Top Ten Lethal Women of Japanese Splatter Cinema
by Marc Patterson
We’re getting close to wrapping up this month of Japanese Exploitation Cinema and I have to admit, we haven’t even properly managed to scratch the surface of this genre. Honestly, I could very likely create an entire spin-off website that would do nothing BUT talk about Japanese cinema. Then again, there are a handful of those already out there. At any rate – I digress.
With so much brain splitting action going on I’d be truly amiss to ignore one aspect of these films that has always stood out head and breast amongst the rest of modern genre filmmaking. The Japanese love their female leads! Sure, there’s a slew of tough guy yakuza and samurai flicks out there, but when you look at splatter and exploitation specifically, it’s more often lethal ladies of murder and mayhem who take lead. It’s not such a far-fetched concept. It hearkens back to the days of Roger Corman. Much akin to Corman troupes, these are women who drip with sexuality yet are as fierce as tigers and forces of nature not to be trifled with. Whether they brandish a samurai sword or mutant robotic appendages these women capture the attention and admiration of male and female audience members alike. I know I’m an avid devotee! In fact, it’s only been during this past month that I’ve realized just about every writer on this site secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) is in love with Asami, who, if you name a major splatter-filled film from the past several years, has likely played a role in it.
So, with neither honor nor humanity I present my list of 10 starlets of Japanese splatter cinema who I love seeing tear up the big screen!
10. Haruka Ayase
Rap sheet includes: Ichi
Not to be confused with Ichi the Killer, the zatochi (blind samurai) film, known as simply Ichi, is the only film in which I’ve seen Haruka Ayase. Within Japan Ayase is an actress and television model who managed to land the leading role in this film about a blind begger who travels the countryside searching out the man who killed her father. You could say that this darling of Japan left an impression on me. Ayase delivers a five star performance in an otherwise three star film, that serves as a modern riff on the Zatoichi films of the 60’s. While Ayase hasn’t re-emerged into the international genre scene since, I can’t ignore the performance as she flawlessly convinces us she’s both sweet and vulnerable, yet deadly.
9. Minase Yashiro
Rap sheet includes: Machine Girl
Even though Minase Yashiro is known by international audiences by one film, Machine Girl, she’s an easy inclusion to this list because that iconic role has been seared into our psyche. Machine Girl wasn’t the first in the new wave of wacky and wild Japanese splatter films, as now defined by Sushi Typhoon and Nikkatsu, but it was a film – and a role – that sat at the forefront of the genre for many US fans, helping kick start the current craze of low-budget, over-the-top zaniness.
8. Asuka Kurosawa
Rap sheet includes: Cold Fish
I’m going to admit, I really wanted to put Asuka’s co-star Megumi Kagurazaka on this list. I got an instant crush on Megumi by the time Cold Fish hit the one-minute mark. However, as much as I’m overly infatuated with Miss Kagurazaka it’s Asuka Kurosawa who adds a sickening level of sexual perversion to Cold Fish. No, there’s she doesn’t have a huge list of genre films that’s she’s been in and this one is certainly less exploitative than many of the others I’m featuring on this list, but if you’ve seen Cold Fish I think you can agree that Kurosawa is one deadly woman. She’s violently psychotic and a runs around like a ferocious bitch in heat. At times you don’t know whether she’s more sane than her husband, or so far out of her skull that she’s permanently removed from reality. I’m veering towards the latter.
7. Yumi Takigawa
Rap sheet includes: School of the Holy Beast
According to the IMDB Yumi Takigawa has 43 titles to her credit, but only one of those stands out to fans of Japanese sexploitation, and that’s Takigawa’s very first film – School of the Holy Beast. Yumi portrays a bad girl gone off to the convent, a place that’s the last stop for the dropout’s of life. However, she can’t keep her corrupt ways outside the holy walls and the senior nuns give her hell for every trespass she makes. The most famous scene is that brutal and bloody whipping she receives with roses. So beautiful and yet so incredibly painful. It’s easily a defining S&M scene that has been replicated in substance, yet never in style. There’s little debate that Yumi gives us one of the most memorable roles in Japanese exploitation film, and therefore why she weighs in on this list.
6. Miki Sugimoto
Rap sheet includes: Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, Girl Boss Guerrilla, Terrifying Girls High School
Now we’re starting to dive deep into the muck and mire of sleazy and violent Japanese cinema. I might have skewed those first few selections to gals I’ve personally enjoyed seeing on film, but from here on out these are some starlets that not only do I love, but that we can all objectively and mutually agree on. Miki Sugimoto – Hot damn! Miki is one badass of 70’s Japanese film. I started watching her films about the time Panik House started first issuing out the pinky violent films around 2005. Matter of fact, I think I can credit Panik House for my insatiable lust for wild Japanese film in general. Prior to that all I really knew were old samurai and martial arts flicks. Sugimoto is most easily known for her role in Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, an insanely bloody and violent film that never provides viewers with a dull moment. Sugimoto also delivers an action packed performance as a bad-ass sukeban gangster in Girl Boss Guerrilla where she squares off against Reiko Ike. If you haven’t seen these films then you really need to make a point to do so!
5. Miki Mizuno
Rap sheet includes: Hard Revenge Milly, Prisoner 701 Sasori, Ichi the Killer, Guilty of Romance
Miki Mizuno is one of those modern masters of splatter that doesn’t seem to quite get the attention she deserves. One big reason is that she’s rarely in a big leading role. But, in spite of her supporting work, one thing is guaranteed as gospel – This girl can kick some serious ass. The former model turned actress started studying Shorin Kempo from a young age and when she was old enough she joined the Kurata Action Club where she could get work as a stuntman. In other words, Mizuno has both good looks and serious skills to kick the shit out of you if you choose to cross her. She’s basically a Japanese version of Zoe Bell, except that she’s been working in the biz since the 90’s, well before Miss Bell.
4. Asami
Rap sheet includes: (You name it, if it’s been made in the past few years, she’s probably been in it)
You may wonder why Asami sits at only number four on this list. I assure you, it’s not because she’s insignificant. Not by any means. I’ve already doted my praise upon this ass-kicking babe. And by no means do I intend the term “babe” to be sexist. I truly adore this woman and if there’s one lady I would have wanted to interview for this month of splat-tastic fun it would have been Asami. Since 2005 she has managed to wrack up 34 film titles under her belt. This former AV queen has been in everything from Meatball Machine to The Machine Girl to RoboGeisha, Helldriver, Mutant Girls Squad, Yakuza Busting Girls, Zombie Ass, etc, etc, etc. Obviously she can’t get enough of the genre and quite frankly I can’t get enough of her. She is unquestionably the modern day Miki Sugimoto. (And if I must say it, you wouldn’t even believe how hard it was to choose just one photo for this article)
3. Eihi Shiina
Rap sheet includes: Audition, Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver
This list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t bow down before the awesome presence of Eihi Shiina. No, she’s not in a gagillion films like Asami, but she chooses roles that you won’t forget. She’s nothing short of an absolute powerhouse. Tokyo Gore Police and Audition are two films that define the current age of hard-edged Japanese cinema and Shiina leads both with a ferocity that’s unmatched. There’s little more to say in such a short space. If this list focused solely on the last decade of genre film then Shiina would easily take the top slot.
2. Reiko Ike
Rap sheet includes: Graveyard of Honor, Sex and Fury, Girl Boss Guerrilla, Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Reiko Ike… where do I start? Once again, I’m blaming Panik House for this lurid love affair. Back in 2005 and 2006 when Panik House released the Pinky Violence Box Set alongside the DVD releases of Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale, I rushed out and snagged all of these DVD’s without hesitation. I even got the clear cased DVD’s, which were super rare! I instantly fell in love with Reiko Ike. While in many ways she was seen as an equal with Miki Sugimoto during that era of filmmaking there’s something about Ike’s performances that is transcendent. I know that’s a really bizarre word to use when describing films that were so exploitative, but for true diehard fans I think we can look through some of the more superficial elements and see real honesty in her performances. She was tough, not afraid to show skin, but at the same time displayed a certain balance of refinement and sophistication. In my mind these elements are what easily puts her in the number two spot on this list.
1. Meiko Kaji
Rap sheet includes: Lady Snowblood, Female Prisoner Scorpion Series
I’ve been toying with an article on the Lady Snowblood films all month. Actually for quite some time. But sadly, that article just hasn’t taken shape. Here’s why: Meiko Kaji is so fantastic, and contains such an enormous level of depth and range that quite frankly, she intimidates me. Not her personally, per se, but her persona. I simply can’t commit to a full article without doing it right and there’s so much to dig into around this woman that I’d rather push back the article than to rush out and drop some kind words. So here are those kind words, with the article at another time. My favorite Kaji film is Lady Snowblood, which stands as one of the most singularly awe-inspiring films on revenge made, and what truly defines the film, more than anything else, is Meiko Kaji’s performance. Forget the whole Quentin Tarantino connection. Just focus on the story. Kaji is Lady Snowblood, a woman born to her mother as she dies in prison. Snowblood’s one purpose for living, for having been even conceived, is revenge. She is to take revenge against the men who mercilessly murdered her father, and who ultimately caused her mother to be imprisoned. Her mother’s desire for retribution runs so deep that she allowed prison guards to rape her like a dog in heat until she got pregnant, just so the baby (who she hoped would be a boy) would go out in the world and violently make wrongs turn right. Snowblood is born and her life is dedicated to revenge. She trains tirelessly for years until she is ready to go out and strike her enemies down, and when she does – it’s fantastic to witness. Lady Snowblood is an amazing tale and while it’s not followed up by an equally enthralling sequel, it easily cements Kaji as the goddess of Japanese exploitation cinema. I’d love to get into her work in the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, but you know what? We’ve got a month of Women In Prison films looming on the horizon. I promise I’ll take time to talk about them then.
