Japan’s ‘Emperor of Porn’ the subject of new documentary

It would be difficult to find a more colorful character in Japan’s adult video (AV) industry than Toru Muranishi.

The 66-year-old actor and director, known as Japan’s “Emperor of Porn,” has been arrested multiple times, run up massive debts and made roughly 3,000 AV films. Oh, and he’s had sex with about 7,000 actresses.

And now, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Taishu (Dec. 22), he is the subject of a documentary. “Toru Muranishi: It Is Nice,” by Akira Takatsuki, screened last month at the New Directors Film Festival in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward.

The film is a no-holds barred account of his life, Muranishi told the magazine.

“There is not a single shot of me looking cool,” Muranishi said of the film, which won a special award at the festival. “I’ve made a career out of shooting the assess of women. So, I was ready to reveal everything, including showing my own ass.”

Muranishi made a name for himself in the industry as a progenitor of the sex position known as ekiben (station meals) — in which the male is standing and holding the woman much like he would a boxed lunch on a train platform — and the act of ejaculation onto a partner’s face.

“I had this sense of duty to deliver something people have never seen,” he said.

After being involved in the publishing and entertainment industries, the native of Fukushima Prefecture joined AV studio Crystal Eizou in 1984.

He went on to work with a number of popular actresses, most notably Kaoru Kuroki. In 1986, the then 21-year-old university co-ed from Kagoshima began appearing in AV productions for the company. She created an immediate stir not only for her personality and acting skills, but for the black bush beneath both of her upper limbs.

In 1988, Muranishi ventured out on his own by establishing Diamond Visual. He told evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai in April that as the rental market took off the annual turnover at Diamond Visual reached over 10 billion yen.

He also had a number of problems with the law. All told, Muranishi has been arrested seven times on a variety of charges, including, on more than one occasion, employing an underage actress.

Muranishi’s empire came crashing down in 1992. Under the moniker “It’s Raining Perverts,” he started a satellite broadcasting network that subsequently folded, leaving him 5 billion yen in debt.

“I’ve made a living one day at a time,” says Muranishi, whose career has also included selling towels with images of celebrities, running a noodle shop and holding an advertising sign for 12-hour periods. “It is like bungee jumping without a rope.”

For Muranishi, the film, which takes its name from one of his early AV productions for Crystal Eizou, is about making viewers feel a sense of energy. “This shows everything, it hides nothing,” he says. “I would be grateful if those watching were to say, ‘Ah, we are better than Muranishi. So why not look forward to tomorrow?'”

“Toru Muranishi: It is Nice” is scheduled to be released next summer.

Source: “AV kai no teio Muranishi Toru haranbanjo no ‘naisudesune’ hansho,” Shukan Taishu (Dec. 22, pages 60-61)