Sad news hitting the Japanese adult industry today. Prolific director Tohjiro (real name Chisho Ito) has died at the age of 70 after battling lung cancer. The announcement came from his wife, former AV actress Mirei Asaoka, on July 21.
If you’ve spent any time in the kinkier side of JAV, you already know the name. Tohjiro was one of the absolute legends — especially when it came to BDSM and hardcore fetish work.
A quick look at his career
Born in Roppongi, Tokyo back in 1956, he actually started out in regular film. His first movie, Gondola, came out in the mid-80s and even got international screenings in 1987 and 1988.
He jumped into adult video in 1989, right when JAV was exploding in popularity. In 2001 he founded his own label, Dogma, and basically became the go-to guy for intense, stylish BDSM content. The man had a very distinct eye and pushed a lot of boundaries over the decades.
Just a couple years ago he directed the adult-rated drama Shura: Sisters of the Rope (2023). It’s about two sisters dealing with heavy family trauma — their bondage-model mother took her own life and their rope-artist father abandoned them. Stars Aya Shiomi and Hana Kato. Pretty ambitious stuff for the genre.
His final project hit different
Even while fighting cancer, Tohjiro kept creating. Earlier this year he quickly shot a semi-autobiographical film called Stage IV about a man dealing with terminal cancer and his relationship with his wife. He launched a crowdfunding campaign for screenings, it got fully funded, and they held a private screening for backers in Shinjuku at the end of June. It even played at the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany. A wider Japanese release is planned for 2027.
His wife Mirei Asaoka appears in the film as the wife. She retired from AV way back in 1993 and has been doing regular TV and film acting ever since.
It’s honestly kind of beautiful (and heartbreaking) that one of his last works was so personal and that he got to see it screen before he passed.
Tohjiro left a massive mark on Japanese adult video, especially the fetish and BDSM side of things. A lot of directors and performers who came up after him were clearly influenced by his style.
Rest in peace to a true industry original.