Sunday SM Safari

Photo Rope and Woman, Misaki Shobo, 1970

My Photo Safari turned into a regular old SM Safari this past Sunday when I happened upon a cool used bookstore in a town a few stations down the tracks from where I live.

They had tons of old magazines, including old movie magazines. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any issues of Seijin Eiga (Adult Movies), but apparently that mag is pretty hard to come by.

WiP Flicks Few and Far Between

Scene from The Jail: A Women's Hell

Next to SM pink flicks, we really like WiP (women-in-prison) films around here. I thought they had completely gone out of style, but then I came across this one from 2006 called The Jail: A Women' s Hell.

It was directed by Bruno Mattei, an Italian filmmaker with a history of sex and violence schlock going back to 1970. Mattei passed away in 2007, aged 75. I'm not sure I've seen any of his other films but there are certainly a lot of them if you check that IMDb link.

Tani Naomi and Yamamoto Shinya

Cruel History of Women's Torture, Shintoho, 1976

I feel pretty silly but, until now, I hadn't realized that the highly motivated adult film director of the 1960s and '70s, Yamamoto Shinya, was the same guy I used to watch on Japanese TV years ago.

I don't own a TV these days, and haven't for many years, but I used to see Yamamoto on risque, late-night TV programs all the time and probably wondered more than once who the little fellow with the sunglasses and mustache was.

Here's a photo in case you're as clueless as I was. Man, this guy's a legend.

Big in Japan: Comics

After more years than I care to mention, I've become interested in comics again.

Not the ones with muscle-bound basket cases prowling the rooftops of New York City, but ones like these, Showa period comic books with dainty female protagonists all tied up.

The two on the left are from the Showa Period

I suppose the term "comic" book is as much a misnomer when referring to Japanese manga or gekiga as it is in the West when referring to Spider-man or Superman. They're not really "funny" books, another term that was used in the old days, back when humor actually was the objective.

After I had already tossed out all those comics that today might be worth some serious cash, they came out with more sophisticated mags called "graphic novels". And, as I understand it, that's sort of the difference between manga and gekiga, with the latter being more akin to a graphic novel.

Anyway, I'm no expert on this stuff, I just like looking at purdy pictures.

While I would really like to find some of these Showa era mags, that might prove to be a challenge. I'll have to ask around. In the meantime, I'm planning on heading into Akihabara tomorrow because I keep hearing how the otaku are muscling in on the traditional territory of the electronics geeks.

So that's probably as good a place to start as any.

There's a big chain of secondhand bookstores called Book Off. Somehow I doubt they'll have any of this good stuff from the Showa Period. There's another outfit called Mandarake and I'm pretty sure they deal in this kind of thing but I don't know if they'll have anything in stock. And their prices are quite high.

Oops, just noticed, this one's a DVD

I guess I should see what's available online but I really prefer to go to these shops in person. Just like with regular SM magazines, it's a lot more fun and it gets me out of the house. Which reminds me, I've heard that a really good shop that had tons of old SM mags called SNS went belly-up. Shit.

Comics are still big in Japan. They're sold all over the place and every now and then you'll see a middle-aged salary man flipping through one on the train. Not the ones you see here, though. Almost forgot: they've got these comics aimed at women, too, and I hear tell some of them can be quite naughty.

It makes you wonder what the future holds. I think the Japanese publishing industry is really trying to get their heads around the new digital paradigm. On the one hand, I can see how an iPad-type device would work pretty well for manga and gekiga.  On the other, if everything goes digital, there won't be any old musty bookstores to browse through.

That was one of my great joys as a kid and it would be a shame if it went away.

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Oh, the Joys of Film

I've been shooting with all sorts of film lately. I'm talking about stills, not the single roll of movie film (super 8mm) I recently shot.

On the old blog, I had an interview with one of Japan's preeminent bondage photographers, Sugiura Norio. When I asked him why he'd switched from film to digital, he explained that digital was so much easier than film. At the time I hadn't begun shooting film so the profundity of his comment was lost on me.

Not anymore.

Nomoto Miho and Nagaike Takeshi

Back in 1995, a company called Kaioh published a bondage photo book featuring nude model and actress Nomoto Miho. The book's title was Rope -- Miho Nomoto Photo Album. It appears the book is now out of print and available only secondhand.

The cameraman was Garo Aida, a very experienced and prolific photographer of the naked female body.

Nomoto was born too late (1974) to have been involved in the pink movie business. It looks like she first came on the scene around the same year her book came out. And while her photos were most certainly shot on film, I'm not sure the same can be said for many of her movies. Video had already gotten a firm death grip on the industry by then.

The Naked Seven 40 Years On

I wasn't quite old enough to see Sengoku Rokku Nayate no Onnatachi (aka The Naked Seven) when it first came out towards the end of 1972.  They weren't much on checking IDs back in those days but it wouldn't have mattered because the film didn't make it to arthouse theaters in the US until later.

Sengoku Rokku Nayate no Onnatachi, Nikkatsu, 1972

I can't remember the year I saw it but I think I read somewhere that it arrived on US shores maybe around 1974 (don't quote me on that). I know where I was living at the time but I don't remember the name of the theater. I just know that I saw the ad in the paper and figured that, since this was a Japanese adult flick, it just might have some bondage in it.

I was right, but just barely.

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.

Natsuki Yoko Is a Beautiful Target

 I first came across Natsuki Yoko in the 1995 Toei/V-Cinema film XX Beautiful Target (Utsukushiki Hyoteki), one of the best non-SM SM films I think I have ever seen.

Natsuki plays a coroner or a forensic pathologist (or whatever it's called) who is out to capture a deranged, sadistic murderer since the fellow seems to have taken a personal interest in her and the police haven't been successful in rounding him up.

A Man Walks into a Bar, Two Legends Emerge

There's a neat little interview with director Suzuki Norifumi (who apparently has also been credited as Noribumi) on YouTube and it has English subtitles.

Norifumi, according to Wikipedia, is either 78 or 79 years old at the time of this writing. He spent most of his career at Toei and directed a series of popular sukeban (delinquent girl/girl boss) films which starred such actresses as Ike Reiko and Sugimoto Miki.

Takigawa Yumi's Punishment and Punch-Up Flicks

Takigawa Yumi made her motion picture debut in February 1974 with the release of the shocking nun-sploitation film School of the Holy Beast (aka Seiju Gakuen/Convent of the Sacred Beast).

Does the US Gov't Believe in Free Speech?

Man, I hate doing this. I really do.

But in this business, the subject of free speech is a sore one. And I don't want to bury my head in the sand.

Google (owner of YouTube) is a US corporation and presumably influenced predominately by American values. If the situation were different, if Google were a Saudi corporation, based in Saudi Arabia, I would expect it to be influenced by Saudi values. And, I suspect, we'd see quite a different YouTube. Agreed?

In the US, the first amendment to the constitution reads thusly:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If everyone agreed with everything everyone else said, there would be no need for a first amendment. So it stands to reason that this exists to protect, wait for it ... unpopular speech; speech you disagree with; speech you find objectionable; speech you hate.

That speech must be protected or the whole idea of freedom of speech rests on shaky ground indeed.

So, I clicked over to "the video" on YouTube, a video I would not have had any interest in in a million years, if not for the current uproar. I let it play for about 10 seconds. It looks like shit. But hopefully my click will be added to the total number of views. That's all I wanted to accomplish.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the US government's attempt to pressure Google  into removing the video.

Dear Mr. President:

Sorry to bother you. I guess you're kind of busy right now, putting the screws to Google and all. But while we're on the subject, there's this video on YouTube I really, really hate! It makes fun of left-handed people. It really hurts my feelings and makes me feel all uncomfortable and bad inside. I can't sleep. Could you please ask Google to remove that one, too?

What's that? No! No! No! I'm not going to get violent or anything. Not going to shoot anyone, throw any bombs.

Huh? Nothing you can do about it? Well, uh, all right then. Thanks for your time.

Un-freaking-believable.

Stand strong, Google. Give them the big, fat middle finger.

Here's the video. Do as you see fit.

Update: I just realized that article I linked to says in the headline that the White House's ham-handed move drew the ire of "civil libertarians". That's stupid. Aren't we all in favor of civil liberties? Was the wuss who wrote the headline trying to exempt himself?

Will the First SM Pink Film Please Stand Up?

I don't wish to cause any confusion, but I was doing a little research into director Mukai Kan (aka Mukai Hiroshi and even Patrick Kan) and apparently it has been alleged that Mukai's 1967 film, Sexy Partners, was the first pink film to have SM as "its primary theme".

This was found on Wikipedia and the article was quoting the book published by Thomas and Yuko Weisser, Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films.

A Visit to Ubu

I came out of my self-imposed exile the other night and went over to Ubu, an SM bar located in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku. I went with my good friend (and model par excellence), Rida, who was able to squeeze a little playtime into her hectic schedule.

Ubu is a small watering hole that manages to extract an impressive mass of form and function from its relatively constricted space.

Another Okura Film, Spies and Chastity

This film, Spies and Chastity (Supai to Teisho), was produced by Okura Mitsugu and distributed by Shintoho in 1960. It was directed by Yamada Tatsuo. The principal actresses appear to have been Masayo Mari and Shuntaro Emi.

Onna-ro Hizu More Show than Go

Here's one you don't hear much about -- and for good reason. In the West it goes by the name Decapitation Island or Island of Horrors. In Japan it's called Onna-ro Hizu. The titles and cover pic are certainly alluring, but once you get past those, you're left with a feeling of buyer's remorse.

This film, you can't help but lament, could have rivaled Bamboo House of Dolls. Sadly, someone completely dropped the ball.

And Now for the Poster

This is the first time I've seen a theatrical poster for the 1966 film New Torture Punishment History and, once again, this site has the goods (just scroll down a bit).

I'm not a poster expert so don't quote me on this, but it seems to me that there are basically two types of posters: originals and reprints. As far as I know, I've only bought reprints at the various poster shops around town. The prices generally range from 3,000 yen to 5,000 yen but can go higher. I have seen them for cheaper online but actually pawing through these things at a shop is more fun.

Then there are the ones that are in the hundreds of dollars US which I'm assuming are originals.

Seeing this poster of New Torture Punishment History inspires me, despite the oppressive heat in Tokyo, to get out there and go on another SM safari. Man, I'd love to find this one. But I'll settle for a reprint (assuming there are any).

Trawling the internetz, I came across this Japanese blog that has some nasty drawings of purported torture methods of the Tang dynasty in China. Here's a taste:

These remind me of my trip to the Museum of Criminology at Meiji University.

The site mentions that the Japanese kimono was inspired by Tang dynasty fashion. I wonder if some folks in Japan were inspired in a different way by Tang dynasty culture?

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A Tale of Two SM Films

I came across a couple of additional photos while researching the film referenced in the previous post, History of Japanese Torture Punishment. I wasn't a hundred percent sure these photos were from that film (and I'm still not), but they look like good candidates so I thought I'd go ahead and run them here for your consideration.

Komori Kiyoshi and the First SM Film

The name of director Komori Kiyoshi has popped up here before. Recently, I was reminded of Komori, and the fact that he had been the director of what is considered to be Japan's first full-fledged SM film, as I was reading a forum that contained a discussion about said film, History of Japanese Torture Punishment.

One of the commenters on the forum had been doing some research into the status of this nearly 50-year-old film (it was released in 1964) and reported that at least one copy of the film does still exist!

Interesting TV Show from the Early '80s

I've been sitting on these photos for a long time because I had no clue where they'd come from.

Now I know.

Retro All the Way

Following up on a previous post, I've now shot some test footage on the Super 8 camera. I had it transferred to high def video. Transferring film footage to digital doesn't change the look of film. For me, digital is useful for distribution and archival. It just seems like a bad idea to acquire one's content digitally.

That means no digital stills cameras and no digital motion picture cameras. Analog all the way. 

Before Pink There Was Naughty B&W

The first pink film may not have come along until 1962, but before that they were making sexy fare, some of it depicting bondage, as early as 1959. Such is the case with a film called Bloody Sword of the 99th Virgin (or just The 99th Virgin for short -- 九十九本目の生娘). 

Mag Review: S&M Frontier

The Showa period began on Christmas day in 1926 and lasted until January 8, 1989 when the new (and current) emperor ushered in the Heisei period.

It doesn't seem likely to me that many SM fans will wax nostalgic about the Heisei period a few decades from now -- but the Showa period? That's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Hana Mai in SM Secret Novel Magazine

Remember this lady? Hana Mai, the tattooed temptress who suspended herself upside down in the 1983 Dan Oniroku/Nikkatsu film Hebi no Ana (Snake Pit).

Hana Mai in Hebi no Ana

I stumbled on some photos of her which had appeared in the magazine SM Secret Novel, also in 1983.

Hana Mai in SM Secret Novel, 1983

Five or six years after moving to Tokyo, she was appearing in print and on the big screen.

Hana Mai in the table of contents of SM Secret Novel

According to SMpedia, SM Secret Novel was first published by Sanwa in 1982 but then shifted to a new publisher, My Way, in 1999.

SM Secret Novel

Sanwa also began publishing SM Mania in 1982 and it appears this magazine continued publishing under My Way in 1999 as well.

SM Mania

I don't know if either of these magazines is still being published in physical form but the website is here.

I do know that Hana Mai is still going strong. Here she is in 2012 (scroll down).

Relevant link(s):
Manbou

Christina Lindberg in Japan

We trawl the internetz so you don't have to.

A friend recently visited Sweden so I suggested he hook up with actress Christina Lindberg who would be 61 years young now. Lindberg started out as a nude model around 1968 in her native Sweden and then transitioned to softcore sexploitation films.

Sex and Fury poster

Christina Lindberg with Ike Reiko

In 1973 she appeared in the film Sex and Fury alongside Ike Reiko. According to Wikipedia, she got this gig as a result of a publicity tour to Japan promoting a film she had made in Sweden called Exponerad which caused a stir at the Cannes Film Festival.

Meeting the press

Being interviewed by the press

When I get more time, I'll try to figure out just how many and what Japanese films Lindberg appeared in. Right now I'm only finding two -- thought she had appeared in more than that. Anyone know?

Sadly, my friend was too rushed during his trip to meet with Lindberg-san.

Roman Porno Lives! Nikkatsu Celebrates 100

Queen of SM Tani Naomi

Throughout a good chunk of the month of May, a roman porno film festival was taking place at the Eurospace theater in Shibuya. The event was in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Nikkatsu film studios.

Sadly, I didn't know anything about it until a friend emailed me asking if I had attended. Well, I would have attended if I had known about it! Especially since last Sunday the special guests were the Queen of SM herself, Tani Naomi, now 63, and famed director Konuma Masaru, now 74.

A large number of roman porno films ranging from the early 1970s to the 1980s were screened and these included two SM films involving Tani and Konuma: Wife to Be Sacrificed and Tattooed Flower Vase.

Tattooed Flower Vase, Nikkatsu, 1976

They held one of those live "talk show" things where the guests of honor are seated on stage along with someone asking the questions while the audience listens intently as the icons, now advanced in years, reminisce about the past.

There was also a book signing for Konuma's just-released autobiography. I'm having trouble with the translation of the title but it's something like Nikkatsu Roman Porno: My Life (わが人生　わが日活ロマンポルノ).

Konuma Masaru's autobiography

Additional coverage and pics of the event can be found here and here.

Bakushi and Cameraman Asano Yuu

Thanks to the internet, Japanese photographers Sugiura Norio and Tanaka Kinichi have become widely known outside their home country. These are probably the most recognized names internationally (among SM photographers), but there have been many others who have made an impact in Japan yet remain relatively unknown abroad. One of these is Asano Yuu.

Konjoubo and the Criminology Museum

A couple of colleagues and I have been doing some research into this instrument I previously identified as konjoubo. It turns out that "konjoubo" is probably a misnomer.

I first heard this term a few years ago from kinbaku model Aiko who had the apparently misnamed device applied liberally to her cute bottom shortly beforehand.

Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I know now why she referred to it as konjoubo; something like the one pictured above has been for sale at 100 yen shops as well as possibly the chaotic (but fun) Don Quijote chain of variety stores.