Toru Muranishi is an innovative and controversial director of Japanese adult videos who, in a 1992 Tokyo Journal article by Kjell Fornander, was called "the dirtiest of the industry’s dirty old men". Known in Japan as the "Emperor of Porn", he has been credited as one of the creators of the quasi-documentary style found in Japanese AVs, a genre which has remained popular throughout the history of the adult industry in Japan. Sometimes his posts on Twitter arouse criticism because those are considered as discriminatory remarks against women.
Life and career
Toru Muranishi was born September 9, 1948 in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. After graduating high school, Muranishi moved to Tokyo where he sold encyclopedias. He subsequently became involved in book publishing and the entertainment industry.
Muranishi joined the newly formed AV studio Crystal-Eizou in late 1984 and began directing films with them soon afterwards. Muranishi is given credit for launching the career of one of the first AV superstars, Kaoru Kuroki who made her debut at Crystal-Eizou in October 1986. Among Muranishi's pioneering developments at Crystal-Eizou were his Face Shower series which culminated in a facial, the Fuck Lunch series which satirized contemporary food-oriented TV programs, and the Conch Shell videos where the actress would blow into a conch shell to signify that she had reached an orgasm. Muranishi has had numerous problems with the law in his career, having been convicted seven times of criminal violations. While at Crystal-Eizou, in June 1986, Muranishi was arrested for violating the Japanese Child Welfare Act by using an underage actress in videos. Later that same year Muranishi brought a staff to Hawaii in a "legendary session" where he filmed 30 videos in 30 days. Muranishi flew in 15 or so actresses in turn from Japan for the shooting and in December 1986 was arrested in Hawaii for passport violations and was indicted under the Mann Act. He was released in July of the next year. Muranishi was once again arrested and fined for using a 17-year-old actress in August 1988.
Diamond Visual
In September 1988 Muranishi left Crystal-Eizou to form his own company, Diamond Visual. According to Kjell Fornander, Diamond Visual was "a video giant which took porn to new limits and often beyond them". His Crystal-Eizou star Kaoru Kuroki also worked with him at Diamond Visual and in February 1989, a new star, Kimiko Matsuzaka, debuted with the company. Matsuzaka and her large bust led to a "Big Bust" boom in Japanese AV and helped assure the success of Diamond Visual. In the early 1990s Diamond Visual was "AV’s largest production company" and Muranishi has said that the company had annual sales of 10 billion yen. Muranishi also ventured into the softcore field of pink film and directed the December 1990 release Daikyonyuu: Noshikakaru for Xces featuring his two stars from Diamond Visual, Kaoru Kuroki and Kimiko Matsuzaka. The next year, he wrote the screenplay for another Matsuzaka vehicle, Daikyonyuu: Kaikan Shibori, released in March 1991 by Xces. Despite its popularity, Diamond Visual went bankrupt in 1992 with debts of 5 billion yen and Muranishi had to greatly alter his style of living, going from a luxury home and Rolls-Royce to barely being able to afford an apartment.
Later career
Muranishi, who claims to have had sex with 7000 women and produced some 3000 adult videos, remained in the adult entertainment industry after the collapse of Diamond Visual and soon was broadcasting on his own satellite TV channel, producing about 15 movies a month with himself as producer, director, cameraman and star. That enterprise also collapsed and Muranishi once again ended up in debt. Muranishi was the subject of a British Channel 4TV documentaryThe Sex Shogun of Shinjuku, part of the 1995 Without Walls Special series. The program explored "the exploits of leading Japanese pornographer Touru Muranishi" and looked at the documentary porn genre with "real sex with real women in real places". The program was later released in VHS format with another program as Red Light Zone. As an actor, Muranishi appeared in the 2000 Soft On Demand produced V-CinemaRenshin Joshikousei Patty (
