15 Facts About Noboru Tanaka

Noboru Tanaka was born in Hakuba in Nagano prefecture on August 15,1937.

Noboru Tanaka majored in French literature at Meiji University in Tokyo.

Noboru Tanaka said that his interest in the cinema came about through a circuitous route.

Noboru Tanaka served as a production assistant on Kurosawa's Yojimbo, an experience which created Tanaka's enthusiasm for the film industry.

Noboru Tanaka was given his first chance to direct in 1972 with the early Roman porno, Beads From a Petal.

In 1973, Noboru Tanaka directed the second entry in the Secret Chronicle trilogy, Secret Chronicle: Torture Hell.

In contrast to the first entry in the trilogy, a satirical depiction of a 19th-century brothel, Noboru Tanaka's film was a serious look at religious-sexual ceremonies at a temple.

For Toei, he filmed Kobe International Gang and Escape of Gangster Ando Noboru Tanaka, starring the yakuza-turned-actor Noboru Tanaka Ando himself.

Noboru Tanaka was proud of his ability to produce a high-quality film on a minimal budget.

Nikkatsu allotted 7,500,000 yen for their Roman porno films, but Noboru Tanaka used only about 6,600,000 yen to make A Woman Called Sada Abe.

The second entry Noboru Tanaka's Showa Trilogy, Watcher in the Attic, starring Sada Abe's Junko Miyashita, was a breakthrough for Noboru Tanaka.

Kinema Jumpo gave the film their "Best Film" award for 1979, and Noboru Tanaka was nominated for Best Director at the second Japanese Academy of Films and Motion Pictures ceremony for this film and Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women.

Jasper Sharp writes that, from the point of character, plotting and construction, Noboru Tanaka's film is the most satisfying entry in the series, based on an adult manga by Takashi Ishii.

Noboru Tanaka directed several hits including the 1983 Shochiku film, Village of Doom, inspired by the Tsuyama massacre.

Noboru Tanaka returned to Nikkatsu to direct Monster Woman '88 and then retired from the film industry.