in its broadest sense includes almost any
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and
exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
features. The Western equivalent of pink films would essentially be erotic thrillers, e.g. ''
Fatal Attraction
''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film centers ...
'', ''
Fifty Shades of Grey
''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...
'', ''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealt ...
'', ''
9½ Weeks
''9½ Weeks'' is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wall St ...
'', as well as the works of directors
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...
and
Andy Sidaris
Andrew W. Sidaris (February 20, 1931 – March 7, 2007) was an American television and film director, film producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Early life
Sidaris was born in Chicago, Illinois, to first-generation Greek immigrants. He grew up ...
.
Some writers use the term 'pink film' for Japanese sex movies produced and distributed by smaller independent studios such as
OP Eiga
, also known as or Okura Pictures, is the largest and one of the oldest independent Japanese studios which produce and distribute pink films.Sharp, p. 10. It was founded in 1961 by Mitsuru Ōkura, former president of film studio Shintōhō. Alon ...
,
Shintōhō Eiga
is a Japanese pink film production company and film distributor located in Tokyo, Japan which has been among the most influential studios in the pink film genre since its beginnings.
Foundation
The first Shintōhō, or "New Toho", also known a ...
, Kokuei and Xces. In this narrower sense,
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 ''
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 equiv ...
'' series,
Toei Company
() (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...
's ''Pinky Violence'' series and the Tokatsu films distributed by
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
would not be included as these studios have much larger distribution networks.
Until the early 2000s, they were almost exclusively shot on
35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
. Recently, filmmakers have increasingly used video (while retaining their emphasis on soft-core narrative). Many theaters swapped 35mm for video projectors and began relying on old videos to meet the demand of triple-feature showings.
Pink films became wildly popular in the mid-1960s and dominated the Japanese domestic cinema through the mid-1980s. In the 1960s, the pink films were largely the product of small, independent studios. Around 1970, the major studio Nikkatsu started focusing almost exclusively on erotic content, but Toei, another major film production company, started producing a line of what came to be known as Pinky Violence films. With their access to higher production values and talent, some of these films became critical and popular successes.
Though the appearance of the
adult video
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
led viewers to move away from pink film in the 1980s, films in this genre are still being produced.
Description
The "pink film", or "eroduction" (erotic production) as it was first called, is a cinematic genre without an exact equivalent in the West.
Though called pornography, the terms "
erotica
Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...
", "
soft porn
Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Softc ...
" and "
sexploitation
A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...
" have been suggested as more appropriate, although none of these precisely matches the pink film genre.
The Japanese film ethics board Eirin has long enforced a ban on the display of genitals and pubic hair. This restriction forced Japanese filmmakers to develop sometimes elaborate means of avoiding showing the "working parts", as American film historian
Donald Richie
Donald Richie (17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also dir ...
puts it.
He wrote:
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 a
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
or "
fogging".
Some have claimed that it is this
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
that gives the Japanese erotic cinema its particular style. Richie wrote:
Richie makes a distinction between the erotic films of the major studios such as Nikkatsu and Toei as against the low-budget pink films produced by independents such as OP Eiga.
Contrasting the pink film with Western
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
s, 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 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
History
Background
In the years since the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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,
[Weisser, p. 22.] some films from the mid-50s such as
Shintoho
was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company fol ...
's female pearl-diver films starring buxom
Michiko Maeda
is a Japanese film and television actress who became known as the first Japanese actress to appear in a nude scene in a mainstream film.
Life and career
Michiko Maeda was born in Osaka Prefecture on February 27, 1934. She was working in a depar ...
, began showing more flesh than would have previously been imaginable in the Japanese cinema. During the same period, the ''
taiyozoku
is a Sino-Japanese term meaning tribe, clan, or family. As a suffix it has been used extensively within Japan to define subcultural phenomena, though many zoku do not acquire the suffix (e.g. cosplay).
A ''zoku'' may be labeled with a Japane ...
'' films on the teen-age "Sun Tribe", such as
Kō Nakahira
(1926-1978) was a Japanese film director. He joined Shochiku film company as an assistant director in 1949. In 1954, he moved to Nikkatsu film company and made his director debut with the film ''Kurutta kajitsu'' in 1956. Born in 1926 in Tokyo, N ...
's ''
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 cast member Yujiro Ishihara,Marc Moha"Crazed Fruit: The ...
'' (1956), introduced unprecedented sexual frankness into Japanese films.
Foreign films of this time, such as
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
's ''
Summer with Monika
''Summer with Monika'' ( sv, Sommaren med Monika) is a 1953 Swedish romance film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Harriet Andersson and Lars Ekborg. It is based on Per Anders Fogelström's 1951 novel of the same title. It was ...
'' (1953),
Louis Malle
Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...
's ''
Amants'' (1958), and
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...
's ''
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 by film producers such as those depicted in
Imamura's film ''
The Pornographers
is a 1966 satiric Japanese film directed by Shōhei Imamura. It is based on the novel ''Erogotoshitachi'' by Akiyuki Nosaka.
Plot
''The Pornographers'' tells the story of porn filmmaker Mr. Subuyan Ogata, whose business is under threat from thie ...
'' (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 film
A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sex ...
genres, the "nudie-cuties" and "roughies". Nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema with
Satoru Kobayashi's controversial and popular independent production ''
Flesh Market
is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Satoru Kobayashi and starring Tamaki Katori. It is generally recognized as the first movie in the '' pink film'' genre.
''Flesh Market'' opened at the Ueno Okura Theater in Tokyo, which was operated by the f ...
'' (''Nikutai no Ichiba'', 1962), which is considered the first true pink film.
[Weisser, p. 21.] 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
was a Japanese actress best known for her appearances in " pink film" during the 1960s and early 1970s. Katori was the star of ''Flesh Market'' (1962), the first of these softcore pornographic films made in Japan. With over 600 film credits betwe ...
, 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
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
, theater and film director
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 conti ...
directed ''
Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
'', a big-budget film distributed by the major studio Shochiku. 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
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 Toky ...
calls this period in ''pink film'' production "The Age of Competition". Though Japan's major studios, such 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 ...
and
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
made occasional forays into erotica in the 1960s, such as director
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 ...
's ''
Gate of Flesh
is a 1964 Japanese film based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura and directed by Seijun Suzuki.
Plot
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 b ...
'' (1964)—the first mainstream Japanese film to contain nudity,
the majority of erotic films were made by the independents. 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 Eiga (the second studio to use this name),
Million Film
was one of the early independent studios which produced pink films. Along with OP Eiga, Shintōhō Eiga, Kantō and Kōji Wakamatsu's production studio, Million Film was one of the most influential on the genre during its first decade. Many of t ...
, 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
was 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'' (1976). He has been called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film ...
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. His most controversial early films dealing with misogyny and sadism are ''
The Embryo Hunts In Secret'' (1966), ''
Violated Angels
is a film made by controversial Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu in 1967. Wakamatsu's most famous film, it is based on the mass murder spree of Richard Speck in 1966.
Plot
A young man breaks into a nurses' rooming house and one-by-one kills o ...
'' (1967), and ''
Go, Go Second Time Virgin'' (1969).
Three other important ''pink film'' directors of this time,
Kan Mukai
Kan or KAN may refer to:
Places
* Kan (river), a tributary of the Yenisey in Russia
* Kan District of Iran
* Kan, Kyrgyzstan, a village in Batken Region
* Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, Nigeria, IATA code
* Kannapolis (Amtrak s ...
,
Kin'ya Ogawa and
Shin'ya Yamamoto (director) 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
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 thro ...
, 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
Setsuko (written: or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, later of Japan
*, actress
*, Japanese volleyball player
*, Japanese actress and model
* Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (born 1942), Japan ...
, 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
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 Toky ...
, and
Kazuko Shirakawa
(born September 30, 1947) 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'' (1971), and is co ...
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.
Toei Pinky Violence
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."
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
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'' ("erotic-grotesque") subgenre of ''pinku eiga'' such as ''Shogun's Joy of Torture'' ( 1968). He also dire ...
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 this 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 (大信田礼子) is a Japanese actress and singer.
Early life
On September 15, 1948, Oshida was born in Kyoto City, Japan.
Career
Oshida's career started after winning the 1966 International Teen Princess pageant (held in Chica ...
. Other series in the ''Pinky Violence'' genre included
Norifumi Suzuki
, was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the ''Torakku Yarō'' series.
Biography
Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subse ...
's ''Girl Boss'' (''
Sukeban
is a Japanese term meaning "delinquent girl", and the female equivalent to the male in Japanese culture. The usage of the word refers to either the leader of a girl gang or the entire gang itself, and is not used to refer to any one member of a ...
'') films, and the ''
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
# (29 September 1972) Director: Norifumi Suzuki) ...
'' films, both starring
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, ''Kōkotsu No Sekai''. After a drug-related arrest, and an ...
and
Miki Sugimoto
is a Japanese people, Japanese actress best known for her roles in the ''sukeban'' (delinquent girl) subgenre of Toei Company, Toei's action/erotic form of "pink film" known as ''Pinky Violence'
'.
Life and career
Sugimoto began her career as a ...
.
Other examples of Toei's films in this genre include
Shunya Ito
Shun'ya or Shunya (written: 俊也, 駿也, 隼也, 峻野, 駿冶 or 駿哉) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese film director
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese actor
*, Ja ...
's ''Sasori'' (Scorpion) series of
women in prison films
The women in prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day.
Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by ...
based on
Toru Shinohara's
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
. Starting with ''
Female Prisoner#701: Scorpion'' (1972), the ''Scorpion'' series starred
Meiko Kaji
is a Japanese actress and singer. Since the 1960s, she has appeared in over 100 film and television roles, most prominently in the 1970s with her most famous roles as outlaw characters, best known for her performances in the film series ''Alley ...
, who had left Nikkatsu Studios to distance herself from their ''Roman Porno'' series. Toei also set the standard for Japanese
nunsploitation
Nunsploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film which had its peak in Europe in the 1970s. These films typically involve Christian nuns living in convents during the Middle Ages.
Criteria
The main conflict of the story is usually of a religio ...
films (a subgenre imported from Italy) with the critically acclaimed ''
School of the Holy Beast
is a film in the nunsploitation subgenre of Pink film, Pinky violence made by Toei Company in 1974 in film, 1974.
Plot
A young woman (Yumi Takigawa) becomes a nun at the Sacred Heart Convent to find out what happened to her mother years earlier. ...
'' (1974) directed by
Norifumi Suzuki
, was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the ''Torakku Yarō'' series.
Biography
Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subse ...
. Toei also produced a whole series of erotic samurai pictures such as ''Bohachi Bushido: Clan of the Forgotten Eight'' (Bōhachi Bushidō: Poruno Jidaigeki) (1973).
Nikkatsu Roman Porno
In 1971 Takashi Itamochi, president of Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, decided to stop his own company's involvement with action films and start making sexploitation films. 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
(born September 30, 1947) 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'' (1971), and is co ...
. The film became a huge hit, inspired 20 sequels within seven years, established Shirakawa as Nikkatsu's first "Queen", and successfully launched the high-profile ''Roman porno'' series. Director
Masaru Konuma
is a Japanese film director known for his '' Roman Porno'' films for Nikkatsu during the 1970s.
Life and career
Early life
Masaru Konuma was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, on December 30, 1937. Konuma retains no memories of his father who was a te ...
says that the process of making Roman Porno was the same as that of making a pink film except for the higher budget. Nikkatsu made 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.
[Weisser, p. 204] 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
adult videos
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
began to lure away much of the pink film's clientele.
Tatsumi Kumashiro
was a Japanese film director known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning ''Roman Porno'' films, such as ''Ichijo's Wet Lust'' (1972) and ''The Woman with Red Hair'' (1979). He was the most highly acclaimed director of the early Nikkatsu Ro ...
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
The Nikkatsu ''Roman Porno'' films were a series of theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic films produced by the movie studio Nikkatsu from November, 1971, until May, 1988. The Japanese word 'roman' refers to novels, and derives from the Latin/ ...
'' (1979), starring
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 wo ...
.
[Weisser, p. 495.] He became known as the "King of Nikkatsu ''Roman porno''"
Noboru Tanaka
was a Japanese film director known for his ''Roman Porno'' films, including three critically respected films known as the ''Showa trilogy'': '' A Woman Called Sada Abe'' (''aka'' ''Sada Abe: Docu-Drama'') (1975), ''Watcher in the Attic'' (1976), ...
, director of ''
A Woman Called Sada Abe
''aka'' ''Sada Abe: A Docu-Drama'' (1975) 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 ...
'' (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
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 Toky ...
to star in ''
Flower and Snake'' (based on an
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 ...
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.
Tani was also directed by the important director
Shôgorô Nishimura in titles that became classics, such as ''
Rope Cosmetology'' (1978).
Other subgenres of the pink film developed under the ''Roman Porno'' line included "Violent Pink", established in 1976 by director
Yasuharu Hasebe
was a Japanese people, Japanese film director best known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the ''Pink film'', such as ''Assault! Jack the Ripper'' (1976 in film, 1976), ''Rape!'' (1976), ''Rape! 13th Hour'' (1977 in film, 1977) an ...
.
1980s
When ownership of
VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s first became widespread in the early 1980s, 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.
[Weisser, p. 29.] In 1984, new government censorship policies and an agreement between
Eirin
The , also known as , is Japan's self-regulatory film regulator. Eirin was established on the model of the now-defunct American Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association's Production Code Administration in June 1949, succeeding t ...
(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 a serious blow to the pink film industry in 1988 by introducing stricter requirements for sex-related theatrical films. Nikkatsu responded by discontinuing their Roman Porno line. ''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 pink films 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, adult videos had become the main form of adult cinematic entertainment in Japan.
The dominant directors of ''pink films'' of the 1980s,
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 ...
,
Banmei Takahashi
(or Tomoaki Takahashi) is a Japanese film director. Takahashi 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 i ...
and
Mamoru Watanabe
was 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 was known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink".
Life and career
Early l ...
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, ''
Beautiful Mystery: Legend of the Big Penis'' (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
is a Japanese film director. He won critical acclaim for ''800 Two Lap Runners''. Film critic and researcher Alexander Jacoby has described Hiroki as "one of the modern Japanese cinema's most intelligent students of character".
Biography
''Pink ...
, 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 (June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the " splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though hi ...
-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, filed for bankruptcy protection 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 "
auteur
An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...
" 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
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 . Sano's films differ from those of o ...
,
Toshiki Satō
a.k.a. , , ''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
Toshiki S ...
and
Takahisa Zeze
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter first 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 . In recent years, he h ...
all made their directorial debuts in 1989. A fourth,
Hisayasu Satō
is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the genre of ''pinku eiga'' films, which refers to Japanese films that prominently feature nudity or sexual content. His best-known works are the 1992 pink film ''The Bedro ...
, 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 ''shitennō''. 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 Ueno,
Shinji Imaoka
a.k.a. 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 , which besides Imaoka, also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Yoshitaka ...
,
Yoshitaka Kamata
Yoshitaka is a masculine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname.
Possible writings
Yoshitaka can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples:
*義孝, "justice, filial piety"
*義隆, "justice, no ...
,
Toshiro Enomoto,
Yūji Tajiri
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the group of '' pink film'' directors collectively known as the , a group which also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Shinji Imaoka, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshirō Enomoto a ...
,
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 which comprises Meike, Toshiya Ueno, Yūji Tajiri, Shinji Imaoka, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshirō Enomo ...
and
Rei Sakamoto
Rei or REI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry''
*Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious''
*Rei I, II and III, List of Neon Genesis Evangelion ...
.
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
The or is an annual Japanese film award ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film genre. Referred to by Miho Toda as the "Academy Awards of the Pink Film", the ceremony attracts a diverse audience of industry personnel, film scholar ...
. 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) was introduced as a pink film, with the title but it developed into a cult hit and the producers allowed director Mitsuru Meike to expand it into its present form. In 2007 the film was featured at the Santa Barbara International Film Fes ...
'' (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, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
in 2007, and again in November 2008. In 2008 a company called
Pink Eiga, Inc.
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
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:
Actresses
Some notable ''pinku eiga'' actresses include:
Notable ''pink films'' and related genres
Pink films
* ''
Flesh Market
is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Satoru Kobayashi and starring Tamaki Katori. It is generally recognized as the first movie in the '' pink film'' genre.
''Flesh Market'' opened at the Ueno Okura Theater in Tokyo, which was operated by the f ...
'' (Kobayashi, 1962)
* ''
Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
'' (
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 conti ...
, 1964)
* ''
The Embryo Hunts In Secret'' (
Koji Wakamatsu
Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to:
*Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
*Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144
*Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558
*Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...
, 1966)
* ''
Violated Angels
is a film made by controversial Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu in 1967. Wakamatsu's most famous film, it is based on the mass murder spree of Richard Speck in 1966.
Plot
A young man breaks into a nurses' rooming house and one-by-one kills o ...
'' (Wakamatsu, 1967)
* ''
Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands
''aka'' ''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'', Nori ...
'' (Yamatoya, 1967)
* ''
Slave Widow
is a 1967 Japanese '' Pink film'' directed by Mamoru Watanabe and starring Noriko Tatsumi. Along with the first "Queen" of Japanese soft-core pornography, the film's cast includes Mari Imai and an early appearance by Naomi Tani, two other major ...
'' (
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 thro ...
, 1967)
* ''
Go, Go Second Time Virgin'' (Wakamatsu, 1969)
* ''
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss'' (
Yasuharu Hasebe
was a Japanese people, Japanese film director best known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the ''Pink film'', such as ''Assault! Jack the Ripper'' (1976 in film, 1976), ''Rape!'' (1976), ''Rape! 13th Hour'' (1977 in film, 1977) an ...
, 1970)
* ''
Sexy Battle Girls
AKA Target Campus: Attack the Uniform is a Japanese '' Pink film'' directed by Mototsugu Watanabe and starring Kyōko Hashimoto, Hotaru Yukijiro, and Yutaka Ikejima. The film was released in Japan in June 1986. The film first appeared in the U ...
'' (1986)
* ''
S&M Hunter'' (
Shuji Kataoka
a.k.a. Yasui Shūchi is a Japanese director and screenwriter primarily known for his work in '' pink films'' but who has also worked in adult videos (AV) and in mainstream film.
Life and career
Kataoka was born in Hokkaido on November 23, 1950 ...
, 1986), five-film series
* ''
Tokyo Decadence
is Japanese pink film. This erotic film was directed by Ryū Murakami (村上 龍 Murakami Ryū) with music by Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi). The film was shot and completed during 1991 and released in the start of 1992. It ...
'' (
Ryu Murakami is a Japanese masculine given name and family name meaning "dragon", "noble", "prosperous", or "flow". Ryū, Ryu, or ryu may also refer to:
Fiction
* ''Ryū'' (manga), a 1986 series by Masao Yajima and Akira Oze
* , a 1919 book by Ryūnosuke Aku ...
, 1992)
* ''
The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai
(2003) was introduced as a pink film, with the title but it developed into a cult hit and the producers allowed director Mitsuru Meike to expand it into its present form. In 2007 the film was featured at the Santa Barbara International Film Fes ...
'' (Meike, 2003)
* ''
Ambiguous
Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations wikt:plausible#Adjective, plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It ...
'' (Ueno, 2003)
* ''
Uncle's Paradise'' (Imaoka, 2006)
Nikkatsu "Roman Porno"
* ''
Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon'' (Nishimura, 1971)
* ''
Ichijo's Wet Desire'' (Kumashiro, 1972)
* ''
Flower and Snake'' (Konuma, 1974)
* ''
Wife to be Sacrificed'' (Konuma, 1974)
* ''
A Woman Called Sada Abe
''aka'' ''Sada Abe: A Docu-Drama'' (1975) 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 ...
'' (Tanaka, 1975)
* ''
Cloistered Nun: Runa's Confession'' (Konuma, 1976)
* ''
Watcher in the Attic
''aka'' ''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.
Plot
In 1923 To ...
'' (Tanaka, 1976)
* ''
Fairy in a Cage
''aka'' ''Woman In a Cage'' is a 1977 Japanese pink film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Kōyū Ohara and starring Naomi Tani.
Synopsis
During the latter part of World War II, Judge Murayama, head of the Japanese military p ...
'' (
Kōyū Ohara
was a Japanese film director known for his popular '' Roman Porno'' films, '' Fairy in a Cage'' (1977) and the ''Pink Tush Girl'' series (1978–1980). One of Nikkatsu's most versatile and prolific directors, filming eight movies in 1979 alone, ...
, 1977)
* ''
Rope Hell
is a 1978 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Kōyū Ohara and starring Naomi Tani.
Synopsis
Akiko is the heir to a yakuza clan. Hitoshi, who has been kicked out of the rival Hono Clan after attempting to seduce A ...
'' (Ohara, 1978)
* ''
Rope Cosmetology'' (Nishimura, 1978)
* ''
Angel Guts
is a six-film series of ''pink films'' produced between 1978 and 1994. The Nikkatsu, Nikkatsu Corporation was responsible for the production of the majority of the series. In accordance with the "pink film" genre, the prevalent theme in the serie ...
'' (A series of six films, 1978–1994)
* ''
Woman with Red Hair
The Nikkatsu ''Roman Porno'' films were a series of theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic films produced by the movie studio Nikkatsu from November, 1971, until May, 1988. The Japanese word 'roman' refers to novels, and derives from the Latin/ ...
'' (Kumashiro, 1979)
* ''
Star of David: Beautiful Girl Hunter'' (
Norifumi Suzuki
, was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the ''Torakku Yarō'' series.
Biography
Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subse ...
, 1979)
Toei "Pinky violence"
* ''
Shogun's Joys of Torture
is a 1968 Japanese ''ero guro'' film directed by Teruo Ishii and distributed by Toei. The film, which can be classified as belonging to a subgenre of pink films, is considered a precursor to Toei's ventures into the "pinky violent" style of f ...
'' (
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'' ("erotic-grotesque") subgenre of ''pinku eiga'' such as ''Shogun's Joy of Torture'' ( 1968). He also dire ...
, 1968)
* ''
Female Prisoner#701: Scorpion'' (Itō, 1972)
* ''
Girl Boss Guerilla
is a 1972 Japanese film in the ''sukeban'' (delinquent girl) subgenre of Toei's "Pinky violence" style of '' Pink film''. The third in the seven-film ''Girl Boss'' series, it was directed by Norifumi Suzuki and starred Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike ...
'' (Norifumi Suzuki, 1972)
* ''
Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom'' (Norifumi Suzuki, 1973)
* ''
Sex & Fury
''Sex & Fury'', translated , is a 1973 Japanese action-thriller film directed by Norifumi Suzuki and starring Reiko Ike.
It was followed by ''Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture'' in the same year.
Plot
The film tells the story of a fe ...
'' (Norifumi Suzuki, 1973)
* ''Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture'' (Teruo Ishii, 1973)
* ''
School of the Holy Beast
is a film in the nunsploitation subgenre of Pink film, Pinky violence made by Toei Company in 1974 in film, 1974.
Plot
A young woman (Yumi Takigawa) becomes a nun at the Sacred Heart Convent to find out what happened to her mother years earlier. ...
'' (Norifumi Suzuki, 1974)
* ''
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs'' (Yukio Noda, 1974)
* ''
Deep Throat in Tokyo'' (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 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 wo ...
for ''
The Woman with Red Hair
The Nikkatsu ''Roman Porno'' films were a series of theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic films produced by the movie studio Nikkatsu from November, 1971, until May, 1988. The Japanese word 'roman' refers to novels, and derives from the Latin ...
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 Kumashiro
was a Japanese film director known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning ''Roman Porno'' films, such as ''Ichijo's Wet Lust'' (1972) and ''The Woman with Red Hair'' (1979). He was the most highly acclaimed director of the early Nikkatsu Ro ...
for ''
Ichijo's Wet Lust
''aka'' ''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 sta ...
''
Nikkatsu awards
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 ...
studio's in-house awards.
1985
* Best Film—
Shinji Somai
is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Shinji Aoyama (真治), a Japanese film director
*Shinji Aramaki (伸志), a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer
*Shinji Hashimoto, a Japanese game producer
...
for
''Love Hotel''
1987
* Best Film—
Junichi Suzuki
Jun'ichi or Junichi is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Junichi can be written using different kanji characters. "Ichi" is nearly always written with the character ("one") or its ''daiji'' (large numerals) form , while "jun" mi ...
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
Terumi (written: , , or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese long-distance runner
*, Japanese handball player
*, Japanese women's footballer
*, Japanese actress
*, Japanese cyclist
Ma ...
Pink Grand Prix
Hosted every April by ''PG'' magazine. Currently the major ''pink film'' award ceremony. Founded 1989, covers 1988–present.
* ''See'':
Pink Grand Prix
The or is an annual Japanese film award ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film genre. Referred to by Miho Toda as the "Academy Awards of the Pink Film", the ceremony attracts a diverse audience of industry personnel, film scholar ...
Pinky Ribbon Awards
Annual award held by the
Kansai region
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...
''Pink Link'' magazine. 2004–present.
* ''See'':
Pinky Ribbon Awards
The 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 ...
Yokohama Film Festival
Mainstream film festival awards.
1985
* Best New Director
Shūsuke Kaneko
is a Japanese filmmaker.
Life and career
Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955. According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. ...
for ''
Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging
''aka'' ''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 wor ...
'', ''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.
1st Zoom-Up Awards (1980)
* Best Film—
[ directed by ]Mamoru Watanabe
was 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 was known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink".
Life and career
Early l ...
for Shintōhō Eiga
is a Japanese pink film production company and film distributor located in Tokyo, Japan which has been among the most influential studios in the pink film genre since its beginnings.
Foundation
The first Shintōhō, or "New Toho", also known a ...
* Best Actress—Mayuko Hino
* Best Supporting Actor—Masayoshi Nogami[
* Best Supporting Actress—Naomi Oka
* Best Director—]Mamoru Watanabe
was 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 was known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink".
Life and career
Early l ...
2nd Zoom-Up Awards (1981)
* Best Supporting Actress—Cecile Goda[
* Best Director—]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 ...
[
3rd Zoom-Up Awards (1982)
* Best Actor—]Shirō Shimomoto
is a Japanese '' pink film'' actor and director from Osaka, Japan. He has been called "one of the most individual actors" in the world of pink film.
Life and career
Shimomoto was born in Osaka, Japan on August 14, 1948. He started his career as ...
* Best Supporting Actor—Hiroshi Imaizumi[
* Best Supporting Actress—Kayoko Sugi][
* Best Director—]Banmei Takahashi
(or Tomoaki Takahashi) is a Japanese film director. Takahashi 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 i ...
[
5th Zoom-Up Awards (1984)
* Best Supporting Actor—Makoto Yoshino][
* Best Director—]Yōjirō Takita
Yōjirō Takita (滝田 洋二郎 ''Takita Yōjirō'', born December 4, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker. Takita received an Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Best Foreign Language Film for his 2008 drama '' ...
6th Zoom-Up Awards (1985)
– Held in Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
, Tokyo in May 1985.
* Best Actor— Tōru Nakane
* Best Director—Yōjirō Takita
Yōjirō Takita (滝田 洋二郎 ''Takita Yōjirō'', born December 4, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker. Takita received an Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Best Foreign Language Film for his 2008 drama '' ...
7th Zoom-Up Awards (1986)
* Best Actor— Tōru Nakane
8th Zoom-Up Awards (1987)
* Best Actor—Shirō Shimomoto
is a Japanese '' pink film'' actor and director from Osaka, Japan. He has been called "one of the most individual actors" in the world of pink film.
Life and career
Shimomoto was born in Osaka, Japan on August 14, 1948. He started his career as ...
[
* Best Actress— Kyōko Hashimoto][
* Best Supporting Actor—]Yutaka Ikejima
is a Japanese film director, actor, and producer. Considered the most successful filmmaker in the ''pink film'' genre in the 2000s, his films are popular with traditional ''pink film'' audiences, fans of cinema, and with critics. Because of his ...
[
* Best Director— Motusuga Watanabe][
9th Zoom-Up Awards (1988)
* Best Actress—Kaori Hasegawa][
* Best Supporting Actor—Kinkichi Ishibe][
* Best Director—Hitoshi Ishikawa][
* Best New Director—Daisuke Goto]
Notes
References
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External links
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P*G Web Site
(Currently the leading journal on ''pink film'')
pinkeiga.com
Definitive resource for all things Pink Eiga outside Japan
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Fan site/blog/clips
* (Pink Film Database)
* (Pink Film Database)
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{{Film genres
Erotic films
Film genres