Maiko Kazama | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1956-05-25)May 25, 1956 (age 69) Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation | Actress |
Maiko Kazama (風間舞子,Kazama Maiko) is a Japanese actress known especially for her roles inNikkatsu'sRoman Porno series of films in the early 1980s.
Kazama was born inNagasaki Prefecture, Japan on May 25, 1956.[1] She began her acting career at least as early as December 1979 with theShintōhō Eigapink filmJokyoushi maruhi oshieteageru (女教師（秘）教えてあげる) directed byKaoru Umezawa.[2] During the first half of 1980 she made several more pink films forShintōhō Eiga,Million Film and other studios[3] includingWaisetsu dokyumento renzoku henshitsu ma (ワイセツドキュメント 連続変質魔), directed byItsumichi Isomura and co-starringShirō Shimomoto released byShintōhō Eiga in March 1980.[4][5]
She appeared in her first film forNikkatsu in July 1980, theRoman Porno releaseSecret of Newlywed Wife (単身赴任 新妻の秘密,Tanshin Funin: Niizuma no Himitsu) directed by Shōgorō Nishimura.[6] Pink film critics Thomas & Yuko Mihara Weisser credit Nishimura, who wrote and directed several of her features, with discovering and nurturing Kazama as a Nikkatsu actress and claim that though not a beautiful woman, she "smells of sex."[7] Two months after this film, Nishimura directed Kazama in a vehicle suited to her talents in an attempt to give Nikkatsu a new star to replaceNaomi Tani who had retired in 1979. The film,Woman Who Cries (泣く女,Naku Onna), was the first of the four-part "Woman Who ..." series all starring Kazama.[3][8] The second film in the series,Woman Who Arches Her Back (のけぞる女,Nokezoru Onna), directed by Akira Katō, was released in November 1980.[3][8] The third entry in the seriesWoman Who Exposes Herself came out in January 1981.[3][8] Kazama's acting in this film won her the award for Best Actress at the 3rdYokohama Film Festival.[9] The final film in the series, the June 1981Woman Who Is Used (あそばれる女,Asobareru onna), was directed byMasaru Konuma, who had also directedWoman Who Exposes Herself. The Weissers comment that throughout the series "Kazama's acting ability always shines through."[3][8]
By this time, according to the Weissers, Kazama had become Nikkatsu's "biggest actress of the '80s."[10] In September 1981, Kazama was paired with Nikkatsu director Takashi Sugano in another film tailor-made for her,Poaching Wife: Frustrated Inside (密漁妻 奥のうずき,Mitsuryōzuma: okuno uzuki), where she plays a sexually aggressive woman who finds ecstasy in witnessing a murder.[11][12] Kazama worked with director Sugano once more in April 1982 inLive Recording: Secret Video (生録盗聴ビデオ,Namadori Tocho Video) in which she again plays a wayward wife. The Weissers consider this film and the earlierPoaching Wife: Frustrated Inside to be two of her best efforts.[13][14] TheJapanese Movie Database lists the July 1982 releaseMarked Ama: Stirred-Up Shell (くいこみ海女 乱れ貝,Kuikomi ama: midaregai) as Kazama's last film for Nikkatsu, a movie in which she plays only a minor role.[15]
Kazama also had small parts in two 1982 mainstream movies,Tattoo Ari[16] andWeekend Shuffle.[17] In April 1987, Kazama married comedian Susumu Kimura and settled inOsaka.[18]
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