie regulator. Eirin was established on the model of the American Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America's Production Code Administration in June, 1949, on the instructions of the US occupation force...
(the Japanese film-rating board) and the pink-film companies added to Nikkatsu's difficulties by putting drastic new restrictions on theatrical films. Theatrical pink movie profits dropped 36% within a month of the new ruling. Eirin dealt the final blow to theatrical pornography in 1988 by introducing stricter requirements for sex-related theatrical films. Nikkatsu was finally forced to concede defeat to the AV industry, and closed its production facilities in April 1988. Bed Partner (1988) was the final film of the venerable 17-year-old Roman Porno series. Nikkatsu continued to distribute films under the name Ropponica, and theatrical pornography through Excess Films, however these were not nearly as popular or critically respected as the Roman Porno series had been in its heyday. By the end of the 1980s, the AV had become established as the main form of adult cinematic entertainment in Japan.
The dominant directors of pink films of the 1980s, Genji Nakamura, Banmei Takahashi
Banmei Takahashi
is a Japanese film director. Takashi started his career in the pink film industry, making his directorial debut in 1972 with Escaped Rapist Criminal. Due to a disagreement with his producer, Takahashi quit the film industry for a couple years...
and Mamoru Watanabe
Mamoru Watanabe
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in the pink film genre. Along with directors Genji Nakamura and Banmei Takahashi, Watanabe is known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink".-Early life:...
are known collectively as "The Three Pillars Of Pink". All three were veterans of the pink film industry since the 1960s. Coming to prominence in the 1980s, a time when the theatrical porn film was facing considerable difficulties on several fronts, this group is known for elevating the pink film above its low origins by concentrating on technical finesse and narrative content. Some critics dubbed the style of their films "pink art".
By the time Nakamura joined Nikkatsu in 1983, he had already directed over 100 films. While the plots of his films, which could be extremely misogynistic, were not highly respected, his visual style earned him a reputation for "erotic sensitivity." Nakamura directed one of Japan's first widely distributed, well-received films with a homosexual theme, Legend of the Big Penis: Beautiful Mystery (1983), for Nikkatsu's ENK Productions, which was founded in 1983 to focus on gay-themed pink films. Some of Nakamura's later pink films were directed in collaboration with Ryūichi Hiroki
Ryuichi Hiroki
is a Japanese artist, film director, and film editor.-Biography:Ryūichi Hiroki is now one of the most prolific film directors in Japan. He is a pioneer in using digital video to shoot theatrical films in Japan...
, and Hitoshi Ishikawa under the group pseudonym Go Ijuin.
Banmei Takahashi directed "intricate, highly stylistic pinku eiga", including New World of Love (1994), the first Japanese theatrical film to display genitals. Another prominent cult director of this era, Kazuo "Gaira" Komizu, is known for his Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...
-influenced "splatter-eros" films, which bridge the genres of horror and erotica.
1990s
Nikkatsu, Japan's largest producer of pink films during the 1970s and 1980s, declared bankruptcy in 1993. Nevertheless, even in this most difficult period for the pink film, the genre never completely died out, and continued exploring new artistic realms. Indeed, at this time the pink film was viewed as one of the last refuges of the "auteurAuteur theory
In film criticism, auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur"...
" in Japan. So long as the director provided the requisite number of sex scenes, he was free to explore his own thematic and artistic interests.
Three of the most prominent pink film directors of the 1990s, Kazuhiro Sano
Kazuhiro Sano
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor best known for his pink films of the 1990s. Along with fellow directors, Takahisa Zeze, Toshiki Satō and Hisayasu Sato, he is known as one of the...
, Toshiki Satō
Toshiki Sato
aka , , and is a Japanese film director and screenwriter best known for his pink films of the 1990s. Along with fellow directors, Takahisa Zeze, Kazuhiro Sano and Hisayasu Satō, he is known as one of the .-Life and career:...
and Takahisa Zeze
Takahisa Zeze
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter best known for his soft-core pornographic pink films of the 1990s. Along with fellow directors, Kazuhiro Sano, Toshiki Satō, and Hisayasu Sato, he is known as one of the .-Life and career:...
all made their directorial debuts in 1989. A fourth, Hisayasu Satō
Hisayasu Sato
is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the pinku eiga genre. His best known works are the pink film The Bedroom , and the V-Cinema splatter film Splatter: Naked Blood . He is known for his "sledgehammer" filmmaking style, and using his exploitation career to tackle...
, debuted in 1985. Coming to prominence during one of the most precarious times for the pink film, these directors worked under the assumption that each film could be their last, and so largely ignored their audience to concentrate on intensely personal, experimental themes. These directors even broke one of the fundamental pink rules by cutting down in the sex scenes in pursuit of their own artistic concerns. Their films were considered "difficult"—dark, complex, and largely unpopular with the older pink audience. The title
was applied to these directors, at first sarcastically, by disgruntled theater owners. On the other hand, Roland Domenig, in his essay on the pink film, says that their work offers "a refreshing contrast to the formulaic and stereotyped films that make up the larger part of pink eiga production, and are strongly influenced by the notion of the filmmaker as auteur."
Pink film today
The newest prominent group of seven pink film directors all began as assistant directors to the shitenno. Their films display individualistic styles and introspective character indicative of the insecurity of Japan's post-bubble generation. Known together as the they are Toshiya UenoToshiya Ueno
is a Japanese film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the pink film directors known collectively as the .-Life and career:...
, Shinji Imaoka
Shinji Imaoka
aka is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of a group of pink film directors of the 2000s known collectively as the .-Life and career:...
, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshiro Enomoto, Yūji Tajiri
Yūji Tajiri
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the group of pink film directors collectively known as the .-Life and career:...
, Mitsuru Meike
Mitsuru Meike
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the group of prominent pink film directors known collectively as the .-Life and career:...
and Rei Sakamoto. Ueno was the first director of this group to rise to prominence, acting as an "advance guard" for the group when his Keep on Masturbating: Non-Stop Pleasure
Keep on Masturbating: Non-Stop Pleasure
aka Serial Masturbation: Disorder is a 1994 Japanese Pink film directed by Toshiya Ueno. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the 1994 Pink Grand Prix ceremony.-Synopsis:...
(1994) won the "Best Film" award at the Pink Grand Prix
Pink Grand Prix
The or is an annual Japanese film award ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film. Known as the "Academy Awards of the Pink Film", the ceremony attracts a diverse audience of industry personnel, film scholars and the general public....
. Founded in 1989, the Pink Grand Prix has become a yearly highlight for the pink film community by awarding excellence in the genre and screening the top films.
The 2000s have seen a significant growth in international interest in the pink film. Director Mitsuru Meike's The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai
The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai
began life as a pink film, the durable Japanese soft-core genre, with the title but it developed into a cult hit and the producers allowed director Mitsuru Meike to expand it into its present form...
(2003) made an impression in international film festivals and gained critical praise. A planned annual "women-only" pink film festival was first held in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
in 2007, and again in November 2008. In 2008 a company called Pink Eiga was formed with the sole purpose of releasing pink films on DVD in the U.S.
Directors
While some directors have used pink films as a steppingstone for their careers, others work exclusively with the genre. Some notable directors of pink films include:{|
Pink films
- Flesh Market (Kobayashi, 1962)
- DaydreamDaydream (1964 film)is a 1964 Japanese Pink film. The first of these softcore pornographic films to have a big budget and a mainstream release in Japan, it was shown at the Venice Film Festival and given two releases in the United States. Director Tetsuji Takechi remade the film in hardcore versions in 1981 and 1987...
(Takechi, 1964) - The Embryo Hunts In SecretThe Embryo Hunts in Secret, released in July 1966, is the first film made by Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu independently of any movie studio. It was released just months after he had left Nikkatsu and formed his own company, Wakamatsu Productions.-Plot summary:...
(Wakamatsu, 1966) - Inflatable Sex Doll of the WastelandsInflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelandsaka Dutch Wife of the Wasteland and The Dutch Wives of the Wild, originally released as , is a 1967 Japanese pink film written and directed by cult filmmaker Atsushi Yamatoya, starring the first "Queen" of pink film, Noriko Tatsumi, and with music by the noted jazz pianist, Yōsuke...
(Yamatoya, 1967) - Go, Go Second Time VirginGo, Go Second Time Virginis a 1969 Japanese film by Kōji Wakamatsu. Acclaimed filmmaker Takeshi Kitano made his film debut as an extra.-Plot:Poppo, a teenage girl, is raped by four boys on the roof of a seven-story apartment building. She asks them to kill her, but they mock her and leave. Tsukio, a teenage boy, has been...
(Wakamatsu, 1969) - The Glamorous Life of Sachiko HanaiThe Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanaibegan life as a pink film, the durable Japanese soft-core genre, with the title but it developed into a cult hit and the producers allowed director Mitsuru Meike to expand it into its present form...
(Meike, 2003) - AmbiguousAmbiguous (film)aka and is a 2003 Japanese Pink film directed by Toshiya Ueno. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the Pink Grand Prix ceremony.-Synopsis:...
(Ueno, 2003) - Uncle's ParadiseUncle's Paradiseaka is a 2006 Japanese pink film directed by Shinji Imaoka.-Synopsis:This erotic comedy follows the life of Haruo Maekawa, a young man who makes a living catching squid. Haruo is obsessed with catching a legendary giant squid rumored to live in Tokyo Bay. Haruo's uncle Takashi, fallen on hard...
(Imaoka, 2006)
Nikkatsu "Roman Porno"
- Apartment Wife: Affair In the AfternoonApartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoonaka From 3 to Sex is a 1971 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series. The first film in this successful new direction for the studio, it was directed by Shōgorō Nishimura and starred Kazuko Shirakawa.-Synopsis:...
(Nishimura, 1971) - Ichijo's Wet Desire (Kumashiro, 1972)
- Flower and SnakeFlower and Snakeaka Flowers and Serpents is a Japanese soft-core S/M film starring Naomi Tani, directed by Masaru Konuma and produced by Nikkatsu. Based on a novel by Oniroku Dan , Japan's best-known author of S&M fiction, Flower and Snake was the first of Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno films to deal with an S&M theme...
(Konuma, 1974) - Wife to be SacrificedWife to Be Sacrificedis a Japanese soft-core pornographic S/M film starring Naomi Tani and directed by Masaru Konuma. The film was produced by Nikkatsu studios as part of their Roman Porno series.- Background :...
(Konuma, 1974) - A Woman Called Sada AbeA Woman Called Sada Abeaka Sada Abe: A Docu-Drama is a Roman porno version of the Sada Abe story directed by Noboru Tanaka.It is based on the true story of a woman who strangled her lover during a love-making session, then severed his penis, which she carried with her until her arrest...
(Tanaka, 1975) - Watcher in the AtticWatcher in the Atticaka Stroller in the Attic, Edogawa Rampo Theater: Walker in the Attic and Walker in the Attic is a 1976 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Noboru Tanaka and starring Junko Miyashita.-Synopsis:...
(Tanaka, 1976) - Angel GutsAngel Gutsis a nine-film series of pink films made mostly by the Nikkatsu Corporation between 1978 and 1994. Like all pink films the major theme is sex, but there is plenty of violence involved as well. The films were based on the manga series by Takashi Ishii...
(9-film series, 1978–1994) - Woman with Red HairWoman with Red Hairis an award-winning Japanese pink film in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series.-Wins:* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Hochi Film Awards* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Kinema Jumpo* Best Supporting Actress, Ako - Yokohama Film Festival...
(Kumashiro, 1979)
Toei "Pinky violence"
- Female Convict 701: ScorpionFemale Convict 701: Scorpionis a film based on a manga by Tōru Shinohara in the "Women in Prison" sub-genre of Pinky violence Pink films made by Toei Company in 1972. The first in a series, the film starred Meiko Kaji and was Shunya Itō's directorial debut.-Plot:...
(Itō, 1972) - Sex & FurySex & FurySex & Fury, translated , is a 1973 violent revenge soft-core pornographic Japanese film directed by Norifumi Suzuki.It was followed by Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture in the same year.-Synopsis:...
(Norifumi Suzuki, 1973) - School of the Holy BeastSchool of the Holy Beastis a film in the nunsploitation sub-genre of Pinky violence made by Toei Company in 1974.-Plot:A young woman becomes a nun at the Sacred Heart Convent to find out what happened to her mother years earlier. She encounters a lesbian mother superior, lecherous archbishops, and uncovers many dark...
(Norifumi Suzuki, 1974) - Deep Throat in TokyoDeep Throat in Tokyois a 1975 Japanese pink film directed by Kan Mukai. It has a reputation as being the prolific director's "most notorious feature" and best known film.-Synopsis:...
(Mukai, 1975)
Awards
Outstanding Pink films and their actors and directors have been given awards both from the adult entertainment industry and from the mainstream film community. The following is a partial listing.Hochi Film Award
Mainstream film award.1979
- Best Actress—Junko MiyashitaJunko Miyashitais a Japanese actress who had a long and varied career working both in pink film and mainstream cinema.- Career :Junko Miyashita was born in Tokyo on January 29, 1949. She was working as a waitress at a coffee shop when she was recruited to work in Pink films....
for The Woman with Red Hair
Kinema Junpo awards
Cinema bi-weekly journal film award.1969
- Best Independent Film—Shinya Yamamoto for Spring of Ecstasy (1968)
1972
- Best Director and Best Scriptwriter—Tatsumi KumashiroTatsumi Kumashirowas a Japanese film director best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning Roman Porno films, such as Ichijo's Wet Lust and The Woman with Red Hair...
for Ichijo's Wet LustIchijo's Wet Lustaka Ichijo's Wet Desire, Drenched Passion, Sayuri Ichijo: Moist Desire, Following Desire and Sayuri Ichijō: Wet Lust is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro and starring the famous stripper Sayuri Ichijō as herself, and co-starring Kazuko Shirakawa...
Nikkatsu awards
NikkatsuNikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
studio's in-house awards.
1985
- Best Film—Shinji SomaiShinji Sōmaiwas a Japanese film director. He directed 13 films between 1980 and 2000. His film Ohikkoshi was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:* Tonda kappuru * Sērā-fuku to kikanjū...
for Love Hotel
1987
- Best Film—Junichi Suzuki for Angel Guts: Red Rope - "Until I Expire"
Ona-Pet Award
Tabloid magazine award for "the girl you think of while masturbating". The other yearly award was given for the "Tsuma No Mibun", or "girl you would like to marry."1976
- Terumi Azuma
Pink Grand Prix
Hosted every April by PG magazine. Currently the major pink film award ceremony. Founded 1989, covers 1988–present.- See: Pink Grand PrixPink Grand PrixThe or is an annual Japanese film award ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film. Known as the "Academy Awards of the Pink Film", the ceremony attracts a diverse audience of industry personnel, film scholars and the general public....
Pinky Ribbon Awards
Annual award held by the Kansai region Pink Link magazine. 2004–present.- See: Pinky Ribbon AwardsPinky Ribbon AwardsThe are a Japanese cinema awards ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film genre. The award is held by , a Kansai region paper covering the pink film industry. Readers of the paper elect the winners of the awards, which have been held annually since 2004. Honors go to the best three...
Yokohama Film Festival
Mainstream film festival awards.1985
- Best New Director Shūsuke KanekoShusuke Kanekois a Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter.-Career:Shūsuke Kaneko began his career in film with Nikkatsu's Roman Porno film series, in which he served as assistant director to Kōyū Ohara. The series also gave Kaneko his directorial debut with writer Kōichirō Uno's, Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging ,...
for Kōichirō Uno's Wet and SwingingKōichirō Uno's Wet and Swingingaka Koichiro Uno's Wet Strike is a 1984 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Shūsuke Kaneko and starring Natsuko Yamamoto and Arisa Hayashi. It was the 21st film in Nikkatsu's series of films based on the works of author Kōichirō Uno.-Synopsis:The film is a parody of , a...
, OL yurizoku 19 sai and Eve-chan-no hime
Zoom-Up Awards
The Zoom-Up Film Festival (ズームアップ映画祭) pink film awards began in 1980 for movies released in the previous year. The awards continued to at least 1994. Since no listing of the awards seems to be presently available, the following scattered references are what items can be gleaned from the web.1980 Zoom-Up Awards
- Best Actress—Mayuko Hino
- Best Supporting Actress—Naomi Oka
- Best Director—Mamoru WatanabeMamoru Watanabeis a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in the pink film genre. Along with directors Genji Nakamura and Banmei Takahashi, Watanabe is known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink".-Early life:...
1984 Zoom-Up Awards
- Best Director—Yōjirō TakitaYojiro TakitaYōjirō Takita , is a Japanese filmmaker.-Career:Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry throughMukai Productions, where he served as an assistant director...
1985 Zoom-Up Awards
- Held in Shinjuku, Tokyo in May 1985.
- Best Actor—Tōru NakaneTōru Nakaneis a Japanese actor who was born in Tokyo, Japan on November 6, 1957. He has appeared extensively in pink film and on television. The pink film critics Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser commented in 1998 that "he is generally considered one of the best actors in the pink business."-Pink film:Nakane's...
- Best Director—Yōjirō TakitaYojiro TakitaYōjirō Takita , is a Japanese filmmaker.-Career:Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry throughMukai Productions, where he served as an assistant director...
1986 Zoom-Up Awards
- Best Actor—Tōru NakaneTōru Nakaneis a Japanese actor who was born in Tokyo, Japan on November 6, 1957. He has appeared extensively in pink film and on television. The pink film critics Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser commented in 1998 that "he is generally considered one of the best actors in the pink business."-Pink film:Nakane's...
1989 Zoom-Up Awards
- Best Director—Hitoshi Ishikawa
- Best New Director—Daisuke Goto
1994 Zoom-Up Awards
- Best New Director—Hiroshi Ando
External links
- P*G Web Site (Currently the leading journal on pink film)
- PINKEIGA.COM Definitive resource for all things PINK EIGA outside of Japan
- Extensive list of Pinku Eiga films
- Fan site/blog/clips (Pink Film Database) (Pink Film Database)