(born on December 14, 1960 in

Kanazawa, Ishikawa is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape ...

) is a Japanese

gravure idol A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

and pink film actress who was active in the 1980s and rose to prominence as

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

's from 1983 to 1985.

Life and career

Nikkatsu

When famed

S&M actress

Naomi Tani is a Japanese pink film actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's '' Roman Porno'' films with an S&M theme during the 1970s. Life and career Early Born October 20, 1948, in the Hakata ward of Fukuoka, Naomi Tani moved to Tokyo ...

retired in 1979, the studio tried a number of replacements for her including starlet Takakura who was next in line after

Nami Matsukawa is a Japanese 1980s pink film actress and bondage and fetish model who is best known for being the 4th Nikkatsu SM Queen in 1983. Career By 1980, Nami Matsukawa was a sex worker named "Emi" at the SM club ''Blue Chateau'' in Akasaka, Tokyo. Mats ...

. Takamura began her career at Nikkatsu with the August 1983 ''Beauty in Rope Hell'', part of Nikkatsu's ''

Roman Porno in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equi ...

'' series, written by noted S&M author

Oniroku Dan was a Japanese author who has 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 associa ...

and directed by

Genji Nakamura Genji may refer to: *Genji (era), an era in Japanese history (1864–65) *Hikaru Genji, the main character of the 11th-century Japanese text ''The Tale of Genji'' *Genji, an alternative name for the Minamoto clan *Genji (woreda), a district of the ...

. Some moviegoers complained that Takakura was too thin for bondage work because the ropes didn't make enough of a visible impression but ''pink film'' critics Thomas and Yuko Weisser cite her as one of the best S&M actresses. However, by this time Nikkatsu was at a low point and would close its doors in a few years and the S&M genre films which had supported the studio for a number of years were becoming formulaic and trite. Takakura retired from the ''pink film'' scene after starring in five

films written by

, her final movie for Nikkatsu being the January 1985 ''Double Rope Torture'' to which the Weissers give only a one-star rating, calling the film a "stillborn project".

After Nikkatsu

Takakura later pursued a film and TV career, becoming one of the rare Roman Porno actresses (such as Terumi Azuma and Junko Asahina) who were successful in mainstream media. She had a role in the February 1985 mainstream comedy ''

Capone Cries a Lot is a 1985 Japanese comedy directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Kenichi Hagiwara. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Toshiyuki Kajiyama. Plot Umiemon (Kenichi Hagiwara) is a naniwa-bushi singer who travels with his wife to th ...

'' directed by

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...

who had also started his career at Nikkatsu (but in the pre-Roman Porno era). In 1987, she appeared in the second of the long series of ''Gokudō no onna-tachi'' gangster films from Toei. She also had a role as a novelist in the June 1995 comedy ''Tenshi no wakemae''. Takakura released a 96-page nude photobook in December 1993 titled ''South Fairy Tale'' photographed by Kenji Ishiguro and published by Scola. She married

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

Nobuo Harada in 1995. Four of

’s stories, originally published in Japanese in 1997, were published in English in 2010 by Vertical, Inc. The collection of these stories is titled ''Season of Infidelity''; the collection’s last story, ''Bewitching Bloom'', is a telling of Dan’s relationship with

, and also includes notes about three subsequent Nikkatsu "Queens"; Takakura,

Izumi Shima is a Japanese mainstream film actress who is best known for her roles in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno film series. Life and career Shima was born Keiko Ishida () in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan on December 3, 1953. Ishida made her acting debu ...

, and

Junko Mabuki is a pink film actress who became famous in Nikkatsu Roman Porno films, particularly in 1981. Career Born , she made her acting debut by 1979, in ''Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' (Eiichi Kudo), with the alias . The same year, ...

.''Season of Infidelity'', p. 175 - 177

Filmography

Nikkatsu

* ''Beauty in Rope Hell'' (団鬼六美女縄地獄), Genji Nakamura (1983) * ''Beauty Rope Cosmetology'' (団鬼六美女縄化粧), Katsuhiko Fujii (1983) * ''Nun in Rope Hell'' (団鬼六修道女縄地獄), Katsuhiko Fujii (1984) * ''Rope Torture'' (団鬼六縄責め) Ikuo Sekimoto (1984) * ''Double Rope Torture'' (団鬼六緊縛卍責め), Ikuo Sekimoto (1985)

Other films

* ''

'',

(1985) * , Yoshitaka Kawai (1986) * , Tōru Dobashi (1987) * ,

Jinsei Tsuji is a Tokyo-born Japanese writer, composer, and film director. In his film and singing work he uses the name Jinsei Tsuji, an alternative reading of the Japanese writing of his name. He debuted as a writer in 1989. His books and stories have be ...

(1995)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takakura, Miki 1960 births Japanese female adult models Japanese gravure idols Pink film actors Living people People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Nikkatsu SM Queens