PINK FILM

THE DEFINITION AND FEATURES OF PINK FILM

The term "Pink Film" (aka. Pinku Eiga) is used to refer a particular cinematic genre of low-budget softcore sex movies in Japan, and was originally named as "Eroduction", "Sexy Films", or "Three-Million Yen Films".
According to Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema, written by Jasper Sharp, a "Pink Film" requires these basic definitions:

1. It needs to be independently-produced.
2. It has to be shot on 35mm film.
3. It has to be produced by professional or semi-professional casts and crews.
4. Its main lure should be sexual content.
5. It has to be shown at their own chain of specialty theaters.

Therefore the genre basically excludes the work of the major studios, the hardcore pornography (Adult Video) and also the vast straight-to-video market.

THE HISTORY OF PINK FILM

The history of pink film can be roughly divided into five eras:

Before mid-'50s: After World War II, eroticism gradually spread worldwide and later came into Japan's art industry as well. However, at that time in Japan's theater, as in most of the world, nudity was still a taboo.
From mid-'50s to early '60s: During this era, films such as Kō Nakahira (中平康)'s Crazed Fruit (1956) and other foreign movies introduced the female nudity and sexual frankness into Japanese cinema. Although the graphic depictions of nudity and sex was still illegal at the moment.
The "Age of Competition", 1960s: With Satoru Kobayashi (小林悟)'s Flesh Market (1962), which is considered the first true pink film, nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema industry. Later in 1965, another director Tetsuji Takecki (武智鐵二) got arrested for the obscenity in his work, Black Snow (1965). He then won the lawsuit. And because of the trial, pink film gained its popularity and made a boom in the industry. Filmmakers, such as "the pink godfather" Koji Wakamatsu (若松孝二), were very famous for his works too.
The Nikkatsu Roman Porno era, 1970s: Since the beginning of the '70s, some major studios in Japan started to joining in the pink film industry because of the Hollywood, domestic economic situation and also the popularization of television. Nikkatsu Roman Porno was one of the most notable sub-genre during this era.
After the '80s: With the growing popularity of VCRs and Adult Video in the late '80s, pink movies gradually lost its audiences. However, movies in this genre are still being produced nowadays.

THE INFLUENCE OF PINK FILM

Around 1980's, Japanese pink film was gradually introduced into Philippine, and made a great influence on its cinema industry. Some Philippine filmmakers started to produce similar movies, which was later classified as the "Bomba Films" (aka. the Bold films and the Pene films).