pink eiga - My observations

Jasper Sharp j.sharp
Thu Nov 9 10:23:21 EST 2000


Just something I noticed whilst in Japan which struck me as very different
from the attitudes to sex in Europe and North America, though please anyone
feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but aside from the explicit content
found in most manga comics, I quite often noticed men reading pornographic
magazines in public places such as on the Shinkansen, and they were often
provided along with other magazines in coffeeshops for the customers to
read, so there was none of this furtive "Shall I put it into a brown paper
bag for you, sir?" attitude we have in Britain. People aren't embarassed by
nudity or sex.
Bearing in mind the large proportion of Japans film output devoted to pinku,
I think its safe to say that it is an accepted part of Japanese culture and
not something either women or men really think about. A Japanese friend
mentioned to me that current Japanese morality was in no small measure
imposed from outside during the Meiji Period when Japan began to open up to
the world and adopt a lot of  Western cultures and philosophies, and also in
the post-War period when it was more or less forced upon them. This strikes
me as something pecularliar to the Japanese. Whereas the country adopts a
lot of fashions, philosophies and styles from outside the country, there is
no real depth to them, and at heart Japan is still a fundamentally different
culture from anywhere else in the world. (Taken in this light, claims to
Globalism and Coca-Colonisation from America ring rather hollow). He put it
in terms of a return to the hedonism of the Edo period after the enforced
morality imposed from outside during the last century (Eirin etc).
I'd be very interested to hear the opinions of others from this list on what
is perhaps a rather superficial judgement from a Nihon Neophyte.
 
Regards,
 
Jasper Sharp

-----Original Message-----
From: Jiwon Ahn [mailto:jiwonahn at mediaone.net]
Sent: 08 November 2000 15:14
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: pink eiga



I am doing a resesarch on pink eiga (or any softcore porn movies) of the 60s
and 70s. Is there any materials written on the topic (in English)? I am
specifically interested in looking at the historical context of the genre:
how those films were received by the Japanese audiences at that time and
especially what were female audiences' reactions like? What would be good
sources to look at for these questions and where could I find those
materials? Any information would be enormously helpful to me. Thanks!





More information about the KineJapan mailing list