Dokufu oden kubikiri asa is known in English by many titles—officially it's aka Poisonous Oden and Decapitator Asa or Samurai Executioner. But in our efforts to locate it we discovered it's known online also as Decapitation of an Evil Woman and Vamp and Samurai. Do we even need to tell you about this one, considering how much info is given away by the titles?

A country girl played by Terumi Azuma goads a country boy into theivery and they and two partners quickly become notorious bandits hunted by the authorities. The story is derived from the real-life Oden Takahashi, who in 1879 became the last woman executed by decapitation in Japan. Despite this inspiration, much of the movie is played for laughs, with quite a bit of slapsticking, bungling, and yelling. Of course, it has to take a serious turn eventually, and indeed all four gang members soon become seasoned killers—just in time to start being whittled down by those annoyingly persistent authorities.

We were surprised by the comedic tone saturating much of the film, but since Japanese audiences already knew the story of Oden Takahashi, maybe some foolishness was needed to keep them interested. We could have done without it, but the movie is still pretty good, and at sixty-one minutes you don't lose too much life to it. The poster above is exceedingly rare, never before seen online we're pretty sure. The one below is more common, but still very nice. Dokufu oden kubikiri asa premiered in Japan today in 1977.

So, it’s becoming clear now that Nikkatsu made a lot of ama movies, right? If you missed our previous shares on the subject, look here, here, and here, and you’ll learn that an ama is a female diver who forages the sea bottom for pearls, abalone, or other expensive treasures. This particular poster, which has never appeared online before at this level of quality, was made for Maruhi ama Report: Monzetsu aka Female Diver's Secret Report: Ecstasy. The movie was directed by Yukihiko Kondö and starred Rie Tachibana, who you see on the art. Usually we’re able to locate promo images of these actresses, but no such luck today—Tachibana appears to have had a very short career in cinema. Maruhi ama Report: Monzetsu premiered in Japan today in 1975.

Above is a poster for Isao Hayashi’s 1978 roman porno Inzetsu ama: Uzuku, which if you run across in English will be called… well, we don’t really know. Most websites that use English call it “Lewdness Woman Diver,” which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It isn’t a direct translation either, because we know that the big red characters staring you in the face say “tingling.” We also know that an ama is a female diver who traditionally foraged in the water for delicacies like sea urchins and lobsters, but these days is more famous for pearl diving.

It’s been a while since we had any Meiko Kaji on the site, so today we have four posters—two normal sized and two panel length—for 1971’s Ginchô wataridori, aka Wandering Ginza Butterfly, and 1972’s Ginchô nagaremono mesuneko bakuchi, aka Wandering Ginza: She-Cat Gambler. Haven’t seen them? Well, in our opinion, part two is vastly better than the first installment, but neither is up to the standard of Lady Snowblood. Still though, there are Yakuza and she kills them. What more could you want? You also get Meg Flower in part one, and Sonny Chiba in part two—both good additions. Kaji is still going strong in show business, by the way, having appeared in nine episodes of the Japanese television series Kekkon Shinai in 2012. We have some extremely rare posters of hers we’ll get to shortly.

Poster for Makoto Naitô’s actioner Furyo bancho totsugeki! Ichiban, aka Wolves of the City: First To Fight. It premiered in Japan today in 1971. See another poster in the Furyo Bancho series here.

Above, two Japanese posters for Sonny Chiba’s crime thriller Yakuza deka, aka The Assassin, aka Gangster Cop, 1970. 

(Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba, aka Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market is the third installment of Nikkatsu Studios’ prostitution-centered trilogy that began with Maruhi: joro ichiba (Prostitution Market) and continued with (Maruhi) jorô seme jigoku (ProstituteTorture Hell). This one was directed by Noboru Tanaka and stars Meika Seri as an Osaka prostie trying to survive her difficult profession and dysfunctional relatives. Some highlights (or lowlights) include one character killing another using a love doll inflated with explosive gas, Seri sexually indulging her mentally impaired younger brother, and the brother later doing what can best be described as choking the chicken (literally). In other words, it’s trademark Nikkatsu craziness, often disturbing but beautifully shot in both color and b&w. (Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba premiered in Japan today in 1974.

Above, a rare Japanese poster for the 1976 modern samurai thriller Karate Warriors, aka Kozure satsujin ken, starring the legendary Sonny Chiba.