In 1960, Fukui born director and screenwriter Yoshishige Yoshida (1933-2022), who is known in certain circles as one Kiju Yoshida would make a name for himself as the frontrunner of Japan's New Wave, when he would turn out the his first full-length feature Rokudunashi (1960); the film was saturated with violence and was of an extremely frank nature. This was released at a time when the subject of sexuality was becoming somewhat of a trademark for Shochiku studios. Yoshida's subsequent film; Bitter End of a Sweet Night (Amai Yoru no Hate,1962) and his other upcoming features, 1965's Forbidden Love and Eros + Gyakusatsu (Eros + Massacre) activated many a censor's alarm for its gratuitous sexual content. By the time 1970 ushered itself in - Yoshida was delegated to work for television, and never one shy in the ambition department, produced an unprecedented ninety-eight part series of documentaries on the subject of art, Bi no Bi (Beauty of Beauty).
The aptly titled Shochiku Nouvelle Vague since Yoshida did cut his teeth at the famed Shochiku studios, was on a staunch quest to normalize sexuality and to never veer from any such realism as what was written on the union label of the French and Italian movements before it. Yoshida's films, were as profound as they were prurient and attempted to debunk ancient myths and encourage epiphanies of reality while all the while remaining faithful to political and social convention and concerns. And by now the ingredient of sex had become seemingly indispensable. During the decline in the Japanese movie business- sex - and to somewhat of a lesser extent - violence - would become par for the course if one wished to have an even nominally successful picture. Films that lacked a thematic of a sexual nature now failed to appeal to Japanese audiences. Sadly, this very argument could be applied to this day and for any given feature, the world around. In Japan, censorship in the sexual field had always been puritanical, though the exploitation of the subject through films became a major element of social development.
 |
| Love is sweet sorrow - in The Bitter End of A Sweet Night |
During the latter Sixties, sex films were referred to as ' pink films' and the type for decades would occupy an essential position in each year's production schedule. The so-called pink films, which are still produced to this day were made on anemic budgets and lacked any artistic ambition and were usually showcased in underground cinemas.
 |
| Thinking pink |
In 1970, another phenomenon would make its way upon the scene, roman-porn films - signifying either Romanesque-pornography films or 'romantic-porn' films. To avert bankruptcy, the colossal Nikkatsu studios had invented the genre of cheap soft-core pornographic film, and despite the limitations of censorship, Nikkatsu was rather prolific in their production of roman-pornography that they would churn on a monthly basis