Kōji Seki
| Kōji Seki | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 20, 1911 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1962 – 1985 |
Kōji Seki (関孝二 Seki Kōji) aka Takashi Seki (関孝司 or 関孝志 Seki Takashi) (born September 20, 1911) is a Japanese film director known for his pioneering work in the pink film genre. Among the accomplishments of Seki's career: he directed the first pink films for Kokuei, the oldest pink film company, Japan's first 3-D film, the world's first 3-D sex film, and Japan's first "invisible man" pink film.
Kōji Seki was born on September 20, 1911 near Kaminarimon in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. His father was in the construction business. After graduating from high school in 1930, Seki attended the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (merged into Tokyo University of the Arts in 1949), dropping out after one year. In 1937 he joined his father in working in the prop department of Ōizumi Films, a studio which was purchased by Toei Company in 1951. He eventually became Deputy Director for large props at the studio. He moved to Beijing where he worked with the North China Electric Co. before he was drafted into the army.
Returning to Japan after the war, Seki joined Radio Film Company (ラジオ映画)). His career as a director began here, where he filmed children's television documentaries focusing on nature and animals. Seki's films of this time bore such titles as Animal Story (どうぶつ物語), The World of Little Monsters (小さな怪物の世界) and Japanese Aesop's Fables (ニッポン・イソップ物語).
Kokuei, currently the oldest existing pink film studio, was founded in 1955 by Teruo Yamoto. The company began concentrating on sex films—imported films and filmed strip shows—in 1957. With the advent of the pink film genre in 1962, the studio decided to make a series of films which would exploit the nudity now possible in theatrical features by featuring semi-nude actresses in natural settings. With Seki's experience in nature and animal photography, he was hired as the director of these "" films, the studio's first films in the pink genre. Seki's directorial debut was with Valley of Lust (情欲の谷間 Jōyoku no tanima) filmed in 1962—the year of Satoru Kobayashi's Flesh Market, the first film in the pink genre—and released in 1963. Through Valley of Lust, Seki was indirectly responsible for the name pinku eiga applied to Japanese theatrical softcore films. The films were called eroductions during most of the 1960s. In a review of Valley of Lust in the sports paper Naigai Times, writer Minoru Murai suggested that the genre should have a "Pink Ribbon Award" as an equivalent of the mainstream "Blue Ribbon" award given to films by the paper. The color pink was meant to suggest the blushing that the films induced in viewers. Seki filmed a sequel the year of the first film's release, Cave of Lust (情欲の洞窟 Jōyoku no dōkutsu) (1963).
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