In the Realm of the Senses

1976 film by Nagisa Ōshima

In the Realm of the Senses is a romantic movie which was released during 1976 in certain countries, 1977 in others. The movie is a fictional tale of sexually explicit adult behavior in 1930s Japan. This motion picture caused extremely huge controversy when it was released. Certain countries wouldn't even show the movie. Moreover, it was not available for home video until around 1990. It was originally rated X, though the rating was later converted into NC-17 in 1991.

In the Realm of the Senses
Directed byNagisa Oshima
Written byNagisa Oshima
Produced byAnatole Dauman
StarringEiko Matsuda
Tatsuya Fuji
CinematographyHideo Ito
Edited byKeiichi Uraoka
Music byMinoru Miki
Distributed byArgos Films
Release dates
  • 15 September 1976 (1976-09-15) (France)
  • 16 October 1976 (1976-10-16) (Japan)
  • 1 April 1977 (1977-04-01) (United States)
Running time
108 minutes
CountriesJapan
France
LanguageJapanese
Box office1,424,906 kr

Cast change

  • Eiko Matsuda as Sada Abe
  • Tatsuya Fuji as Kichizo Ishida
  • Aoi Nakajima as Toku
  • Yasuko Matsui as Tagawa Inn manager
  • Meika Seri as Matsuko
  • Kanae Kobayashi as Old geisha Kikuryû
  • Taiji Tonoyama as Old beggar
  • Kyôji Kokonoe as Teacher Ômiya
  • Naomi Shiraishi as Geisha Yaeji
  • Komikichi Hori as Mitsuwa Geisha