Vintage Pulp | Mar 18 2021 |
The things she can teach can't be learned from books.
Falling squarely into the could-not-be-made-today category, the roman porno flick Kyōshi mejika, which in English was titled Teacher Deer, or sometimes Teacher Doe, stars Hitomi Sakae and premiered in Japan today in 1978. When we first meet Sakae, she beats the shit out of three guys who are committing a sexual assault. Soon afterward we learn she's a biology teacher at a stuffy learning institution called Hakuho High School. Thus we've seen her tough side, and her brainy side. There's one more side, which she shows when she explains anatomy to her class by, well, have a look below:
You'd think this would make her classes pretty popular, at least with the boys, but the students boycott her and the faculty is scandalized. Things get a little blurry here, because her character is supposed to be mixed race. This actually may have been true of Sakae in real life too, though we can't confirm that. In any case, it may contribute to her outsider status at the school, though we can't confirm that either, because some subtleties in Japanese films are beyond us. But we've learned what her character is—tough, smart, and highly sexual.
After she gets chewed out by the school principal for her unusual teaching methods, she and math teacher Izumi Shima go out to commiserate. They pick up a photographer and have a threesome with him, after which Sakae leaves Shima in his company. Shima then turns up missing. The investigation into her disappearance uncovers some naughty photos from threesome night, and from that point things go in directions nobody could have guessed. Suffice it to say that teacher deer's presence at Hakuho High is more than it seems.
We said this movie couldn't be made today, but not because it's racy. It's the high school sex angle. High school implies non-adults, and that's obviously a cinematic no-no—for good reason. In terms of actual visible sexual content, though, Kyōshi mejika is mild for the genre. On one level we're thankful for that, because these flicks can get purely crazy. But on another level, the film isn't terribly creative in terms of plot. We consider it a non-representative example of Nikkatsu Studios' roman porno output, but that makes it one you can come away from feeling relatively okay about yourself.
Femmes Fatales | Musiquarium | Mar 2 2021 |
The performance was good, but the encore was unforgettable.
We asked you to stay tuned, and quicker than you can say ring-a-ding-ding above is Setsuko Ogawa as promised. Her guitar isn't just for decoration. In addition to her many film credits she released a 1973 single and later sang the theme song of the Nikkatsu Studios roman porno flick Enka Jôshikô: Kizudarake no Kaben—translation: “petals full of scars”—in which she headlined.
We've seen Ogawa described as the first roman porno star, and that could be true. Her debut film was 1971's Irogoyomi ōoku hiwa, aka Castle Orgies, and it was Nikkatsu's first official offering from its radical new genre, or possibly the second, depending on which source you believe. She starred in another Nikkatsu movie that year, so she was certainly among the genre's first recognizable faces.
The above image was pasted together from two larger shots and put online several years ago. We found full-frame versions of those separate shots, but not at a useful resolution, so two cropped shots stuck together like Siamese twins is what you get. However the resolution on that image is good, so we put it under the digital knife and split it during a dicey operation that took all of five seconds, with the results below. We'll have more from Ogawa at some point.
Vintage Pulp | Jan 3 2021 |
If you can't find one you like it's because you aren't trying.
This poster was made to promote the movie Nureta yokujo: Tokudashi nijuichi nin, known in English as Wet Lust: 21 Strippers. With a title like that we of course gave it a watch, and it follows an Osaka vagrant named Hosuke who finds a wallet filled with 60,000 yen, and uses it to remake himself into what he describes as “sort of a pimp.” Really, though, he's more like an aspirant leech, and he soon has a profitable hustle going when he meets Meika Seri (we have a promo image of her below right, squatting in foliage, just because) and shepherds her into earning money for them both as a stripper. Yuko Katagiri soon enters the fold, and she and Meika are shortly having sex at home and doing the same on stage for money. Hosuke, now an unneeded presence, tries to hang onto his meal tickets via guilt and intimidation, but such a state of affairs can only last so long.
This is a Nikkatsu Studios movie, though we aren't sure if it qualifies as one of its infamous roman pornos. It resembles one, though, in that it resolves in ironic fashion, as Hosuke's arc ends both fittingly and amusingly. But what you really want in a movie called 21 Strippers is—we're just guessing here—lots of stripping. Lucky you, there's a ton, and from a purely aesthetic perspective, it's interesting to watch the Japanese approach to this art form. Which means in the end, you can pretend the movie is educational. Get out your notepad. We'll be testing you on the material later. Nureta yokujo: Tokudashi nijuichi nin premiered in Japan today in 1974.
Here's some bonus material for you, one promo image each of Yuko Katagiri and Meika Seri. We also, some of you may remember, shared other excellent shots of Meika which you can see here and here. Including the squatting shot above, it all adds up to a nice little collection. In addition, she starred in the 1974 roman porno flick (Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba, aka Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market, which we wrote about here.
Vintage Pulp | Dec 5 2020 |
She helps her co-workers in whatever ways she can.
We've had this poster hanging around for a few years, but never uploaded it, hoping we'd eventually find the film and be able to talk about it, but no such luck. In fact, we couldn't even find a detailed plot summary online, so it has all the hallmarks of a lost film. Things like that happen. Anyway, here's a beautiful promo for OL nikki mitsuryô (asaru), which starred Hitomi Kozue and Junko Miyashita, and was known in English as Office Lady Diary: Poaching. It was part of the popular Office Lady series, which ran to six films in its original incarnation, before being reconstituted for a later set. Like we said a few days ago, no idea in cinema goes unrecycled for long. Especially successful ideas. We have a few more Office Lady posters here, here, and here, and another stunning promo image of Hitomi Kozue below. OL nikki mitsuryô (asaru) premiered in Japan today in 1973.
Vintage Pulp | Nov 17 2020 |
Hitomi Kozue finds herself Onna tough job assignment.
By now you've certainly gotten the feeling that we like Japanese actress Hitomi Kozue. We've featured her often, and above you see her on a poster for Onna hisho no kokuhaku: kaniku no shitatari, which was retitled for its English language release Confessions of a Female Secretary: Juice from the Fruit. You have to take a moment to appreciate the baroque weirdness of that title. Quite evocative, no? In addition to the theatrical promo above, we have the DVD cover below. We never share those, but this one is actually pretty nice and features an image of Kozue we hadn't seen before.
The movie deals with an office worker employed at the most Weinsteinian (or Ailesian, if you prefer) company in Tokyo. Mixed in with unwanted advances from various schlubs are Eyes Wide Shut-style masked orgies, drug induced psychedelia, woodland humping, and other kinks and extracurriculars. The end result is another roman porno effort from Nikkatsu Studios about a woman's sexual exploitation and eventual embrace of her own depravity. Ah, the wet dreams of male screenwriters—so perverted, so consistent. Onna hisho no kokuhaku: kaniku no shitatari premiered in Japan today in 1976.
Vintage Pulp | Oct 16 2020 |
The best-laid plans of mice and miscreants often go awry.
This is a striking poster. It was made for the 1970 West German movie Mädchen mit Gewalt, which in Japan was called Shiki-jou Gunrentai, and in English was called The Brutes, among other titles. Basically it's about two sexual predators who meet Helga Anders at a go-kart track and manage to maneuver her to a remote quarry, where they intend to have their way with her. It's an indication of how strange the movie is that its remainder, all seventy minutes of it, takes place in that quarry. Without getting into too much detail, cooperation between the two guys devolves into a deadly enmity, leading to an ending that will provoke comment. It all sounds pretty dodgy, we know, but it's a serious movie, not any sort of nudie flick meant to appeal to your mini-brain. In fact, the most titillating moment you'll get is when you see Astrid Boner's name in the credits. This is real cinema, with a real attempt at a message. Successful? Well... Mädchen mit Gewalt premiered in Germany in 1970, and reached Japan today in 1971.
Vintage Pulp | Oct 7 2020 |
There's nothing like a sweet treat to make your day.
Above, a poster for Kôkô Emanuelle: Nureta doyôbi, known in English by the interesting title High School Emanuelle: Wet Saturday. We tried but couldn't find a copy of this one. It stars Minako Mizushima, Yûko Asuka, and Rei Okamoto, and apparently deals with a bunch of high schoolers who take kendo classes and are lusted after by teachers and the like. That isn't much to go on, but a good image of the poster didn't exist online before today, so at least we accomplished that much. This premiered today in 1978.
Vintage Pulp | Oct 4 2020 |
Who needs eyes when you have hate?
Above, a rare black and white promo for Teruo Ishii's bizarro thriller Kaidan nobori ryu, aka Blind Woman’s Curse, et al, starring Meiko Kaji, and released today in 1970. See more on this film here, here, and here.
Femmes Fatales | Sep 29 2020 |
She's very angry with all of you.
Though we're a vintage art site, we sometimes look forward all the way into the 1980s for material, so today we have a brilliant photo and zoom of Japanese actress Mami Fujimura looking like trouble incarnate. Fujimura starred in several pinku movies in 1985 and 1986, notably the Nikikatsu roman porno Hana to hebi: Jigoku-hen, aka Flower and Rope: Sketch of Hell, and OL yûkaihan – Hagu!, which was part of the popular Office Lady series. Despite her short career, she's well remembered by Japanophiles thanks to her work in other areas. As we've noted before, Japanese actresses were relentlessly cross-marketed, and photo books were a go-to medium to raise a performer's profile. Fujimura starred in a photo book called Jōnetsu Airando, or “Passion Island,” but subtitled in English Sexual Message. It came from the publishers Shishobo in 1985, and we consider it one of the better examples of the photo book phenomenon. It's where the above image came from, and numerous others are noteworthy. To prove that, we've included the cover and a few interior pages below. No further words are needed.
Vintage Pulp | Sep 25 2020 |
Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has warned us to expect a few humps ahead.
A random Japanese poster for you today, a luminous promo for the roman porno flick Kokusai-sen stewardess: Kanno hiko, aka International Stewardess: Erotic Flight. Kumi Taguchi of Tokyo Deep Throat and Yuri Yamashina of Lusty Widow and this Yamaha motorcycle star in a tale that, according to what we read, is partly set in Harlem. That seems to be confirmed by the co-starring role of someone named Addis Abeba, who'll we'll assume is of African descent and whose acting credits consist of only this single movie. We can only imagine Nikkatsu Studios' undoubtedly bizarre take on the most iconic African American burg in the U.S., but try as we might we can't locate this film. Trust us, though, we will never stop looking. Kokusai-sen stewardess: Kanno hiko premiered in Japan today in 1976.