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door to more productions of pinku eiga.

Naomi Tani, a pinku eiga actress, calls this period in pinku eiga production "The Age of Competition." Major Japanese film studios were not inclined to participate in the pinku eiga style and most pink films were independently made and low-budget projects. This lead to dozens of cheaply made but very profitable pinku eiga films. These films were typically shown at specialty theaters owned by these independent studios. In 1966 Koji Wakamatsu, or "The Pink Godfather" formed Wakamatsu Studios and has been acclaimed as "the most important director to emerge in the pink film genre." His works are well respected and are usually centered on sex with extreme violence and political messages as undertones.

One major Japanese film studio, Toei, entered the pinku eiga industry in 1971. Toei would go on to produce a series of pinku eiga films. Shigeji Rosen (Sensational Line), Ijoseiai Rosen (Abnormal Line), and Harenchi Rosen (Shameless Line) are today referred to as Toei's "Pinky Violence." Most of these films used eroticism beside violence and action. Several of these films have themes of strong women exacting ruthless revenge. In 1971, Takashi Itamochi, president of Japan's oldest major film studio Nikkatsu took professional talent and placed them in pinku eiga films. Films such as Story of Heresy in Meiji Era (1968) and Tokyo Bathhouse (1968) were previous forays into the pink film industry, featuring cameo appearances of sex-film stars. Nikkatsu launched Apartment Wife: Affair In The Afternoon, starring Kazuko Shirakawa in 1971 and went on to inspire 20 sequels within seven years, solidifying "Roman Porno," a higher budget sex film, as a staple in the pinku eiga genre.

Nikkatsu afforded its directors and producers a great deal of artistic freedom when creating these films. The filmmakers had to meet a minimum quota of four nude or sex scenes per hour. Every year following this introduction, one or two Roman Porno's were appearing on top ten movie lists of Japanese film critics. Nikkatsu successfully took the pinku eiga genre away from small budget independent studios until the 1980s when adult video shattered the need for theatrical performances in pornographic film.

In the 1980s VCR ownership gave rise to the adult video. In 1984 new censorship policies and business agreements between studios put drastic restrictions on the creation of pinku eiga. Pink film profits dropped 36% within a month of the change in censorship and restrictions. In 1988, even stricter requirements were set forth for the pinku eiga industry to follow, which lead to its ultimate collapse and defeat to the adult video industry. By the end of this decade, the adult video industry had established itself as the prominent form of adult entertainment in Japan. Nikkatsu declared bankruptcy in 1993, but the genre never completely died out. Some of the most prominent pinku eiga directors in the 1990s started to change pink films. These directors traded traditional work for personal and experimental themes. The films were considered dark and complex and were largely unpopular with the traditional pink film audience.

Today, Toshiya Ueno, Shinji Imaoka, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshiro Enomoto, Yuji Tajiri, Mitsuru Meike and Rei Sakamoto are considered the "Seven Lucky Gods of Pink" and their films display various cinematic styles and character development.

SOURCES:
www.imdb.c om

www.wikipedia.com

Domenig, Roland (2002). Vital flesh: the mysterious world of Pink Eiga

Richie, Donald (1987). "The Japanese Eroduction", A Lateral View: Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan

Learn more about this author, Rich Porter.
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