Toukou no ki (2004)

Obsessed with a participant in a documentary he filmed many years ago, a wealthy Japanese TV producer tracks the woman down and makes her an offer she can’t refuse in the Nippon melodrama Toukou no ki (2004). When Go (Toshiyuki Nagashima) finally locates Chigiri (Kumiko Akiyoshi), he’s shocked to find her struggling to make ends meet. He immediately offers her work as his courtesan and she accepts gladly, digging the sex as much as the money. But tragedy strikes when Go’s stricken with cancer and their erotic Eden heads off the rails. Kichitaro Negishi’s film is a somber and sentimental affair, but the softcore veteran spends plenty of time upping the stakes by letting his camera lens linger on Yamazaki’s lithe frame.