 In this game everybody gives their all. 
Above, a poster for Kôkôsei banchô: Bôtate asobi, aka The All-Out Game, the second film in the High School Gang Leader franchise. The movie stars Kimisaburo Onogawa, Kei Wakakura, and Saburo Shindo, but Eiko Yanami stars on the poster. Basically, a high school boxing group comes into conflict with a high school judo club thanks to differences between their two leaders, one of whom is a top student and the other of whom is a moron. When we were in high school smart kids couldn't fight but maybe Japan is different. This premiered there today in 1970. See two more posters from the series here and here.
 She's as cool as the other side of the pillow.  
Last year we shared some promo photos from Mari Atsumi's pinku flick Denki kurage: kawaii akuma, aka Play It Cool, but we held this rarity back for a year because we wanted to give it solo billing. So here you go. The film premiered today in 1970, and the other promo photos are here.
 There's nothing not to like about Mari Atsumi. 
Above is another poster for Zoku Imokinchaku, aka Sea Anemone Girl Continued, starring Mari Atsumi. We shared the tateken sized promo earlier this year, and this is the hansai promo, which we tend to call merely standard sized. The movie premiered in Japan today in 1970, and you can see the other poster here.
 Everybody wants a piece of Mari Atsumi. 
The movie Hadaka de Dakko, aka Be Naked premiered in Japan today in 1970, and as you can see from the promo poster, it starred the prolific Mari Atsumi. She made twenty-six films by our count, which means we've talked about her a lot. Here she plays a snack bar employee who dreams of bigger things, and who, along with her friends, try to accumulate 3 million yen they can use to buy a yacht. The reason it's called Be Naked is because every moneymaking scheme hinges on using Atsumi's body. The beauty shop needs her face to draw customers, the gambling house needs her sex appeal for the same reason, and when she becomes an artist's nude model, well, ditto. And in fact, the same can be said of the movie itself, and we're pretty sure its makers knew it too. Want to see more Atsumi? Start here. 
 This is a test of delinquency broadcast system. In the event of a real emergency you'd be royally screwed. 
This poster was made to promote the Japanese pinku flick Kôkôsei banchô: Shin'ya hôsô, aka High School Boss 3: Midnight Broadcasting, starring Eiko Yanami and Keiko Matsuzaka. Third in a tetrology, the film is exactly as the title suggests—a tale of delinquency, prostitution, and revenge, with the extra twist of being centered around a radio station. Basically, one of the deejays on the program “All Night Music” reads a letter over the air from a young prostitute, who is later found to have committed suicide while three months pregnant. A search for the people responsible for the tragedy reveals that a prostitution racket is being run out of the local high school. Revenge follows. The tagline for this film is top notch: “When the town goes to bed, we get up!” Kôkôsei banchô: Shin'ya hôsô premiered in Japan today in 1970.
 She was Japan's best sailing actress. 
This fantastic sea-themed Daiei Film Co. promo image shows Japanese pinku actress Mari Atsumi, who by now probably needs no introduction. But in case she does, click here to see and read everything we've posted on her. The image comes from her 1970 film Taiyo wa mita, aka I Saw the Sun.
 Go together like hurt and damage.  
Above, a pair of posters for Imokinchaku, which in English was retitled (we think) Woman Like a Sea Anemone or Sea Anemone Girl. The movie starred Mari Atsumi, Toshio Takahara, and Shimeji Shogako, and it deals with a country girl who arrives in Tokyo, gets a job in a laundry, and becomes embroiled in a series of complications that all begin with a missing pair of panties. One thing these Japanese pinku films do not lack for is weirdness. Audiences certainly responded to this one, despite the fact that it was in black and white, and it spawned a series that in English might be referred to as the “Mollusk Series.” We've already shown you a few posters from the franchise, such as here and here. This one premiered in Japan today in 1969.
 Mari Atsumi shows her stripes. 
We've already shared two posters for the 1970 pinku flick Denki kurage: kawaii akuma, aka Play It Cool, aka Electric Medusa: Lovely Wicked Woman. Today we have yet another promo for the film, with Mari Atsumi looking cool, lovely, wicked, and a few other things, all of them good. In the film she plays a model who loses her job after she refuses to “entertain” a department store owner, and later finds herself hassled by a villainous Yakuza who wants to turn her into a call girl. If you've seen any pinku films at all, you know how this goes—humiliation, tables turned, revenge. Atsumi was a big star in her day. She appeared in twenty-eight films, guested on a number of television shows, and released a couple of popular albums. Like many pinku actresses, though, her current whereabouts are basically a mystery. One Japanese webpage literally says nobody knows where she is. But that's okay—she gave us plenty to remember her by. You can see the other Denki kurage posters we've shared here and here, and there's even another promo for the film you can see over at the website Bulles de Japon at this link. And below we have more bonus material—some promo photos from the film.       
 If anybody can recover the ancestral farm it's Mari. 
Zoku Imokinchaku*, for which you see the poster above and which premiered in Japan today in 1970, was the sequel to the previous year's Imokinchaku, but shot in color. Atsumi plays a high school girl named Hamako who tries to save enough money to buy her family's ancestral land. Her plan to obtain it through work seems sound enough, but trouble in finances and love, including the theft of her money and a doomed infatuation with a dreamboat who happens to be gay, present serious obstacles. Of course, if the previous film taught Mari anything it was to persevere, and she makes forays into nude modeling and singing in efforts to cobble together a sufficiently large nest egg to buy the land. Do any of these schemes actually work? You'll have to add this one to your queue if you want to find out. On a related note, we learned that Daiei Co. released an Atsumi record in conjunction with this film, and that it also engineered the publication of a photo book. Cross promotion of pinku films was a common tactic back then. In fact, many stars performed live in cinemas between double features, either singing, dancing, or reenacting bits from the films. Japanese law was strict about nudity onscreen, but we've been told these live performances sometimes featured full nudity, which is interesting to contemplate. Atsumi made a lot of public appearances. Below, for example, she's in Shimizu Park in Chiba, where a gaggle of photographers shot pictures of her in her undies. We have images from another Atsumi public appearance we'll share later. *We can't find a romanized title for this film anywhere, but Zoku Imokinchaku is probably right. It's at least close. If anyone wants to correct us feel free. The official title is 続・いそぎんちゃく.
  
 Motorcycle? I don’t own one. The helmet is for protection when I crash the Pulp guys’ picnic over there. 
Only a little time today, but we love sharing this Japanese material, so above you see an alternate poster in panel length for Yoshio Inoue’s pinku film Kawaii Akuma: Iimono ageru, aka Just for You, which premiered today in 1970 starring Mari Atsumi. It’s completely different from the standard sized version, which we showed you here, and better too, we think. Now we are off—our holiday involves lobster, crab, and other oceanic yummies eaten picnic style in a hilltop park. Hope your day is excellent.

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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1917—First Jazz Record Is Made
In New Orleans, The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. The band was frequently billed as the "Creators of Jazz", but in reality all the members had previously played in the Papa Jack Laine bands, a group of racially mixed performers who helped form the basis of Dixieland while playing under bandleader George Laine. 1947—Prussia Ceases To Exist
The centuries-old state of Prussia, which had been a great European power under the reign of Frederick the Great during the 1800s, and a major influence on German culture, ceases to exist when it is dissolved by the post-WWII Allied Control Council comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. 1964—Clay Beats Liston
Heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay, aged 22, becomes champion of the world after beating Sonny Liston, aka the Dark Destroyer, in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. It would be the beginning of a storied and controversial career for Clay, who would announce to the world shortly after the fight that he had changed his name to Muhammad Ali. 1920—The Nazi Party Is Founded
The small German Workers' Party, or DAP, which was under the direction of Adolf Hitler, changes its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Though Hitler adopted the socialist label to attract working class Germans, his party in fact embraced mainly anti-socialist ideas. The group became known in English as the Nazi Party, and within the next fifteen years expanded to become the most powerful force in German politics. 1942—Battle of Los Angeles Takes Place
A object flying over wartime Los Angeles triggers a massive anti-aircraft barrage, ultimately killing 3 civilians. Initially the target of the aerial barrage is thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but it is later suggested to be imaginary and a case of "war nerves", a lost weather balloon, a blimp, a Japanese fire balloon, or even an extraterrestrial craft. The true nature of the object or objects remains unknown to this day, but the event is known as the Battle of Los Angeles.
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