Hiroshi Mukai

Kan Mukai
Japanese film director, Kan Mukai
Born	Hiroki Mukae October 16, 1937 Dairen, Manchukuo
Died	June 9, 2008(2008-06-09) (aged 70) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter
Years active	1962–2004
Spouse(s)	Takako Uchida
Website	http://www.kuruma.org/mukai/

Kan Mukai (向井寛, Mukai Kan) a.k.a. Hiroshi Mukai and Patrick Kan (カン・パトリック, Kan Patorikku) was a Japanese film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter, known for his pioneering work in the pink film genre. In the realm of pink cinema, Japanese critics have estimated that Mukai is "the only serious rival of Kōji Wakamatsu." As a producer, Mukai helped the early careers of many prominent directors, including Hisayasu Satō and Academy-Award winner Yōjirō Takita. In his career, he directed nearly 200 films and produced approximately 500.

Kan Mukai was born in Dairen, Manchukuo (modern Dalian, China) on October 16, 1937. He studied economics at Kyushu University, but dropped out to pursue a career in film. In 1959 he began his apprenticeship, serving as assistant director to Kiyoshi Saeki, Tadashi Imai and Isao Yoshida. He also worked as a cinematographer on projects for various studios, mostly for educational, children's and industrial films. During this early period in his career he honed his craft and became known as a top cinematographer.

Mukai made his debut as a director in 1962 with Two Boys (二人の少年), an educational film. Wanting to direct, but lacking the educational requirements necessary to be hired as a director at a major studio, in 1965, Mukai moved into the lucrative new pink film genre. That year he founded Mukai Productions and, with financial backing from Nihon Cinema, directed his first pink feature, Flesh (肉, Niku), which was distributed by Kokuei. Though the film was a plotless series of scenes in the life of a prostitute, Mukai's technical skill impressed early pink audiences and critics, and he quickly became a major name in the genre. Comparing him to the major pink director of the 1960s, a critic for Kinema Junpo wrote, "Hiroshi Mukai is the only genre director who could rival Kōji Wakamatsu."Flesh received international distribution, and was released in Germany on May 14, 1965 as Nacktes Fleisch.The Bite (1966) was another early Mukai film shown overseas, playing in the U.S. soon after its Japanese release, and in Britain, under the title Bait, in 1967. It was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2008.