This Just In: Scene from the First Flower and Snake Film

Scene from the first ever Flower and Snake film

I have just received the above photo, a still from the first Flower and Snake film ever made. The photo is from the 10th issue of Seijin Eiga magazine, dated October 1965. The film came out in Japan, according to Japan Movie Database, in September of the same year.

The lady in the photo, and the star of the film, is Murasaki Chizuru. A check with JMDb (J) reveals only four movies to her credit. According to this source, she made her first film in 1954 and Flower and Snake was her last one. Whether or not this is a complete filmography, I don't know.

I can't tell if Yamabe Nobuo was the producer. The distributor is shown as Tokyo Planning (Tokyo Kikaku). Dan Oniroku, the author of Flower and Snake which first began running in installments in Kitan Club magazine in 1962, is listed as the bondage master.

The director was Kobayashi Satoru, famous for directing Japan's first pink film, and the assistant director was none other than Wakamatsu Koji. Also, Tako Hachiro, former Japan national boxing champion, comedian and Oni Pro member, appeared in the film. I wrote a bit about Tako Hachiro in my interview with Sugiura Norio on my old blog. It's still out there somewhere.

Kitan Club covered first Flower and Snake film in August 1965

While Seijin Eiga magazine is a wonderful resource (and fans keep bidding up the price of old issues -- I recently saw one going for over 500 bucks US), Kitan Club magazine, which was dedicated exclusively to SM topics, really has the goods when it comes to the first Flower and Snake film, as you can see here. There are four or five pages of coverage with additional photos.

Still no sign of a theatrical poster for the first of this amazing run of films.

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The Very First Issue of 成人映画

Seijin Eiga, issue #1, July 1965, Michi Kanako on the cover

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is an honest-to-goodness very first issue of the magazine Seijin Eiga (Adult Movies). It's not mine but someone I know was able to get this from Yahoo Auction for a quite reasonable sum, I would say, considering how popular this magazine seems to be.

The mag was first published in July 1965, pretty much at the dawn of the pink movie era. I can't really say when the pink era began (some claim as early as 1962); I guess it depends on your definition of a pink film. But I think it's fair to say that the boom really started around 1965.

Whatever the case, this magazine certainly was a pioneer in its field and it continued publishing for at least 93 monthly issues (or until 1973), however, I don't know exactly when it ceased publication.

Over its lifetime, Seijin Eiga chronicled the ups and downs of the pink film industry, focusing on such actresses as Matsui Yasuko, Uchida Takako, Kano Kazuko, Nitaka Keiko, Katsura Nami, and so on. Top directors such as Wakamatsu Koji were frequently profiled.

Here's a view of the back cover.

Seijin Eiga, issue #1, back cover, July 1965

The publisher of Seijin Eiga was Gendai Kobo and its editor was Kawashima Nobuko.