is a Japanese

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is one of the group of ''

pink film refers in Japan to movies produced by independent studios that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. Many pink films would be a ...

'' directors collectively known as the , a group which also includes

Toshiya Ueno (2 October 1963 – 15 April 2013) was a Japanese film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the ''pink film'' directors known collectively as the , a group which comprises Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Shinji I ...

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 Enomoto ...

, Shinji Imaoka, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshirō Enomoto and

Rei Sakamoto is a Japanese tennis player. He has a career high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 330 achieved on 17 March 2025. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 848 achieved on that same date. Career 2 ...

Life and career

Yūji Tajiri was born in a small town in Hokkaido in 1968. His main interest as a youth was watching movies, and he began writing his own film scripts and making 8mm films while a teenager. At this time he began sneaking into adult theaters, and was impressed by director Kichitaro Negishi's Roman Porno film '' Crazy Fruit'' (1981)-- a ''pink'' remake of '' Crazed Fruit'' (1956). Tajiri moved to Tokyo and, while attending

Teikyo University is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi, Tokyo, Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo shogyo, Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teik ...

, continued his movie-going habits. He was impressed with Hisayasu Satō's '' Lolita: Vibrator Torture'' (1987), an independent ''pink film'' which he saw on a triple-bill with two

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

films. After he found an advertisement from Shishi studios for assistant director positions, he researched the studio. It had been founded by ''

'' veteran

Kan Mukai a.k.a. Hiroshi Mukai and was a Japanese film director, cinematographer, Film producer, producer and screenwriter, known for his pioneering work in the ''pink film'' genre. In the realm of ''pink'' cinema, Japanese critics have estimated that M ...

and Satō had made ''Lolita: Vibrator Torture'' there. Shishi accepted Tajiri, and he began working at the studio as an assistant director in 1990. Starting as an assistant director, he worked with such directors as Satō 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 ...

. Tajiri's directorial debut was with the 1997 film . His second film, , was chosen as the Best Film of the year 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 ...

, and Tajiri was given the Best Director award. The mainstream "Japanese Film Professional's Award" also awarded the film, choosing it as the seventh best release of the year. Tajiri's 2004 film, '' Twitch – You Are My Toy'' about erotic complications in the photography industry, won the bronze prize at the Pink Grand Prix. The film also won awards for Best Actress and Best Cinematography.

Bibliography

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Japanese

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References

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, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tajiri, Yuji Japanese male film actors Japanese film directors Pink film directors Japanese screenwriters 1968 births Living people Actors from Hokkaido