Director and Writer
IKAWA Koichiro(井川耕一郎)

Born:1962 in Tokyo, Japan
He began shooting his first independent films while studying at Waseda University. His short film A STRANGE AFFAIR (Tsui no sumika) was shown at PIA Film Festival in 1987. Since the 1990s, he has been active as a script writer and as a director, mainly in the Pink Film genre. Among others, he has written the script for Parting Present (Mofuku no mibojin: hoshii no, 2008), the last work of Pink Film legend Watanabe Mamoru.

Planning and Original concept
WATANABE Mamoru (渡辺護)

Watanabe Mamoru was born in Tokyo in 1931, in the same cinematic generation as French New Wave filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut.
As a child, Watanabe loved film. Even during World War II, he would often skip school to go to the movies.

In 1950, Watanabe entered Waseda University (and later dropped out). With aspirations to direct for the theater, Watanabe enrolled in the Hatta Motoo Theater Research Institute and began to learn the Stanislavski system.

After working as an actor, screenwriter, and assistant director for TV, Watanabe was asked by a friend in 1964 to become an assistant director in Pink Film. In 1965, he made his Pink directorial debut with Hussy (Abazure). Hussy is the story of a girl who takes revenge on the mother-in-law that pushed her father to commit suicide and then stole the family fortune.

Drawing from his vast knowledge of film history and his Hatta Motoo Institute training in the theory of directing, Watanabe continued to make films. He began to gain wide recognition and praise around 1970 for his films Woman's Hell Song: Shakuhachi Benten (Onna jigoku uta: shakuhachi benten), about the life of a female yakuza, and Secret Hot Spring Resort: Starfish at Night (Maruhi yu no machi: yoru no hitode), about entertainers performing at erotic shows in a hot spring district. (Both of these films were written for the screen by Suzuki Seijun and Wakamatsu Koji collaborator Yamatoya Atsushi.)

In 1971, two months after the arrest of notorious serial killer Okubo Kiyoshi, Watanabe released a film based on Okubo's life entitled Sex Tour of Japan: Eastern Part (Nippon sekkusu judan: higashi Nihon hen), which became a great hit. Directing more than ten titles per year, Watanabe was a very popular director. In the late 1970s he shot many other features that fascinated audiences, including Tani Naomi: Tie You Up! (Tani Naomi shibaru!, 1977), Tie Up the Girl! (Shojo o shibaru!, 1978), Virgin Rope Makeover (Shojo nawa gesho, 1979), and others. Focusing on the sorrow of women in the dark era of prewar and wartime Japan, and prominently featuring scenes of bondage and torment, this genre came to be known as the "Bondage Film" (kinbaku mono).

As director, Watanabe had both the talent to capture actresses' charms on film and a keen eye to scout out new stars. Azuma Terumi from Forbidden: Song of Love (Kindan: seiai no uta, 1974), Miho Jun from Pain of the Girl in Uniform (Seifuku shojo no itami, 1981), and Kawai Kazumi from Lustfully Breeding the School Uniform, (Sera fuku shikijo shiiku, 1982) all went on to successful popular careers in film and TV. Watanabe himself advanced into mainstream film with titles like Serial Killer: Cold Blood (Renzoku satsujinki reiketsu, 1984) and Crimson Lotus Blossom (Gurenbana, 1993), a story about one woman's life that became known as one of his representative works. In 2008, Watanabe returned from a long hiatus to direct the Pink Film Parting Present (Mofuku no mibojin: hoshii no).

In 2013, Watanabe passed away from cancer during the preparations for Treasure Ship: Latitudes of Lust (Shikido shiju hatte: takarabune). Screenwriter Ikawa Koichiro took over duties as director and completed the film in 2014.

The total number of titles Watanabe directed is unknown, but it is estimated to be over 200. Within the Pink format alone, Watanabe shot films of many genres—melodrama, suspense, crime movies, and comedies. He considered himself to be more of an artisan director than an auteur. In a 1972 essay Watanabe wrote, "I have continued making films as a Pink Film 'artisan' (shokunin). I love this word 'artisan.'"

Despite Watanabe's vast experience as director, there was one clear motif that linked his most representative films together—a nostalgic longing for better, happier times. When depicting characters that carried such a sadness, outsiders who had no other choice but to wander on the fringes of society, Watanabe's direction was masterful. Watanabe Mamoru had a gentle spirit that allowed him to truly connect to people who suffered through the hardships of life.

Translator:Michael Arnold