Oiran (1983) aka Prostitute.avi

Another sign of the growing acceptance of the pinku eiga film as more than just a national curiosity, this large scale co-production involving three studios -- Fujii Movies, Ogawa Productions, and Takechi Film -- was meant as the return to form of the grandfather of the genre, Tetsuji Takechi. Set in Nagasaki in the late 1800s, the film is a bizarre mixture of erotic, historical, and horrific elements aided immeasurably by Takechi's direction and an all-star cast led by Takako Shinozuka as Ayame, a courtesan who attracts the attention of street vendor Kisuke (Satoshi Mashiba) and decides to run away with him to America. Unfortunately, a crazed tattoo artist is obsessed with Ayame's perfect skin as a potential canvas, so he kills Kisuke to keep Ayame in Japan. Later, Ayame is sold to a brothel in Yokohama. Kisuke's ghost possesses her, causing his image to appear tattoo-like on her skin whenever she has sex. Eventually, after much pining and romantic weirdness, Ayame tells the lovesick ghost to get over her and move on to Heaven so she can do her job in peace. Nostalgic and sentimental in the extreme, Oiran may not be exactly what audiences were expecting, but it is a fine entertainment. Seeing as Takechi's battles with the censors from Hakujitsumu and the infamous Kuroi Yuki case to the scandal surrounding his 1981 remake of Hakujitsumu were legendary, it should come as no surprise that the government ratings board insisted on numerous cuts. The bitterness of his battles finally drove the director to hardcore where his unique visions could be fully explored.