Tokugawa Sex Ban Blu-ray Review

Mondo Macabro

Blu-ray Release: March 11, 2025 (following an October 8, 2024 limited edition)

Video: 2.35:1/1080p/Color

Audio: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono 

Subtitles: English

Run Time: 88:27

Director: Norifumi Suzuki

In Tokugawa era Japan, Princess Kiyo (Miki Sugimoto), youngest daughter of mighty Shogun Ienari Tokugawa, weds country lord Tadateru Ogura. Unfortunately for Kiyo, her new husband has no interest in women. To help Tadateru discover his sexual side, his courtiers bring in Sandra (Sandra Jullien), a French courtesan who arrives in a wooden box, like a porcelain doll. Her extraordinary sexual technique awakens Tadateru to the fun he's been missing all these years. Unfortunately, he enjoys it so much that he decides it's too good for commoners and enforces a sex ban on the rest of his subjects, decreeing that any of them having intercourse will be executed. (From Mondo Macabro’s official synopsis)

While not a household name outside of specific corners of exploitation fandom, writer/director Norifumi Suzuki was a vital contributor to ‘70s Japanese cult and pink films, including Sex & Fury (Japanese: Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô, 1973), four movies in the Girl Boss (Sukeban) series (1971-’73), and notorious nunsploitation entry The Transgressor (Japanese: Seijû gakuen, 1974). He set the tone early in the decade with a jidaigeki sex comedy called Tokugawa Sex Ban (Japanese: Tokugawa sekkusu kinshi-rei: Shikijô daimyô, 1972), though I prefer its alternate English title, Erotomaniac Daimyo.

Seemingly inspired by the success of Teruo Ishii’s Shogun's Joy of Torture (Japanese: Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi, 1968), Tokugawa Sex Ban is an infinitely more lighthearted affair (possibly even a spoof of Ishii’s film and its sequels?) that tempers its occasional cruelty with tongue-in-cheek melodrama, absurd sex scenes, and a very silly sense of humor. The sex sits firmly within the softcore realm, leaving the dirtiest stuff just below frame and to our imaginations, but there are a few substantial shocks, like the hyper-sexualized seppuku sequence and a scene where the sex slaves gang up to kill their tormentor by stabbing him in the eye with a cross, then drowning him.

Not being particularly well-versed in pink films or Japanese erotica, Tokugawa Sex Ban actually reminds me of the opulent erotic costume dramas and comedies coming out of Europe during same period – films like Claude Pierson’s Justine de Sade (1972), Jess Franco’s Marquis de Sade’s Justine (Italian: Justine ovvero le disavventure della virtùre, 1969), and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Canterbury Tales (Italian: I racconti di Canterbury, 1972). The comparison is strengthened by Suzuki hiring French sexpot Sandra Jullien, better known for her turn in Jean Rollin’s Shiver of the Vampires (French: Le frisson des vampires, 1971) and Max Pécas’ I Am Frigid… Why? (French: Je suis frigide... pourquoi?, 1972), in a central role. He did something similar a year later by hiring Swedish actress Christina Lindberg for Sex & Fury.

Suzuki closed out the decade by making all nine original Truck Rascals (Japanese: Torakku yarô) movies (1975-’79) and pseudo-slasher Beautiful Girl Hunter (Japanese: Dabide no hoshi: Bishôjo-gari, 1979). He also wrote Kazuhiko Yamaguchi’s Sister Street Fighter (Japanese: Onna hissatsu ken, 1974) and its sequel, Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread (Japanese: Onna hissatsu ken: Kiki ippatsu, 1974).

Bibliography:

• Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema by Jasper Sharp (FAB Press, 2008)

Video

I know for a fact that this is Tokugawa Sex Ban’s Blu-ray debut and (I think) also its first English-friendly availability on any format. There’s evidence that it has been available in streaming HD, but not physical HD. Mondo Macabro’s press release states that this 2.35:1, 1080p transfer was created using a brand new 2K restoration of the film negative. A lot of the film has a soft and diffused look, like you’d see from a lot of ‘70s erotica. It isn’t conducive to sharp edges and depth, but the related grain upticks appear mostly accurate with only minor clumping artifacts. The palette is similarly diffused by all the steam and humidity, giving the vibrant sets and costumes a sort of pastel softness that looks accurate to my eyes. I could imagine a full 4K remaster and HDR grade giving it a bit more oomph, but this is a good showing for a 2K presentation.

Audio

Tokugawa Sex Ban is presented in its original Japanese (with French inserts) and uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio mono. The track is consistent throughout with a slightly crispy dialogue quality and only minor distortion at high volumes. Ichirô Araki’s calypso-styled, easy listening jazz and tango-infused score is a huge plus that sounds great and assures the audience that it’s okay to laugh along with some of the film’s more outrageous moments.

Extras

• Commentary with Jasper Sharp – Behind the Pink Curtain author and Midnight Eye co-editor explores Suzuki’s career, the careers of the cast & crew, Toei’s ‘sexy historical’ subgenre and related erotic films, Tokugawa Sex Ban’s broader themes, and historical context, as it applies to the era in which the film takes place and the era in which it was released. 

• Interview with film critic & historian Kōshi Ueno (17:30, HD) – Ueno breaks down Suzuki’s eclectic and sometimes controversial career as writer and director.

• Theatrical trailer

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.