INDELIBLE CHANGE

Once the needle touches the skin there's no turning back.

We’ve had this poster sitting around for six years. We were holding it back in hopes we’d track down the movie, but we’ve given up. This was made to promote Shojo no irezumi, which premiered today in 1976. It had no Western release, thus no English title, however 処女の刺青 translates as “virgin tattoo.” We gather the movie is a documentary or pseudo-documentary. A few posters of this type that we’ve shared were painted by Kaname Ozuna, but this artist is unknown, and that’s another reason we resisted uploading it. But maybe it’s better to see whether any of you know who painted it. If so, feel free to tell us.

It's all the same to the shogun.

Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi was known in English as Shogun’s Joy of Torture. What you get is a film featuring three vignettes highlighting cruel methods of punishment used in Edo (later known as Tokyo) during the shogun era. In the first segment an indebted worker tries to keep his sister, who he’s in love with romantically, from paying his creditors with her body. When he fails, shame and jealousy drive him to suicide, a move that totally backfires when his sister is accused of his murder. In the second segment, a nun, an abbess, and a monk in are a love triangle that leads to jealousy, followed by consequences for everyone in the nunnery. And the third segment involves a famed tattoo artist whose pieces depict violence, and who goes to shocking extremes in order to complete a masterwork.

In all three instances the local shogun, who has a function similar to that of a circuit judge, shows up to mete out punishment, and various cruel methods of execution are on display (being torn in half by oxen occurs in a prologue sequence). So what you have here in the end is basically a bdsm fetish film cranked up to ten. It isn’t something we can recommend. We should note though, that the believability of the torture scenes relies more on good acting than gore, so the movie probably wouldn’t be considered unwatchably bloody by most people. Take that for what it’s worth, and we’ll mark another cult Japanese classic down as watched. Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi premiered today in 1968.

Mount Naomi erupts with deadly consequences in pinku revenge opera.


The Japanese appetite for pinku films was unquenchable. Conversely, ours is mostly quenched, but when we see a poster this striking we have to share it, and that means glancing at the movie that spawned it. Oryu joen: shibari hada, which premiered in Japan today in 1975, was known in English as Oryu’s Passion: Bondage Skin, and it came from Nikkatsu Studios as part of its specialized roman porno line, with the so-called Queen of S&M Naomi Tani in the lead role.

Plotwise, the head of a yakuza clan is assassinated and Tani, his loyal charge, vows revenge. Her search for the killer doesn’t go according to the blueprint, and after a betrayal she ends up in a dank bdsm dungeon along with her sister Terumi Azuma, subjected to rope discipline and forcibly dildoed and dp’ed with yam batter as a lubricant. Yam batter. You know how it goes in those pinku dungeons. Note: for novices, roman porno films are not porn. The term is short for “romantic porno,” and they’re r-rated, equivalently. Or more likely, they’d not be able to obtain ratings at all under the U.S. system. Just thought we’d reiterate that.

Anyway, Tani eventually slips her bonds with assistance, and her long delayed revenge occurs, bloodily. No spoiler there. You knew it had to happen. We can’t recommend this flick. There’s really nothing worthwhile about it unless you’re a fan of the form. Even then it’s middling. Yes, Tani was the Queen of S&M, but she made more than one hundred films, so some will have the feel of going through the motions. Even so, you do get several of the expected roman porno tropes. Like action movies offer gunfire and romance movies offer kisses, it’s what you sign up for. Knock yourself out.

In Japan business is war—complete with innocent bystanders.


This brilliant promo was painted for Hana to hebi: Shiiku-hen, known in English as Flower and Snake 3: Punishment. It starred Minako Ogawa of Dan Oniroku ikenie shimai, aka Sisters To Be Sacrificed, and in fact the same painter must have produced both posters. Have a look. The central figure is almost identical, no? Right down to her hairy armpits. Since there’s no official info on who the artist is we’ll throw in our two cents. It was bondage painter Kaname Ozuma. He painted at least one other poster for the Flower and Snake series, which you can see here. In the meantime this piece is literally nowhere else to be found in this quality. At least, as far as we can tell.

We watched the film and it’s a typically perverse roman porno tale about a powerful businessman married to Minako Ogawa, who he stole from a subordinate who was helpless to prevent it. When he later declines to help a business associate out of a jam that person has Ogawa kidnapped—literally thrown into a giant bag—taken to an isolated house, sexually assaulted, and coercively trained using bondage, a kielbasa, and other esoterica in order to turn her into a performer for live sex shows. That’s a hell of a twisted retaliation for being refused financial help, but twisted is what roman porno is all about.

Of technical note is the fact that, though it was illegal to show pubic hair in Japanese movies, the ever clever roman porno filmmakers found a loophole. They have Ogawa’s captors, as part of her torment, cut off her pubic hair with scissors. Though it couldn’t be shown attached to her body without bringing down the wrath of censors, they got away with showing it falling into bathwater. You gotta give the pervs credit. They were always thinking outside the—er—box. Hana to hebi: Shiiku-hen premiered in Japan today in 1986.

After a long day on the set filming sex and bondage…

 
I’m very happy to spend the evening doing this.

When is a flower not a flower and a snake not a snake? In Japanese cinema.


Above you see a poster for the Nikkatsu Studios roman porno movie Hana to hebi: Jigoku-hen, known in English as Flower and Snake: Sketch of Hell. In this genre, any mention or sight of a flower is liable to be symbolic. Some call them vulvic symbols, some yonic symbols, but in either case something phallic is usually about to rear its ugly head. The movie starred Kaori Asô and Mami Fujimura, and it was second in a Flower and Snake franchise that eventually numbered eight entries, with this one premiering in Japan today in 1985. That puts it outside our vintage purview, since for our purposes we define modern as anything from 1980 and after, but we had to show you the poster art. How could we not? This amazing promo was painted by famed bondage artist Kaname Ozuma, whose work you can see with an image search. Japanese film studios were very interested in bondage, and Japanese audiences must have been too, because many roman porno films with bdsm themes did well at the box office.

Much of the interest in the subject derived from literature, particularly the works of Oniroku Dan, who wrote the source novel for this film. His books were behind about three-dozen roman porno productions. While we don’t get these explorations of humiliation and bondage, we understand that every culture has its particulars. For example, if you go on Japanese Wikipedia, celebrities’ biographies often contain their blood types. On the other hand, if you go on U.S. Wikipedia, celebrities’ biographies often contain their political allegiances. Objectively, both types of information are completely pointless, yet they suggest—interestingly—what obsesses each culture.

What we’re saying is that since we’re not Japanese, we can’t offer much insight into the roman porno wave that swept Japan. We can do the when, where, who, and how of it—but not the why. But we like the posters, the films are usually incredibly well shot, and the actresses are generally stunning, so we watch the movies and tell you whether we liked them. You’re probably wondering if we watched Jigoku-hen. We did, and it’s what we expected—longform bondage and torture, softcore style, with little shown, but plenty implied. While it stars Asô and the amazing Fujimura, we don’t recommend it unless you’re okay with plenty of tears and pee. Neither of those are our bag, and if they’re yours, maybe talk to someone. Below, Fujimura is happy after washing off the stain of having starred in such a mean and pointless film, while Asô calls home from vacation and tells her family she’s recovering fine.
Supply and demand in the unfree market.


Oh no! It’s another National Informer. You’re thinking, “Three days in a row? How many of these rags do they have?” Well, more than several, clearly, since we always post them on their publication dates and these ended up being consecutive. This issue, which hit newsstands today in 1973, offers a report on the so-called sex slave markets, which according to Informer were in existence in Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, and Ghana. This is not exactly a newsflash. Just recently, the Credite Suisse leak, which we wrote about, revealed that sex traffickers were using Swiss banks to stash funds. Shockingly—and we know this will knock you for a loop—it’s extremely difficult to eradicate anything that generates enough profits to interest the international banking sector. Business, real estate, oil, weapons, human trafficking, drugs—it’s all of a piece to the banks.

To go along with its sex slave reporting Informer offers up a side helping of bdsm content, including a blurb on Bella Silverman, who was allegedly Miss Nude Dominant Female of 1973. You see her just below, complete with a terrifying mask that doesn’t exactly scream erotic thrills. Or is that just us? We looked up Bella, but there was no info at all. Maybe she’s a banker now. Elsewhere Informer tells readers that age is no barrier to sex, nudist camps really swing, and foreign diplomats are sex maniacs. And lastly, resident psychic Mark Travis makes a set of surprisingly prosaic predictions, including about future shoe fashion, breakthroughs in spray paint, and the California housing market. We suppose even psychics get tired of talking about Bigfoot and UFOs. Well, here’s a prediction: there will be no National Informer tomorrow. Enjoy the scans.
Of all the different types of queens, I had to be the damn queen of S&M.

Maybe Junko Mabuki wasn’t the queen of Nikkatsu Pictures’ roman porno cycle, but she was certainly one of its major figures, and oh, the ordeals she went through in her fifteen films. This poster that has her looking like she somehow got stuck inside Batman’s mask was made for Dan Oniroku hakui nawa jigoku, known in English as White Uniform in Rope Hell and—unfortunately—All Women Are Whores. We couldn’t locate the movie, which caused us to breathe a sigh of relief. But if you want to know what Mabuki was all about, cinematically speaking, the films of hers we have watched include (English titles only) Female Teacher: Rope Hell, Female Beautician Rope Discipline, Secretary Rope Discipline, and Blazing Bondage Lady. Those titles should answer any questions. We also watched her in Hell of Roses, which, while its title seems to suggest a thematic and tonal change from Mabuki’s usual fare, is also about ropes. Dan Oniroku hakui nawa jigoku premiered in Japan today in 1980.

Her situation is already bad, but as it unfolds it gets even worse.

A woman in a dire situation stars on this cover for Jack Leech’s 1963 sleaze novel Satan’s Daughters (interestingly, while Leech is credited as author on the outside, John Trimble gets credit inside, so take your pick). The artist here is Bill Edwards, and this is another foldout effort he painted for Europa Books. We love these things, but we wish there were more. As we mentioned previously, there are probably only five.

It was just her imagination running away with her.


This bondage themed poster for Tetsuji Takechi’s Hakujitsumu 2, aka Daydream 2, promotes the third iteration of a film he first made in 1967, then remade in 1981. It’s labeled “2” because the first movie was a drama, while the second was x-rated. This version is x-rated too, so it’s the second porn outing for the title, hence number 2, though it’s really number 3. Hope that makes sense. However you number it, it’s similar wine in a different bottle, as director Takechi keeps his remake of a remake highly erotic, while going more hallucinatory. Kyōko Aizome, star of the previous version, is joined by the lithe and beautiful Chizu Kirinami, and she gets the central role as a woman who spirals into a citywide erotic hallucination. We won’t bother to detail the plot, because you can get that info at our previous write-ups here and here.

It’s clear that Takechi, with a hit on his hands in version two, decided to simply swap Aizome out of the starring role and pass the torch to Kirinami. And why not? She’s really lovely. She spends almost the entire movie without a stitch on, even when rappelling over a balcony or wandering the streets of the quasi-reality she’s stuck inside. As for you Aizome fans, don’t worry—though relegated to a supporting role, she’s plenty visible, performs some very carnal scenes, and even wears the assless bondage outfit you see on the poster. Below, because we figured you’d enjoy it, she wears nothing. Kirinami’s film career consisted of two movies, which means there isn’t much promo imagery out there on her. The monochrome shot will have to do until we turn up something better. Hakujitsumu 2 premiered in Japan today in 1987.

Better late than never is our motto around here.


We’re finally getting back to paperback artist Gene Bilbrew, whose odd style, with its scantily clad women and their muscular butts has become collectible in recent years. We didn’t get it at first, but like a lot of art, once you’re exposed to it regularly you begin to appreciate its unique qualities. There’s clear intent in Bilbrew’s work, a deliberate attempt to approach illustration from a different angle, and we’ve grown to understand that his cartoonish, chaotic, often humorous, and often bondage themed aesthetic is purposeful. In fact, his imagery has become so intertwined with the bdsm scene that in 2019 the National Leather Association International established an award named after Bilbrew for creators of animated erotic art. While it’s not exactly a Pulitzer Prize, the point is that Bilbrew’s bizarre visions keep gaining wider acceptance. So for that reason we’ve put together another group of his paperback fronts. You can see more of them here, here, and here, and you can see a few rare oddities here, here, and here.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1985—Matt Munro Dies

English singer Matt Munro, who was one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and sang numerous hits, including the James Bond theme “From Russia with Love,” dies from liver cancer at Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, London.

1958—Plane Crash Kills 8 Man U Players

British European Airways Flight 609 crashes attempting to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane is the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists. 20 of the 44 people on board die in the crash.

1919—United Artists Is Launched

Actors Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, along with director D.W. Griffith, launch United Artists. Each holds a twenty percent stake, with the remaining percentage held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The company struggles for years, with Griffith soon dropping out, but eventually more partners are brought in and UA becomes a Hollywood powerhouse.

1958—U.S. Loses H-Bomb

A 7,600 pound nuclear weapon that comes to be known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the U.S. Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, near Tybee Island. The bomb was jettisoned to save the aircrew during a practice exercise after the B-47 bomber carrying it collided in midair with an F-86 fighter plane. Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost, and remains so today.

1906—NYPD Begins Use of Fingerprint ID

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Joseph A. Faurot begins using French police officer Alphonse Bertillon’s fingerprint system to identify suspected criminals. The use of prints for contractual endorsement (as opposed to signatures) had begun in India thirty years earlier, and print usage for police work had been adopted in India, France, Argentina and other countries by 1900, but NYPD usage represented the beginning of complete acceptance of the process in America. To date, of the billions of fingerprints taken, no two have ever been found to be identical.

1974—Patty Hearst Is Kidnapped

In Berkeley, California, an organization calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps heiress Patty Hearst. The next time Hearst is seen is in a San Francisco bank, helping to rob it with a machine gun. When she is finally captured her lawyer F. Lee Bailey argues that she had been brainwashed into committing the crime, but she is convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, a term which is later commuted.

Rare Argentinian cover art for The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

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