Pulp International

vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

PARTY OF FIVE

When the going gets tough the smart leave town.

You see what we mean about roman porno posters? How can we not share something this pretty? And if we share the poster we have to watch the movie, at least to have an idea what the art is about. And the movies? Well, they’ve been a years-long exploration into some deep dark places. Other people’s, not ours. This poster was made to promote Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna, aka Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women, which premiered in Japan today in 1978. You’ve noticed by now that many of these films were based on novels. It wasn’t just cinema that was delving into challenging themes during the ’70s. But this, surprisingly, is based on a work of anthological fiction written by Saikaku Ihara in 1686, during Japan’s Edo period.

Broadly speaking the plot deals with the struggles of five women—Kyôko Aoyama, Erina Miyai, Eiko Matsuda, Machiko Ohtani, and Miyako Yamaguchi—who work in Tokyo’s strip clubs, or pink salons. Obviously, the stories in Ihara’s source material have been moved forward three centuries to the grey, concrete Tokyo you see in so many Japanese films from the ’70s. These pink salon workers aren’t satisfied with their lives, and what develops is a sort of counterculture road trip film, as they and a few male companions drive from Tokyo to Otoko in a graffiti covered microbus. Do they find a better place in the world? You’ll have to watch the movie yourself. But you can be certain that, as in most cinema about misfit dreamers and restless outcasts, the odds are against them and the errors of the past are not far behind.

Pink Saron has sex but no fetish, and violence but little gore, so we wonder if the age of the source material has anything to do with that. Nikkatsu Studios usually pushed its roman porno movies beyond the far edge of good taste, but not this time, and it was rewarded for its restraint. Pink Saron won Noboru Tanaka a Japan Academy Film Prize for best director—the first time a roman porno film had been thus honored. Yes, this movie is something a little different. We’d like to say it’s appropriate for those seeking an entry point into the genre, but it’s so different from most it would only mislead you. And next thing you know you’ll find yourself watching women chained up in dungeons. So consider this a stand alone film. A pretty good one.

Japan, Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna, Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women, Nikkatsu, Japan Academy Film Prize, Kyôko Aoyama, Erina Miyai, Eiko Matsuda, Machiko Ohtani, Miyako Yamaguchi, Saikaku Ihara, Noboru Tanaka, poster art, cinema, sexploitation, pinku, roman porno, movie review

PINK TWICE

What you see is exactly what you get.

Above are two striking pinku posters, both from the roman porno sub-genre. The first is for Osasuri hentai musume, aka Harassing Perverted Girl, with Rina Nagisa. The English title of this is interesting. You can’t be sure if it refers to a perverted girl being harassed, or a perverted girl who harasses. It’s the former—the Japanese title, which would translate to something like “caught hentai girl,” makes that a bit clearer. The second poster is for Onna kyôshi: Himitsu, aka Female Teacher 6, with Miyako Yamaguchi and Etsuko Hara.

As the title suggests, it was part of a series, a run of thirteen Onna kyôshi movies made between 1973 and 1983. How in the hell did Nikkatsu Studios manage to milk the concept for so many films? Because audiences didn’t care a whit about the plots as long as there was what’s known in Japan as fan sābisu, or “fan service”—i.e., giving consumers (usually males) what they want. It’s technically a manga term, but we think it applies here, as both posters promise it, and in a laudable example of truth in advertising, the films deliver. Osasuri hentai musume and Onna kyôshi: Himitsu both premiered—in what was a banner weekend for roman porno fans—today in 1978.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Osasuri hentai musume, Harassing Perverted Girl, Rina Nagisa, Onna kyôshi: Himitsu, Female Teacher 6, Miyako Yamaguchi, Etsuko Hara, poster art, cinema, pinku, roman porno, sexploitation, nudity

JAPANESE OPEN

If she makes this putt she'll win the Master's Tournament—and then he'll punish her.

Above you see a killer promo poster for the obscure roman porno flick Hole in Love: Kusamura no Yokujô, which came from Nikkatsu Studios in 1979 and starred Miyako Yamaguchi. When we say obscure, we mean it had no western release, thus has no English title we can use to refer to it. Perhaps they would have simply called it “Hole in Love,” since the original title was already a hybrid of English and Japanese, but we’re going to call it, “Tiger’s Wood.” We know. That one’s already taken. So sue us. Below, Miyako gets a little sun after taking 72 strokes to finish her round.

Japan, Nikkatsu, Hole in Love: Kusamura no Yokujô, Miyako Yamaguchi, Natsuko Yashiro, Yuki Yoshizawa, Erina Miyai, roman porno, pinku, nudity, poster art, cinema
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1916—Richard Harding Davis Dies

American journalist, playwright, and author Richard Harding Davis dies of a heart attack at home in Philadelphia. Not widely known now, Davis was one of the most important and influential war correspondents ever, establishing his reputation by reporting on the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and World War I, as well as his general travels to exotic lands.

1919—Zapata Is Killed

In Mexico, revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata is shot dead by government forces in the state of Morelos, after a carefully planned ambush. Following the killing, Zapata’s revolutionary movement and his Liberation Army of the South slowly fall apart, but his political influence lasts in Mexico to the present day.

1925—Great Gatsby Is Published

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is published in New York City by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Though Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s best known book today, it was not a success upon publication, and at the time of his death in 1940, Fitzgerald was mostly forgotten as a writer and considered himself to be a failure.

1968—Martin Luther King Buried

American clergyman and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., is buried five days after being shot dead on a Memphis, Tennessee motel balcony. April 7th had been declared a national day of mourning by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and King’s funeral on the 9th is attended by thousands of supporters, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

1953—Jomo Kenyatta Convicted

In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta is sentenced to seven years in prison by the nation’s British rulers for being a member of the Mau Mau Society, an anti-colonial movement. Kenyatta would a decade later become independent Kenya’s first prime minister, and still later its first president.

1974—Hank Aaron Becomes Home Run King

Major League Baseball player Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record. The record-breaking homer is hit off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and with that swing Aaron puts an exclamation mark on a twenty-four year journey that had begun with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League, and would end with his selection to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

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BRAZIL UNDERGROUND

Edições de Ouro and Editora Tecnoprint published U.S. crime novels for the Brazilian market, with excellent reworked cover art to appeal to local sensibilities. We have a small collection worth seeing.

FLUENT IN VIOLENCE

Walter Popp cover art for Richard Powell's 1954 crime novel Say It with Bullets.

IN HOT WATER

There have been some serious injuries on pulp covers. This one is probably the most severe—at least in our imagination. It was painted for Stanley Morton's 1952 novel Yankee Trader.

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