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Meiko Kaji (梶 芽衣子, Kaji Meiko?, born March 24, 1947 in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese singer and actress.
In 1970, with little success but extensive experience in the movie business, she signed up with the Nikkatsu movie studio and was subsequently cast in more or less important roles in the Stray Cat Rock series. The films concern juvenile girl gang confrontations and, although inventive, they suffer from poor scripts and rickety quality throughout the series. In 1971 Nikkatsu started moving into the financially lucrative erotic movie business, for which it is best known today, terming its unique brand of softcore roman porno, or romantic pornography. In order to avoid becoming a pink film starlet Kaji moved to Toei where she met director Shunya Ito and made four women in prison films in the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, which made her famous throughout Japan. The films were adapted from a well-known manga by Toru Shinohara. In the fourth installment Toei replaced director Shunya Ito with Yasuharu Hasebe, a decision that Kaji was unhappy about, and she subsequently left the series, which continued until 1998 with six new installments of markedly lesser quality.
In 1973 she took on the role of Yuki in the revenge-themed film Lady Snowblood, which has later been popularized as a cult film in the West. It was based on a manga by Kazuo Koike who also created the Crying Freeman and Lone Wolf and Cub manga series. The film was one of the inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. It was followed by the sequel, Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance.
Kaji went on to appear in several of Kinji Fukasaku's films, most notably Yakuza Graveyard (1976). In 1978, she starred in a film adaptation of Sonezaki Shinju, for which she earned nominations for Best Actress at five different awards shows, winning four of them. However, the film remains unseen by many of her fans, due to the fact that it has never been released on video or DVD.
Her singing career was heavily interweaved with her movie career, often singing on the soundtracks of films she starred in. Owing to this, she has seen a surge of renewed interest with the releases of Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 and their soundtracks. The theme song to Lady Snowblood, "Flower of Carnage" (Shura no Hana), and the theme song of the Sasori series, "Urami Bushi" (lit. Grudge Song), both sung by Kaji, were used in Tarantino's film.
Select filmography
* Stray Cat Rock series
o Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader: Stray Cat Rock (1970) (Onna banchô: Nora-neko rokku) (d. Yasuharu Hasebe)
o Stray Cat Rock : Wild Jumbo (1970) (Nora-neko rokku: Wairudo janbo) (d. Toshiya Fujita)
o Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970) (Nora-neko rokku: Sekkusu hanta) (d. Yasuharu Hasebe)
o Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970) (Nora-neko rokku: Mashin animaru) (d. Yasuharu Hasebe)
o Stray Cat Rock: Crazy Rider '71 (1971) (Nora-neko rokku: Bōsō shudan '71) (d. Toshiya Fujita)
* Sasori series
o Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) (Joshuu 701-gō: Sasori) (d. Shunya Ito)
o Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41(1972) (Joshuu sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bō) (d. Shunya Ito)
o Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973) (Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya) (d. Shunya Ito)
o Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song (1973) (Joshuu sasori: 701-gō urami-bushi) (d. Yasuharu Hasebe)
* Lady Snowblood (1973) (Shurayukihime) (d. Toshiya Fujita)
* Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch (1973) (Jingi naki tatakai: Hiroshima shito hen) (d. Kinji Fukasaku)
* Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) (Shurayukihime: Urami Renga) (d. Toshiya Fujita)
* Yakuza Graveyard (1976) (Yakuza no hakaba: Kuchinashi no hana) (d. Kinji Fukasaku)
* Lullaby of the Earth (1976) (Daichi no komoriuta) (d. Yasuzo Masumura)
* Sonezaki Shinju (1978) (Sonezaki Shinju) (d. Yasuzo Masumura)
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