Wakamatsu Koji, RIP

Pink film producer and director, Wakamatsu Koji, died in a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday, Oct. 17 after having been struck by a taxi five days before. He was 76.

Wakamatsu began his work in film in 1963 with Nikkatsu but later went independent, producing and directing his own low-budget films that often mixed sex, violence and politics.

Wakamatsu's filmography is a long one; he directed over 100 films, among them such titles as 100 Years of Torture, A History (1975), Japanese Torture (1978) and Women's Torture Violence (1978).

Women's Torture Violence, 1978, Shintoho

Filming 100 Years of Torture

Wakamatsu had just received the Filmmaker of the Year award at the Busan International Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter recently conducted an interview with Wakamatsu, possibly his last interview prior to his death.

Wakamatsu Koji: 1936-2012.