SM Safari Summer and Fall Edition

I mentioned the above mag in this post. I saw it at the Aratama bookshop in Jimbocho but it was out of my price range. Since then, I've been on a couple of SM Safaris to the secret shop closer to me which, though the store itself is pretty big, does have a much smaller selection of SM mags.

But, the prices are smaller, too, and I found this special edition of SM King magazine for a very reasonable price, indeed.

I mentioned in the other post that these magazines with Tani Naomi in them really have their prices jacked up but, for some reason, the secret shop has prices that are lower than anything I've seen -- even online.

The Ito Seiu Films

Artist of the bizarre, Ito Seiu, 1882-1961

For a comprehensive writeup on the father of modern kinbaku, Ito Seiu, check out Nawapedia. This entry, though long and painstakingly translated, doesn't include the list of films that were about Ito or included him in some way. For that, there's Nawapedia's sister site, SMpedia (J).

The films that have to do with Ito are:

End of the Bizarre (猟奇の果て), 1966, Yamabe Pro
Beauty's Exotic Dance, Torture! (発禁本 美人乱舞 より 責める!), 1977, Nikkatsu
Three-Sided Figure Dream, (三面夢姿繪), 2000, A&E Films
Oyo (およう), 2002, Shochiku

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 Second Flower and Snake Poster

The second Flower and Snake film, Yamabe Pro, 1966

In June 1966, Yamabe Nobuo (Yamabe Pro) produced this film written by Dan Oniroku called 花と蛇より - 骨まで縛れ, or Hana to Hebi Yori - Hone Made Shibare, or From Flower and Snake - Bind Me to the Bone.

There are other slightly different translations but they sound weird to me. For one thing, the word shibare appears in the title. Some might think this is a misspelling and the word should be shibari. But the hiragana doesn't lie. Shibare is correct. It is the imperative form of the verb shibaru (to tie).

SM Safari in Jimbocho

A large selection of Uramado magazines

A few weeks ago, I was traipsing around Jimbocho with a visitor from a distant land attempting to find a particular out-of-print SM coffee table book. The book had been published in 1995 and featured the beautiful Asabuki Keito (aka Kate Asabuki). The photos were by Tanaka Kinichi and the rope work by Akechi Denki.

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.

March SM Safari

Hizo-ban Fuzoku Gaho magazine, July 1964

A recent SM Safari yielded the above magazine, the July 1964 issue of Hizo-ban Fuzoku Gaho. I got this at the same place I went to last time.

This is a pretty good mag, especially considering it came out in 1964, the same year as the Tokyo Olympics. I think the best magazines came along in the '70s but I just can't resist some of these more obscure periodicals. This is another one I had never heard of before.

Two Long-Forgotten Pink Films from 1967

Onna no Seidan -- Yamabe Pro, 1967

Right up there with SMpedia and Nawapedia is Eigapedia for information on long-forgotten early pink films.

I came across two such films there recently. The one above, Onna no Seidan, was one of many produced by Yamabe Pro (J). It came out in 1967, the same year Tani Naomi appeared in her first film.

Not long after her debut, Tani began appearing in SM pink flicks and she eventually teamed up with Yamabe Nobuo both personally and professionally as Yamabe became Tani's husband and manager. That union didn't last and he went on to marry Azuma Terumi, a model and actress who co-starred with Tani in Wife to Be Sacrificed.

Azuma Terumi

The other film is Akai Niku (Red Flesh). This one came out on August 20, 1967 and was written by Dan Oniroku. Dan had written other screenplays prior to this under different pen names. This film was also produced by Yamabe Pro and it was distributed by Okura.

Red Flesh -- Yamabe Pro, 1967

For more information on these and many other Japanese films, check out Eigapedia. 

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Nichigeki Music Hall and Tani Naomi, Pt. II

Tani Naomi performance at Kyobashi Academy Gekijo

As mentioned in the previous post, Nichigeki wasn't the only venue in town where one could enjoy an evening of risque entertainment back in the sexy '70s.

The above poster (which I found on Yahoo Auction) has a nude Tani Naomi in bondage promoting her performances at the Kyobashi Academy Gekijo (theater).

There was a bunch of these theaters around. This one was within walking distance of both Tokyo station and Nichigeki.

Nichigeki Music Hall and Tani Naomi

Nichigeki in 1933; photo from Wikipedia

The Nichigeki Music Hall, aka Nihon Gekijo and just Nichigeki, was a giant theater complex which opened in 1933 in the Yurakucho section of Tokyo near Ginza. It was torn down in 1981 and replaced by something else.

It was famous for its "Las Vegas style" revues of scantily clad dancers performing choreographed numbers with full orchestral accompaniment. It seems to have been managed by both the Nikkatsu and Toho film studios at various times in its history. Some Toho actresses took part in the bawdy entertainment when they weren't appearing in films.