Misplaced Pages

#607392

50-590: Attackers started as an independent ("indie") studio but is now one of the companies that make up the large AV group, the Hokuto Corporation , which distributes Attackers video products through their DMM website. The Attackers studio released its first four videos (with themes of sexual violence and rape) in February 1997 on the Shark label numbered SHK-001 to SHK-004. Among early Attackers stars performing on

100-568: A Prostitute 1965). The 1962 OP Eiga release Flesh Market though is usually regarded as the start of the sexploitation trend, and later came to be regarded as the first pink film . Small independent studios such as OP Eiga and Shintoho started churning out sexploitation films at a frenetic pace. The star of Flesh Market actress Tamaki Katori for instance appeared in over 600 films between 1962 and 1972. Toei also produced erotic films starting with Sadao Nakajima 's Kunoichi ninpō in 1964, and continuing with films by Teruo Ishii in

150-551: A cassette format. U-matics were also used mainly by tv networks. Toei included the English loanword 'porno' on a poster for the first time. Takashi Itamochi, president of Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, made the decision to put the company's high production values and professional talent into the adult industry as a way of attracting a new audience. When Nikkatsu launched its Roman Porno series in November 1971 with

200-559: A catalog of more than 160,000 DVDs for sale, more than 200,000 adult videos available for rental and more than 130,000 videos for digital download. It also lists information on more than 30,000 AV actresses and compiles an annual list of the top 100 ranked actresses in sales from its site. In addition, the DMM site provides facilities for a large number of AV actress blogs. DMM also provided an English-language version, en.dmm.co.jp, for pay-per-view or monthly subscription downloads only, but it

250-593: A dominant woman forcing young girls into lesbian acts. All five videos were directed by former AV actress Yui Koike (小池ゆい). Its "Slave Island" series began in December 2005 with the release of Slave Island ( 龍縛監禁凌辱スペシャル 奴隷島 ) on the Attackers Ryubaku label (RBD-045). The video, starring Syuri Himesaki, Ryoko Mizusaki & Kyōko Kazama , and directed by Kenzo Nagira, won the Attackers Award at

300-485: A mixture of bondage, humiliation, simulated rape, forced fellatio and urination involving both lesbian and heterosexual sex. Beginning in 2004, Attackers took part in the annual December Moodyz Awards . In 2004 and 2005 the studio presented separate awards to its own staff but from 2006 they have taken part in the general awards process with several other Hokuto Corporation companies. These companies include DMM.com , R18.com , S1 No. 1 Style , among others. Attackers

350-535: A month of the new ruling. 1984 debuts Eri Kikuchi was an early AV actress to capitalize on her large bust, a metric E-cup. Though she had made underground tapes previously, her official AV debut was in September 1985. She appeared in AVs, magazines and theatrical films such as Shintōhō Eiga 's 1986 Eri Kikuchi - Big Breasts (菊池エリ　巨乳 - Kikuchi Eri Kyonyu ). In 2003 she was a lecturer/demonstrator for classes at

400-644: A policy of only stocking videos with the NEVA stamp of approval, leading more and more studios to join NEVA. The early adult video, Ken-chan, the Laundry Man ( 洗濯屋ケンちゃん , Sentakuya Kenchan ) , became a hit in Japan in 1982, selling over 200,000 copies, an unprecedented number for an adult video. The popularity of this VHS-format video has been said to have increased the sales of video recorders at this time. The popularity of this early video led to its release in

450-515: A self-titled movie under her own production unit (Rena Films), under Excess in 1997. 1988 debuts Yumika Hayashi , who would earn the title of "Japan's Original Adult Video Queen" during a 16-year career, debuted in 1989. She would star in almost 200 AVs and 180 pink films in her career. A documentary on her life was filmed in 1997, and she was awarded Best Actress at the Pink Grand Prix awards in 2005. Her death in 2005 ended one of

500-563: A story, but sex if present is less central, and they were released directly to VHS or recently DVD, Blu-Ray or streaming without being first shown in a movie theatre. Many V-cinema works are produced by video-focused subsidiaries of the big film studios, e.g. SHV Cinema for Shochiku . OV can be rated by the Eirin or Eizourin depending on the content. This is a chronological history of the AV ( adult video ) industry in Japan. The main events relevant to

550-716: A storyline. They are released initially on video, and pass inspection by an adult video ethics committee originally the Nihon Ethics of Video Association ( 映像倫理機構 , Eizō Rinri Kikō ) (NEVA), which enforced the placement of video-masking mosaics over pubic hair or genitalia. Toei Porno, Nikkatsu Roman Porno and Pink films are also often concerned with sex, but they are shown first in movie theatres, and are rated by Eirin ( 映画倫理管理委員会 , Eiga Rinri Kanri Iinkai ) , rather than an adult video ethics organization. The mainstream studio Nikkatsu filmed its Roman Porno line from 1971 through 1988. V-cinema or OV also tend to have

SECTION 10

#1732791224608

600-546: A while, was founded in September 1988 by Toru Muranishi . Muranishi had worked at Crystal-Eizou when Kaoru Kuroki made her debut there in 1986. Sharing his vision of documentary-style AVs, Kuroki followed Muranishi to his new company. 1988 debut, Keiko Murakami would star in the pink film Apartment Wife Affair in Full View ( 団地妻不倫丸見え , Danchi Tsuma Furin Maru Mie ) (1991). 1988 debut, Rena Murakami produced

650-730: Is a Japanese joint stock company involved in the distribution of adult videos (AV) and adult toys . The firm, founded in March 1990, is headquartered in Tokyo at the Ebisu Garden Place Tower . By late 2008, DMM was handling products from more than 150 different adult video studios, making it one of the largest AV distributors in Japan. The company interfaces with the public for sales and information as Outvision . As of July 2007, DMM had 185 employees and total assets of 16,618,000,000 yen (about $ 166 million). Stockholders' equity

700-613: Is a major distributor of videos in Japan for both sales and rental, and also provides pay-per-view and downloadable digital adult content via its website dmm.co.jp. The director of DMM is Tatsuya Matsue (松栄立也) and the company has a capital of ¥30 million (about $ 300,000). The DMM website was opened in July 1998 and in September 2011 was ranked #30 in traffic for Japanese sites, #177 in Hong Kong, and #422 globally, with an audience slanted towards middle-aged men. As of September 2011, DMM had

750-494: Is on bondage and gagging with some light S&M. The Ryubaku label was introduced in 2000 as a softer version of the Jabaku line with more consensual action and fantasy role-playing. The studio usually releases a total of about 10-15 original and compilation videos per month and by September 2011, the AV distributor DMM (a division of the Hokuto Corporation ) listed over 1500 Attackers titles in their catalog. The general manager of

800-581: The Apartment Wife series, these softcore erotic films proved popular with both the public and the critics. This introduction of erotica into mainstream Japanese movie theaters has been credited with saving Nikkatsu from collapse at that time. Nikkatsu mainly offered 'Roman Porno' films for the next 17 years, releasing an average of three such films a month. Independent studios such as Shintōhō Eiga and Million Films were already producing what now became known as ' pink film ', but Nikkatsu remained

850-535: The 2005 Moodyz Awards . A total of 12 original "Slave Island" videos were released between December 2005 and February 2008, all under the Attackers Ryubaku label. Two 8-hour compilation works were also released in October 2008 under the Attackers Best label. The plots involve girls being kidnapped by bogus recruiters and brought to an island where they are imprisoned and turned into sex slaves. The films depict

900-537: The AV Cultures School, a school for aspiring AV directors, and in 2007, 23 years after her AV Debut, she was still releasing AVs. Nikkatsu tried to tempt audiences back to adult theaters with higher-caliber pink films , beginning with the Flower and Snake (Hana To Hebi) series (1985–1987), based on its 1974 Roman Porno S/M hit Flower and Snake , starring Naomi Tani . Nikkatsu tried to circumvent

950-432: The AV field would last for over a decade and a half, earning her the title "Japan's Queen of Adult Video." Her 39 AVs sold over 600,000 copies, earning about 6 billion yen. According to the adult entertainment editor for Shukan Shincho , "She laid the foundations for the golden age of adult video." Kaoru Kuroki , has been called "the first high-profile AV actress." After becoming a popular star of pornographic videos, she

1000-586: The AV industry are discussed for each year, as well as notable debuts. Names are given in Western order (i.e., family name second), and alphabetized by family name. Seijun Suzuki was a director for the major studio Nikkatsu . His films tended towards film noir or yakuza themes, but did include sexploitation elements such as nudity (eg. Take Aim at the Police Van 1960) or encounters with brothels (eg. 1962's Gate of Flesh ) or prostitutes (eg. Story of

1050-718: The DMM group included 20 studios producing gravure (non-nude) videos and another 19 units involved in adult toys. More than 150 companies were in the business of producing adult videos in various formats and genres. Below is a list of some of the main companies involved in AV production. Adult video In Japan, Adult Videos ( Japanese : アダルトビデオ , Hepburn : Adaruto Bideo ) (AV) are sex or nudity themed videos distinguishable from Toei porno feature films, Nikkatsu Roman Porno feature films, indie studio pink films , and less sex-centred 'V-cinema' or other Original Videos ( オリジナル・ビデオ , Orijinaru Bideo ) (OV). Adult videos feature sex or nudity, and may not in some cases have

SECTION 20

#1732791224608

1100-552: The Dream: Wonderland (1996) A 2006 article reported that Saejima was then working as an artist. 1987 debuts Nikkatsu closed its production facilities in April. Bed Partner (1988) was the final film of the 17-year-old Roman Porno series. Nikkatsu continued to distribute films under the name Ropponica, and theatrical pornography through Excess Films. However these were not nearly as popular or critically respected as

1150-556: The Japanese market research company Teikoku Databank, after this period of rapid growth, there was a sharp drop in sales at DMM, probably due to competition from internet porn sites. From a high of 32.4 billion yen (about $ 330 million) for the fiscal year 2008, income dropped to less than half that amount for the 2010 fiscal year and rival SOD once again became the largest adult conglomerate in Japan. The DMM Corporation (株式会社デジタルメディアマート or "Digital Media Mart"), incorporated November 1999,

1200-632: The Japanese word for plastic and bon the word for book). Ownership of VCRs starts to spread more widely. Adult videos provided privacy and comfort that the older, established theatrical pink films could not. Also, Patrick Macias points out that adult videos were better able to focus on niche-interests, and provided the convenience of the fast-forward button. After starring in Japan's first theatrically released hardcore film, director Tetsuji Takechi 's Daydream ( 1981 ), Kyoko Aizome made her AV debut in November 1981, making her one of Japan's earliest AV idols . Cosmos Plan ( 宇宙企画 , Uchū Kikaku )

1250-461: The Roman Porno series had been in its heyday. Prolific pink film actor Yutaka Ikejima entered the directing profession in 1988 through the AV medium. He would eventually move into directing theatrical pink films in 1991, earning several awards at the Pink Grand Prix through the years for his contributions to that genre. Diamond Visual, which would become the largest AV company for

1300-679: The Shark label in the late 1990s were AV Idols Sally Yoshino, Kyōko Kazama and Yuri Komuro . The studio also started another imprint, Idea Pocket , to market its softer Angel series of cosplay videos which were first released in December 1998 including one, Angel 9 , which starred Sally Yoshino. Idea Pocket later split off to become an independent company, moving on to produce over 6000 movies. The company specializes in videos portraying simulated rape, torture and bondage. The two main bondage genre labels are Jabaku (蛇縛) and Ryubaku (龍縛). The Jabaku series often stars well-known actresses and uses high production values and elaborate sets. The emphasis

1350-542: The United States by the Orchid International company in 1984. Early AV performers were often struggling actresses who could not find work in the theatrical Roman Porno films and girls from the soaplands . 1982 saw the debut of one of the earliest prominent AV actresses, Kate Asabuki , whose name would appear on the titles of both AVs and theatrical films. She would go on to serve as a co-host of

1400-566: The company is Michio Maruyama (丸山道央). Directors who have worked with the Attackers studio include [Jo]Style , Eitaro Haga and others. The company's "Les Noir" series consisted of 5 original videos released from December 2005 to March 2007 on the Attackers Inmad label plus a compilation video from July 2007 on the Attackers Best label. All dealt with lesbian sadomasochism and bondage (BDSM) themes and all starred Sakura Sakurada as

1450-400: The documentary-style format which would become a trademark of Japanese AVs. Nikkatsu hired AV queen Hitomi Kobayashi (debut 1986 - see list below) to star in her own theatrical film series in 1987, but these films were judged as little more than AVs on film, and were not popular. In an attempt to compete with the AV industry, Nikkatsu hired AV queen Hitomi Kobayashi , who had debuted

1500-774: The dominant producer of high-production theatrical pornography in Japan. By the end of the 1970s, Nikkatsu's 'Roman Porno' together with ' pink films ' by other studios made up over 70% of the domestic Japanese film market. The big three video makers of the time Nikkatsu , Toei Video and Nihon Bikotte band together to create an organization to monitor the ethics of adult videos, the Adult Video Independent Ethics Regulatory Cooperative ( 成人ビデオ自主規制倫理懇談会 , Seijin Bideo Jishu Kisei Rinri Sōdankai ) . Sony releases its first Betamax video cassette recorder . It

1550-469: The first completely pornographic animated film , Lolita Anime . It was an immediate success and Nikkatsu quickly jumped on the trend and released their own direct-to-video animated porno under the same title with recognizably similar characters. New government policies and an agreement between Eirin (the Japanese film-rating board) and the pink film companies put drastic new restrictions on theatrical films. Theatrical pink film profits dropped 36% within

Attackers - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-412: The first in the AV industry to surpass Matsuzaka's advertised 110.7-centimeter metric G-cup. Though never as popular as Matsuzaka, Kuwata's career would last until at least 1998. 1990 debuts Kimiko Matsuzaka's sudden retirement from public life in the spring of 1991 came as a shock to the AV industry. Director Toru Muranishi called Matsuzaka's October 1990 departure from AVs one of the worst stories of

1650-499: The fiscal year 2001 to 6.2 billion yen ($ 60 million) in 2002, 9.8 billion yen ($ 100 million) in 2003 and 12.3 billion yen ($ 125 million) in 2004. Under CEO Hiroyuki Shimazaki (島崎啓之), DMM caught up with and surpassed its chief rival in AV sales, the Soft On Demand (SOD) group. Some companies which had formerly been part of SOD, including Dogma , Hajime-Kikaku and Aroma Planning, left SOD to become clients of DMM. According to

1700-551: The largest English library of Japanese adult videos on the Internet. With over 200,000 movies available for VOD via streaming and downloading, it far surpasses other rival JAV sites. On October 24, 2022, the site ended selling content, and announced that it would close down (except for enquiries from customers with R18 member accounts) on January 31, 2023. From January 31, 2023, customers with R18 member accounts were no longer able to access videos that they had already "purchased", and

1750-531: The late 1960's. Major studio Shochiku also ventured the occasional sexploitation film eg. Daydream (1964 film) or Woman of the Lake 1966 about a married woman who allows a man to take nude pictures of her. Toei spun off it subsidiary Toei Video, even though videotape cameras, recorders and players were mainly used by television networks at the time, not in people's homes. Sony released its first U-matic video cassette recorders , moving from reel to reel to

1800-485: The longest careers in the field. and made front-page news in Tokyo. 1989 debuts The 1990s opened with the government lifting its 40-year ban on pubic hair in print. According to the Weissers, "by mid-1991, full frontal nudity became commonplace in Japanese magazines and books." The restriction on pubic hair in film and video had been relaxed for imported films, but remained in place for domestic films and AVs until

1850-402: The middle of the decade. The "Big Bust Boom" ( 巨乳ブーム , Kyonyu Buumu ) which became a significant genre of the AV market with Kimiko Matsuzaka's debut early the previous year, continued in 1990. Matsuzaka would appear in her last AV in October 1990, and retire from public life in 1991. Among the leading busty models who debuted this year was Kuwata Kei, whose 113 cm bust measurement was

1900-479: The new theatrical rules and to compete directly with adult videos by entering their own turf. To launch the company's new "Harder Than Pink" AV series, Nikkatsu wanted Masaru Konuma , director of the highly popular and critically praised 1974 Roman Porno Wife to be Sacrificed , to make a hard-core version of his script Woman in the Box (箱の中の女 - Hako No Naka No Onna ) in 1985. Konuma was at first reluctant, but Nikkatsu

1950-416: The previous year, to star in her own theatrical film series in 1987. These films were not popular with AV fans, who preferred the privacy the AV offered, or with movie-goers, who judged them as little more than AVs on film. Nao Saejima , who debuted in 1987, would star in self-titled theatrical releases for Nikkatsu, the pink film , Abnormal Excitement: Nao Saejima (1989), and the mainstream Meet Me In

2000-576: The site was shut down completely, as previously announced that it would be, on May 12, 2023. Upon the demise of the SOD-sponsored AV Open contest in 2007 owing to fraud, DMM started a new competition in 2008, the AV Grand Prix . Winners were determined by sales and by fan voting at the DMM website. The 2008 AV Grand Prix was a success with 77 studios competing and an even larger 2009 contest began in late 2008. As of mid-2010,

2050-416: The weekly television show Tokyo Rock TV . Satomi Shinozaki, who debuted on AV in 1983, had a career in theatrical films for another 20 years, directing a film in 2001. Another 1983 debut, Kyōko Hashimoto , would graduate from AVs to a successful theatrical film career, appearing in over 100 films, including Kei Mizutani 's breakthrough film Weather Woman (1996) 1983 debuts The Crystal-Eizou studio

Attackers - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-426: The year for the AV industry. Muranishi's company, Diamond Visual, for which Matsuzaka worked, would go from the largest AV producing company to declaring bankruptcy within a year of her retirement. Actress Rie Miyazawa 's shashinshuu (photo book) Santa Fe , released in November 1991, was one of the first photo books to take advantage of the lifting of the long-standing ban on the showing of pubic hair. Revealing

2150-424: Was 6,073,000,000 yen (about $ 60 million) and company capital amounted to 45 million yen (about $ 450,000). Sales for the fiscal year ending February 2007 were 28,366,000,000 yen (about $ 283 million) with sales for the 2008 fiscal year extrapolating to about 30 billion yen (about $ 300 million). Hokuto had a period of rapid growth from the time of its foundation with sales going from 5.1 billion yen (about $ 50 million) in

2200-486: Was able to persuade him to make the video by agreeing to allow Konuma to direct his original (and, according to the Weissers, artistically superior) version of this script for theatrical release the following year. However, Nikkatsu soon ceased production of this video series when it proved unsuccessful with the public. Alice Japan (アリス Arisu JAPAN) was established on April 4, 1986, as the adult video label for V-cinema maker Japan Home Video . Hitomi Kobayashi's career in

2250-803: Was cheaper than the U-matic , and opened up the possibilities for people to buy them for home use. JVC releases its first VHS video cassette recorder . For a number of years after, there was a format war between VHS and betamax for the consumer market with VHS eventually winning out. The ethics organization is renamed the Nihon Ethics of Video Association ( 日本ビデオ倫理協会 Nihon Bideo Rinri Kyōkai ) , and affixes its NEVA stamp to approved videos. NEVA requires makers to put in large checkered mosaics over pubic hair and genitals. Binibon magazine publisher Kuki Inc. (九鬼) released its first adult video. Binibon were magazines with photos of beautiful idols in underwear sealed in plastic ( biniiru from English vinyl being

2300-468: Was discontinued on 29 April 2013. In December 2014, DMM partnered with Nutaku with the objective of marketing and publishing games to the western market. Nutaku is currently the sole distributor of DMM games outside Japan. Several DMM games have been translated in English and released on Nutaku: For additional information see Nutaku#Game release timeline . In May 2013, DMM.com released its English-language adult website R18.com, which grew to become

2350-560: Was founded in October, and later changed its name to Media Station . Samm Video was founded to produce S&M videos, and later changed its name to h.m.p. (Japan) . In December, Tadashi Yoyogi founded Athena Eizou . Adult videos attained an approximately equal share of the adult entertainment market with theatrical erotic films. Faced with this new competition over the adult entertainment audience, Nikkatsu focused on production of its S&M films, which had been their most popular product. Japan's video rental stores increasingly adopt

2400-490: Was founded. Director Toru Muranishi joined soon after, and began developing a quasi-documentary approach to filming AV. Yumiko Kumashiro, who debuted in 1984, later starred in a series of theatrical films for Nikkatsu under her stage-name, Eve . She went on to a successful career as a striptease dancer, and starred in films for the Shintōhō Eiga studio in the 1990s. Also during this year, Wonder Kids studio released

2450-774: Was one of the studios participating in the 2008 AV Grand Prix with the video Female Ninja Torture Rape 3 ( くノ一拷問凌辱3 椿姫・極秘輿入ノ章 ) [AVGL-002] starring Rin Aoki , Megu Ayase & Rin Hayakawa, and directed by Katsuyuki Hasegawa. For the 2009 AV Grand Prix, the studio nominated the video Young Female Student Confinement Rape - Brute Gang Rape ( 女子高生監禁凌辱　鬼畜輪姦　レイプの傷痕 ) [AVGL-102] with Yuuka Kokoro, Mari Hida, Kasumi, Rin Agazuma & Hiyori Wakakusa, and directed by HiroA. Hokuto Corporation DMM.com Co., Ltd. , formally Hokuto Corporation ( 株式会社北都 , Kabushiki Kaisha Hokuto ) ,

2500-527: Was seen on late-night television, then on daytime talk shows and in national advertising campaigns. She became admired by women for her outspoken but polite and frank discussions of sex, and for expressing "feminist" views on television. According to Rosemary Iwamura, she changed the image of the AV actress. "...she didn't seem to be making videos because of a lack of options but rather as an informed choice." Kuroki's director at Crystal-Eizou , Toru Muranishi , became known as an industry innovator who helped create

#607392