Self-Introduction & Question

[Kathleen Jenks]

I'm delighted to have found this list.  I greatly enjoy Japenese cinema
but, even more, I'm hoping that you might help me solve a long-standing
question.

First, however, let me briefly introduce myself.  My name is Kathleen
Jenks.  I have a Ph.D. in Religious Studies (with a focus on comparative
mythology) from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  I am
currently a Core Faculty member in the Mythological Studies Department
of Pacifica Graduate Institute (near Santa Barbara). Among other
courses, I teach Folklore & Fairytales, and Ritual & Ceremony.  In both
courses I show the "Peach Orchard" portion of Kurosawa's *Dreams*
because of its deep folkloric & eco-spiritual nuances.  For the present,
that's the only way in which I use Japanese cinema in any formal manner.

Now to my question: in the autumn of 1975 I stayed in a small inn
outside of Tokyo where no one spoke English, and I spoke no Japanese. 
My tiny room was mostly a wall-to-wall futon with a TV against one wall.
Late one night I turned it on and found myself in the middle of a film
that's haunted me ever since....a Late Night Show, Japanese style. I
wanted to find out its name at the time, but there was no one I could
ask. Since then, I've asked a number of Japanese film buffs if they knew
of the film, but so far, no one has....

What I can remember of it is that it was set probably in medieval times.
In the scene that haunts me, a sorrowful woman was being sent by her
lover (?) to a fog-shrouded island, where she would belong to another
man, a much older man.  She was shocked and didn't want to go but had no
choice.  Her young, muscular lover rowed her through the heavy fog. 
This took time and the camera created an atmosphere of hopeless doom as
the two lovers slid slowly through the mists. She wore a veil over her
face that matched the swirling mists.  On the island the older man
claimed her, paid the lover for her, and then took her to his home. 
There, instead of making love to her, he began to tatoo her back in some
sort of extravagant floral design, I think.  She suffered silently while
he slowly turned her body into a work of living art.  I think small
cystal cups were used for moxibustion as a part of this process.

That's all I can remember.

I recently saw another Japanese film (name forgotten) also dealing with
a master tatoo artist who uses a woman as his canvas, but it's set in
modern times.  The film I saw was definitely set long ago.

Can anyone help me with its name -- and, hopefully, any information on
whether it's available in video?

Many thanks,

Kathleen