A few years ago we shared an ultra rare tateken promo for the 1001 Nights inspired roman porno flick Tokyo eros senya ichiya. That poster was a follow-up to a standard poster we’d shared back in 2017. In both cases the movie was unavailable for us to watch. Well, above you see a magazine page featuring the movie’s co-star Ayako Meki. This isn’t directly a promo for the film, but she’s dressed in character. The text says “because you look 21,” which is weird, and goes on to describe her as “an exciting new power.” We’re showing this to you because the movie premiered today in 1979, and this time we did have a copy to watch.
Known in English as Eros Nights in Tokyo, the story here involves lonely young Kiyoyasu Adachi and three women in his life—Izumi Shima, Ayako Meki, and Erina Miyai. We can’t fault the guy’s taste, but we do take exception to his methods. He succumbs to creepy urges such as spying on Shima (who’s his stepmother), attempting to force a kiss upon Meki (which devolves into a full-scale perv attack), and looking up the skirt of Miyai (who’s mentally disabled). Later he grows a bit more subtle in his attempts to indulge his urges, such as when he convinces Shima to accept a personalized wash, full body massage, and more. After that nipply nuru session, his stepmom is fully on board with further advances.
By now it’s clear to the viewer that fantasy has overtaken reality for Adachi. We’ve seen this line crossed in numerous films, and it’s usually a subtle trip across the border. When did it happen here? It’s hard to be sure, but probably sometime after Adachi was chased by a policeman that somehow multiplied into an entire Keystone Kops style squad, and sometime before he was showered with a fortune in gold coins from a fountain.
All this stuff is mostly played for laughs, and indeed there are some legitimately funny moments, though not nearly as many as the filmmakers intended. We’re talking about a Nikkatsu Studios roman porno production, which means that even as comedy it has the usual trappings of that genre, and those trappings just aren’t humorous. For example, there’s an attempted gang rape, which Adachi foils in full gangster mode, as the entire situation morphs into a set piece right out of American grindhouse cinema. Funny? No. Creative. For sure.
As we’ve mentioned before, by 1979 Nikkatsu was trying new ideas for its roman porno line, and Tokyo eros senya ichiya certainly qualifies. It’s hard to judge such an outrageous flick objectively, so we won’t try except to say that it’s well made, as these films always are. We will mention, though, that we were disappointed none of the stars wore a harem costume. It turns out that 1001 Nights was a more oblique inspiration than we assumed. Have a look at the other posters here and here and you’ll see what we expected. Do we recommend the film? Yes, of course. It has Izumi Shima. Full stop.
