Pulp International - Miki+Sugimoto

Oct 27 2019

What music do you want played at your funeral?

The classic pinku revenge tale Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi, aka Criminal Woman: Killing Melody had three incredible posters, and with the sharing of this one we've completed the trifecta. This is a rare two-piece bo-ekibari, similar to what in the U.S. is sometimes called a billboard poster. You'll see it nowhere else online. At least not until it's taken from here. The movie starred icons Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto as deadly rivals, was perfectly directed by Atsushi Mihori, and premiered in Japan today in 1973. See the other two posters for this here and here.

Japan Toei Company Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi Criminal Woman: Killing Melody Reiko Ike Miki Sugimoto Atsushi Mihori sexploitation poster art cinema pinku pinky violence

Intl. Notebook

Apr 25 2019

Sometimes there's nothing to do but wait to be freed.

You've probably noticed that other than the post we made two days ago (a test, really), there hasn't been any new content on Pulp intl. for over a week. Don't blame us. Blame our server company—again. Different one than last time. Not Thorbjorn and the gang. But still, same bad service. Basically, they made an unannounced upgrade on their end that booted us off the internet. Partly it's our fault. We've been rebuilding the back end of the site for four years, which is way too long, yet at the same time, usually it's a good idea for a server company to send an e-mail blast to its clients warning of important changes. But we fell through the cracks somehow. Were you worried? Just a little? All good now. But you know who loved the fact that we got thrown offline? The Pulp Intl. girlfriends.

Anyway, once we noticed the outage we got the front end of the site back up quickly, but the back end that allows us to post material remained scrambled for longer. Call it an unplanned intermission. An unexpected vacation. An improvisational hiatus. But like we said, we're back to normal now, and on the bright side, at least it wasn't a guy with a machete that caused this interruption. Although interestingly, we're currently being stalked by three guys a friend of ours punched in the eye. So another interruption could occur if they catch either of us alone without our discourager (wooden club). Neither here nor there. We're getting back up to full pulp speed with this naked apology™ featuring a great photo of Japanese actress Miki Sugimoto that appeared in Pocket Punch magazine around 1972. We hope to have few—or even no—problems until at least 2072. Fingers and toes crossed.

Japan Pocket Punch Miki Sugimoto pinku nudity

Vintage Pulp

Feb 10 2019

The shot heard 'round Japan.

This unusual poster was made to promote a film called Teppôdama no bigaku, known in English by the cool title Aesthetics of a Bullet. The movie came from Art Theatre Guild, or ATG, producers of films in the loose category known as Japanese New Wave, meaning to take a new approach to filmmaking by rejecting traditional ideas and techniques. This one was directed by Sadao Nakajima and stars Tsunehiko Watase as a hot-headed two-bit hustler named Kiyoshi who tries numerous schemes to get ahead, including being a chef, gambling, and breeding rabbits. He fails at all of them, and he's desperate for a break.

When he's given a job by a local yakuza cartel known as Tenyu Group, he quickly learns about the power of a gun. With it he can command others, make them fear and respect him, make them literally kneel. With this gun his sense of self worth is first restored, then inflated. He caresses it, brandishes it, polishes it, treats it better than even the women he lusts for, and the gun confirms that he's superior to others. And once he feels superior he becomes—not to put too fine a point on it—a total asshole. He's actually an abusive chump even before the gun, but the weapon fully unleashes his destructive, hyper-masculine impulses.

The things he does are too ridiculously stupid to get into. Suffice it to say that even for a regular guy these would lead to trouble, but he's Tenyu Group's thug-at-large, which means his erratic behavior and explosive anger offends the other crime bosses. Pretty soon he discovers that he's torn a dangerous rift in the yakuza network. But what Kiyoshi doesn't know—which the audience does from the beginning—is that Tenyu Group hired him in the first place precisely because he's a disruptive fuck-up. Their theory was always that he would spark a gang war. All he has to do is fire that beloved gun once and Tenyu Group will have the excuse it needs.

Aesthetics of a Bullet is obscure, so we knew nothing about it, but we liked it. It's concise, has a strong point of view, and a good supporting cast that includes Miki Sugimoto and Mitsuru Mori. Its only flaw—perhaps unavoidable—is that the lead character is such a misanthropic troublemaker that we could barely tolerate watching him. But we guess that's where the whole rejecting traditional filmmaking comes in. Who needs a likeable or even sympathetic lead? Real life is more complicated than that, and Kiyoshi's fictional life gets plenty complicated too. Even if you can't root for him, at least he won't bore you, and neither will the movie. Aesthetics of a Bullet premiered in Japan today in 1973.

Japan Art Theatre Guild Teppôdama no bigaku 鉄砲玉の美学 Aesthetics of a Bullet Tsunehiko Watase Miki Sugimoto Mitsuru Mori Sadao Nakajima poster art cinema yakuza movie review

Vintage Pulp

May 24 2018

Seems like she gets tougher to work for every year.

The internet is all about change. When we first wrote about Miki Sugimoto’s 1973 pinku flick Sukeban–Kankain Dasso, aka Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School, we shared a rare tateken sized promo poster and mentioned that it was the first of its kind to appear online, while the standard sized promo could be found anywhere. Six years later it's the tateken poster that's everywhere online, while good scans of the standard promo seem to have disappeared. So here's a good scan of the standard promo. Sukeban–Kankain Dasso premiered in Japan today in 1973.

Japan Toei Company Sukeban–Kankain Dasso Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School Miki Sugimoto pinky violence pinku poster art cinema

Vintage Pulp

May 21 2018

You have the right to remain dead.

We already showed you a rare hand-painted poster for the pinky violence actioner Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa, aka Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs. Today we're showing you the tateken poster, which is rare too, so much so that this may be the best scan you'll of it see online. The kind of washed out look is part of the design. If you haven't seen the movie, it's about a vigilante cop played by Miki Sugimoto who is released from prison by a government agency in order to take down the kidnappers of a powerful politician's daughter.

Like most pinku movies, there's some sexual violence, and many reviewers excoriate this admittedly overused plot device. We don't claim those reviewers are wrong, but it should be noted that rape in pinku is often symbolic, serving both to advance the immediate plot and implant a deeper message. In this case the main perpetrator in the sexual assault of a young Japanese woman is wearing U.S. Navy coveralls. The depth of negative feeling about the U.S. occupation of Japan is made clear. All that said, the constant use of sexual assault in Japanese film—if it was ever artistically justified at all—definitely jumped the shark with the arrival of Nikkatsu Studios' roman porno offerings. We've talked about that before.

One interesting part of assessing vintage art is that at the time it was created the artists often thought they were making a certain statement, but decades later their art is perceived as sending the exact opposite message. Such is the case with pinky violence movies, in which maverick male filmmakers—in this case Yukio Noda—showed Japanese women taking on and usually destroying an entrenched male power structure, but only after being driven to it through degradation and violence. Which in screen terms meant rape. Were there other ways to show women driven to the point where they would kill? No doubt, but in patriarchal 1970s Japan the shock of these films was not how women were driven to kill men, but that they did—and often got away with it.

Miki Sugimoto deals with with some very bad men in Zero Woman, but her focus never wavers. She's to rescue the kidnapped daughter and dispose of the abductors in such a way that no news coverage or police investigation points back toward the father. Wrapped in a crimson raincoat she dispatches villain after villain, but learns that not even the presumed good guys are redeemable—not the politician, not the cops, nobody. It's grim, cynical, nihilistic stuff—and a classic of the genre. Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa opened in Japan today in 1974.

Japan Toei Company Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs ０課の女赤い手錠 Miki Sugimoto Yukio Noda pinky violence pinku sexploitation poster art cinema movie review

Femmes Fatales

Feb 25 2018

But really, who could ever forget her?

Miki Sugimoto posed for a lot of nude photos. Among 1970s pinku stars Terumi Azuma posed for more, definitely. And probably Naomi Tani too. But we see Sugimoto nudes all the time. These were shot by Japanese lensman Kenji Nagatomo and appeared in the nostalgia magazine Dankai Punch (Baby Boom Punch) in 2007 as a photo feature titled “Remember Zero Woman.” This of course refers to Sugimoto's starring turn in the pinku classic Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa, aka Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, which you should see if you haven't yet. We'll have more from Miki later. Also, seven years ago we posted a shot from this Nagatomo session very similar to the top image, and if you're interested you can see that here.

Japan Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs 団塊パンチ Dankai Punch Kenji Nagatomo Miki Sugimoto pinku nudity

Femmes Fatales

Dec 8 2017

Japanese society is very formal, but around here I keep things pretty laid back.

Above, a provocative promo photo of Japanese pinku icon Miki Sugimoto, one of dozens she made, all of which are rare. If you don't know her work we suggest adding it to your life. You can start with this film, this one, and this one.

Miki Sugimoto pinku pinky violence nudity

Intl. Notebook

Jan 7 2017

Two of pinku's biggest stars headline a special film festival in Tokyo.

If you find yourself in Tokyo today, Cinema Laputa Asagaya is hosting a retrospective of films featuring two of the biggest pinku stars of the 1970s—Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, who are not only big stars but also Pulp Intl. faves who we've discussed many times. A new film will be featured every weekend until April 1, with all the pair's most legendary efforts appearing on the program, including Yasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchi, aka Female Yakuza Tale (discussed here and here), Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi, aka Criminal Woman: Killing Melody, for which you can see the badass promo poster here, and of course Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô, aka Sex & Fury, which we talked about way back in 2009. There will be thirteen films in all, and the festival represents the best chance to see all these movies on a big screen in many years, and in a pretty cool location too. If you're in the vicinity, don't miss it.

Japan Tokyo Cinema Laputa Asagaya Yasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchi Female Yakuza Tale Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi Criminal Woman: Killing Melody Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô Sex & Fury Reiko Ike Miki Sugimoto cinema poster art pinku pinky violence

Vintage Pulp

Jul 3 2016

Reiko Ike’s pelvic floor exercises pay off big time.

Onsen mimizu geisha, which premiered today in 1971, stars an eighteen-year-old Reiko Ike, along with Miki Sugimoto and Junkô Tôda, in yet another tale centered on a Japanese hot spring—Toi Onsen on the Izu Peninsula. So what is this about specifically? Basically, in order to avoid losing the family’s ancestral burial plot to debt collectors, Ike is forced to become a geisha, which turns out to be a natural choice because of the muscle control she has over her vagina. The extraordinarily pleasurable sensation she creates in there is akin to that of worms writhing. Yes, you read that right—worms. Warm ones, of course. And this is where the title of the movie comes from—Onsen mimizu geisha, or “hot springs earthworm geisha.” Do you need to know more? This is a classic, with a lot of goofy humor, plenty of bare skin and bikinis, a strong visual style from director Noribumi Suzuki, and some bizarrely aggressive octopi. And most importantly it has Ike, who’s radiant throughout, never more so than when flashing the viewer during the naughty opening credit montage. Maybe not for everybody, this one, but it certainly worked for us.

Japan Toei Company Onsen mimizu geisha Reiko Ike Miki Sugimoto Junkô Tôda Noribumi Suzuki poster art cinema pinky violence pinku movie review

Vintage Pulp

Dec 17 2015

Reiko Ike and Sandra Julien get together and sparks fly.

Gendai poruno-den: Sentensei inpu, aka Modern Porno Tale: Inherited Sex Mania, aka The Insatiable is a Noribumi Suzuki-directed tale of sexual awakening, but we bet most viewers don't awaken until co-stars Reiko Ike and Sandra Julien end up in the shower together. Pretty steamy stuff, and as a bonus the two migrate into bed, which you see in the photo below. Prefacing that agreeable sequence are less agreeable but standard pinku elements, including legions of slimy horndogs, shameful voyeurism, forced de-virginization, a drugging, and an alcohol fueled orgy. The only good thing that happens is that Ike falls into bed with Pulp Intl. fave Miki Sugimoto. Actually, that's nearly the opening sequence, which is nice because it lets you know exactly where the movie plans to take you. But that interlude aside, other aspects of Reiko's life really suck, and her escalating problems eventually lead to a brawl which she escapes by hiding in a parked car. The man who owns that car seems to be

the person destined to save her from the sordid club girl life she's made for herself. Or is he? He slaps her within minutes of their initial meeting, but can you blame the guy? She was trying to kiss him. We can't pretend to truly understand these movies, and since there are no real reviews of this one online we're flying blind with our interpretation, but the message seems to be that sluttiness is genetic. In any case, we love the two posters at top. We also love the two promo images below of Ike and Julien. Gendai poruno-den: Sentensei inpu opened in Japan today in 1971.