1960s/1970s/1980s Japanese Genre Cinema - From Books and Magazine Articles (NSFW)

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

How Norifumi Suzuki Could Work So Fast?

Here are a few bits from Norifumi Suzuki’s book Toei guerilla senki (東映ゲリラ戦記) (2013) where he discusses how he managed to make so many movies each year (e.g. completing 7 movies in 1972).

“We started filming Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Challenge (女番長ブルース　牝蜂の挑戦) (1972) 10 days after completing Modern Porno Tale: Inherited Sex Mania (現代ポルノ伝　先天性淫婦) (1971). Such a swift schedule was possible because I had already told assistant director Takayuki Minagawa to start writing the screenplay when I was still filming Modern Porno Tale. I had also started planning on my next film already during that time.” * (p.45)

“Terrifying Girls’ High School: Women’s Violent Classroom (恐怖女子高校　女暴力教室) (1972) started filming as soon as Girl Boss Guerilla (女番長ゲリラ) (1972) had been completed. This was possible because screenwriters Masahiro Kakefuda and Ikuo Sekimoto had started writing the screenplay already when we were still filming Girl Boss Guerilla.” ** (p.81).

“The Lustful Shogun and His 21 Concubines (エロ将軍と二十一人の愛妾) (1972) was released as a double feature with Delinquent Boss: Pierced to the Bone and Sucked Dry (不良番長　骨までしゃぶれ) (1972) on Dec. 2, 1972. I had been running between two studio rooms since the end of November to make preparations for Girl Boss Revenge (女番長) (1973). Girl Boss Revenge had been set for a Jan. 13, 1973 release as the B-film for Battles without Honor and Humanity (仁義なき戦い)”. (p.98)

*
Modern Porno Tale: Inherited Sex Mania: Dec. 17, 1971 release
Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Challenge: Feb 3, 1972 release

**
Girl Boss Guerilla: Aug. 12, 1972 release
Terrifying Girls' High School: Women's Violent Classroom: Sep. 29, 1972 release

Still: The Lustful Shogun and His 21 Concubines

[Zaibatan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Zaibatan]

So his explanation is just that he always had another script already written and ready to go by the time he finished shooting the previous project? I think that's only part of the truth of the explanation why Japanese directors can manage to be so productive. Certainly with more recent directors like Miike or Sono they have a fixed group of trusted people who handle the editing and ADR for them. In the West, directors spend months or even up to a year overseeing post-production and promotion, whereas in Japan they can just move on to doing their actual job - directing another film! I'd be surprised if it was any different with Suzuki.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

So his explanation is just that he always had another script already written and ready to go by the time he finished shooting the previous project? I think that's only part of the truth of the explanation why Japanese directors can manage to be so productive. Certainly with more recent directors like Miike or Sono they have a fixed group of trusted people who handle the editing and ADR for them. In the West, directors spend months or even up to a year overseeing post-production and promotion, whereas in Japan they can just move on to doing their actual job - directing another film! I'd be surprised if it was any different with Suzuki.

The studio system was certainly a big factor. Everyone knew each other from before and people didn't need to be hired, just assigned to projects by Toei (though this was a little after the studio system had come to its end in the strict sense in the late 60s; Toei kept operating largely in the same way on a contract basis till the late 70s however).

That being said, if you look at the crew on Modern Porno Tale and Queen Bee's Challenge for example, almost all are different people aside Suzuki and producer Amao (and many cast members). The same is true to Girl Boss Guerilla and Women's Violent Classroom. So they didn't go on with the same crew all the time. Maybe the rest of the crew just needed more rest than Suzuki

Another reason would be simply necessity. With the double feature system there needed to be two new films every two weeks. No time to slack.

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

Exactly. Western directors are also (often) involved in the financing or pitching, too, and sometimes bring coin to the table, or first money.

I can totally see that you could do half a dozen or more films a year if shoots aren't too long and prepping and post- is done primarily by pother people.

The studio system ran like a factory, the opposite of indie filmmaking or even current Western studio modus operandi, which is focused on megabudget films these days, which can take three years from start to finish.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Reiko Ike in Weekly Playboy July 13, 1971

A week after Onsen mimizu geisha (温泉みみず芸者) (1971) was released Ike appeared in Weekly Playboy in a seven page part called “What Kind of Girl is New Porno Star Reiko Ike?”. It's mostly photos and a two page interview with mostly simple trivia like:

Playboy: What's your birth date?
Ike: May 25, 1953. I turned 18 this year. Born and raised in Tokyo.

Playboy: School?
Ike: 2nd year student at Machida High School, repeating the year but currently taking a break.

Playboy: Family?
Ike: I'm living with my mother and father, grandmother and grandmother's sister.

Playboy: Favourite sports?
Ike: Swimming

Then we get to more interesting stuff.

Playboy: How did you enter films?
Ike: I got scouted by director Norifumi Suzuki at the Aoi Heya club where I was hanging out with my friend Miki Sugimoto.

Playboy: Did you take the offer without hesitation?
Ike: I thought he was some strange geezer (変なオッサン) so I didn't give him an immediate reply. But the next day I went to Toei headquarters and found the offer was for real, so I took it. I got my family's approval afterwards.

Playboy: Anything you've done before this film?
Ike: I've done advertisements two or three times. Ricoh camera and Subaru poster.

I find this interesting because almost none of that is true. Norifumi Suzuki revealed in his book Toei Guerilla Senki (東映ゲリラ戦記) (2013) that the story about the Aoi Heya club and Ike and Sugimoto being friends was entirely made up by producer Kanji Amao. Amao had conceived a PR strategy to make Ike into a star, and the two men coached Ike to tell made-up stories that would sell her image best. In reality Ike and Sugimoto had never met, and Ike was not scouted at the club. Suzuki says he actually found her via a men's magazine where he had seen her photos and got her contact info from the publisher in Tokyo. Then later Amao found Sugimoto in Kyoto where she was doing modelling. The birth date was also fabricated by Amao and Suzuki after they found out Ike was underage, and swore her never the reveal her real age by accident.

Which makes me wonder if anything at all she says here is true. Did she model for Subaru and Ricoh? Was she really in Machida High School? And what about this part:

Playboy: What's your address?
Ike: Tokyo Ota-ku, Omori 3-13-11. I won't tell you my phone number, I'll get in trouble if I do.

Surely not her real address?

Oh well, all this just adds to the fascination. I wanted to share this because this is a concrete example of what Suzuki writes about in his book (about how they made up stories to create positive publicity for Ike). The Aoi Heya story in particular persisted for decades and can be found in many film books and magazines released prior to 2013 when Suzuki finally revealed it was all made up.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Very cool find, thanks for posting that!

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

Yeah, really cool!

[Jason C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jason C]

Rieko Ike in Playboy. that's the stuff of dreams.

[killer must kill again Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close killer must kill again]

thumbs up from me too! I guess I learned more about japanese genre cinema from this and your translations of the pinky violence book, than any essay from jasper sharp in arrow booklets, whose main concern seems to be to list the complete filmography of any person involved with the movie or to translate the japanese titles and how to correctly pronounce them.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I hope to post some more translations from Suzuki's book in the future. It's really full of great examples of how Japanese film industry functioned back then, which is something that is rarely understood by people these days.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Not from magazine, but I thought I'd just post this pic of Bunta Sugawara and Tomisaburo Wakayama from a Yahoo article.


- https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/36...tIfY5X0DeguYkk

The article is pretty interesting, too. Basically it explains that (in addition to Koji Shundo helping Sugawara become a Toei star) Wakayama was a sort of mentor to Sugawara. Sugawara and others used to call him “oyassan” and he was looking after them, and paying for their dinners when they went out! Wakayama had a short temper though, and once he slapped Sugawara in the face hard enough to give him a swollen face. He came back next day regretting what he had done, and brought a bottle of whiskey to Bunta. Wakayama himself was a non-drinker and considered alcohol a “devil's drink”.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

It’s been a while I posted anything from Norifumi Suzuki’s book…

The Day Ninkyo Film Aesthetics Collapsed

Suzuki’s film Girl Boss Revenge (女番長) opened on January 13, 1973 as a B-film companion for Kinji Fukasaku’s revolutionary Battles without Honour and Humanity (仁義なき戦い). Suzuki recalls the day that changed yakuza film history in his book Toei guerilla senki (東映ゲリラ戦記) (2013) (p. 106). Abbreviated, slightly simplified and completed with my notes in brackets []. Translation inaccuracies possible.

“I went to the Kyogeki theatre in Kiyamachi sanchome. It was a full house, with everyone screaming at the fiercely realistic yakuza violence and laughing at Nobuo Kaneko’s cunning gang boss performance.”

“Till only yesterday Saburo Kitajima’s Honour Among Brothers and Ken Takakura’s Brutal Tales of Chivalry theme songs had been playing in this theatre. It seemed hard to believe that Toei Kyoto’s traditional proud film craft that aimed at making handsome men and women look beautiful on screen had been on playing in this theatre until just yesterday."

“The gritty images captured with handheld camera [in Battles without Honour and Humanity] tore apart the fabricated dream world that the audiences had settled for until then.“

“On that day, the ninkyo film aesthetics collapsed. “





[Stills: Takakura and Fuji in Tales of Japanese Chivalry: Flower and Dragon (日本侠客伝　花と龍) (1969), and Sugawara in Battles without Honour and Humanity: Proxy War (仁義なき戦い 代理戦争) (1973)]

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Norifumi Suzuki on Sex and Fury

Suzuki explains in his book that one of the major reasons for him for doing Sex and Fury (不良姐御伝　猪の鹿お蝶) (1973) was the opportunity to make it as a movie set in the Meiji era. Such films had been plenty during the ninkyo years when Suzuki worked mainly as a screenwriter and developed a liking for the Meiji era, but times had since changed.

“Once Battles without Honour and Humanity turned into a series, in-period ninkyo films disappeared and all productions lines started putting out modern day films. The Kyoto studios however still had plenty of heritage from the [ninkyo] yakuza film era. There were town sets for the Meiji era, costumes, arts and props for the same period, the Toei Tsurugikai unit specializing in chambara sword fights, and an army of villain actors. It was a treasure trove of valuable assets.”

Sex and Fury was produced as the B-film for The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years (まむしの兄弟　刑務所暮し四年半). Suzuki says that with the jitsuroku film boom, even the Viper Brothers series started losing its edge as people saw them as “old style yakuza films” [that did not stop Suzuki film helming the next entry in the series, however].

[Image: newspaper ad for Toei’s Sex and Fury & The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years double feature which opened Feb. 17, 1973]

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Double Bills and Production Lines, the Roots of Pinky Violence

Director Norifumi Suzuki talks about the Toei Double Bill System and Production Lines in his book Toei guerilla senki (東映ゲリラ戦記) (2013) (p. 30). I’ve added notes in [brackets] to give additional context.

“[in the 60s] Toei introduced all nigh screenings which become a success. That’s when films about flirty female delinquents became indispensable.”

“In Toei’s double bill system, if the A-film was a masculine yakuza film starring Koji Tsuruta or Ken Takakura or someone else, lighter films about women made ideal pairs for them as B-pictures. Tatsuo Umemiya and Mako Midori’s Youth of the Night series (夜の青春シリーズ), Song of the Night series(夜の歌謡シリーズ) etc., about red light districts and sex industry, filled that gap [in the 60s].

“[In the 70s] films in the Porno Line were seen as ideal B-pictures by Shigeru Okada. He wanted to take full advantage of the emergence of porno actress Reiko Ike, and had producer Amao make films on rapid fire.”

“Producer Amao saw his secret dream of making masculine outlaw films drifting away.”

I wanted to share this bit because I think it helps understand how Toei films were made and where Pinky Violence came from. While we can theorize about Pinky Violence films as a response to the times and politics, or as having evolved from yakuza films (both of which can be true), from the production perspective they were simply a continuation of Toei’s long running Erotic Film / B-Film Line.

Toei spent two decades producing Yakuza films as A-films and (largely but not only) erotically charged movies as B-films for them. The Youth of the Night series (1965-1968), the Song of the Night series (1968-1974), the Abnormal Love series (1968-1969), the Hot Springs Geisha series (1968-1974), the Shingo Yamashiro sex comedies of the early 70s, the Girl Gang films, the Female Prisoner films, the later Yuji Makiguchi and Ikuo Sekimoto films… They were all part of the same production line that introduced new sub genres of women-centred B-films as soon the previous ones lost popularity. Pinky Violence was not one, but a handful of the many subgenres on this production line.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that Sugisaku and Uechi hand-picked number of films and sub-genres from this production line, grouped them together and called them “Pinky Violence” in their book. Unsurprisingly, Suzuki never uses the term Pinky Violence in his book. After all, the term (or the genre) did not yet exist when he made his films. He refers to his movies as “Toei Porno”, which is an official term Toei used in the marketing in the 70s (e.g. Terrifying Girls’ High School: Women’s Violent Classroom was called ”Part 1 in a new Toei Porno series” in its poster).


[Image: Suzuki (holding a script) directing Reiko Ike in Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Challenge]

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

I’d like to add that this is not to say “Pinky Violence” wasn’t a (loose) movement. Sugisaku and Uechi certainly saw it that way, with a number of somewhat like-minded Toei filmmakers producing somewhat similar films that all mixed sex and violence, broke gender roles and expectations of female sexuality, and offered rebellious women as heroines for the audience to identify with.

But putting first things first, Toei had a system where they HAD to release at least two double features every month, so the filmmakers HAD to complete at least 4 films every month whether or not they had any inspiration or artistic ambitions. It was within this system (or production lines) that skilful filmmakers could leave their own mark on the movies they made as long as these films fit the general genre guidelines (e.g. yakuza films, erotically charged films) specified by Toei. Suzuki often says he had lots of freedom in terms of content as long as the film was a “porno” (more about this later).