Shinji Imaoka

Directing

Shinji Imaoka

Born

1965-01-01 (61)

Place of birth

Osaka, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

54 titles

Shinji Imaoka a.k.a. 羅門ナカ is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of a group of pink film directors of the 2000s known collectively as the "Seven Lucky Gods of Pink" (ピンク七福神, shichifukujin), which besides Imaoka, also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Yoshitaka Kamada, Toshirō Enomoto and Rei Sakamoto.

Known for

Shape of My Heart poster
5.7

A romance about a man and a woman who, due to an unexpected event, end up switching bodies. Despite coming from completely different backgrounds and environments, the two try to overcome the various difficulties that arise from their body swap.

Shape of My Heart

2024

Modern Love Tokyo poster
6.8

This seven-episode anthology features a cast of leading actors and depicts various forms of "love," such as love almost forgotten, love between sons and mothers, and love that transcends borders.

Modern Love Tokyo

2022

Ghost Cat Anzu poster
6.9

Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant "ghost cat" and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu's odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.

Ghost Cat Anzu

2024

Let Me Hear Your Voice poster
5.9

Fashion model Haruka is faints during the shoot due to food restrictions. On the way back, she hears the voice of the butcher Anharu with whom, she realises, she shares the gift of telepathy. Haruka is frightened but she gradually resolves the situation with Anharu. Haruka and Anharu, both of whom are married. eventually grow closer.

Let Me Hear Your Voice

2019

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete poster
6.4

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete (パーfectブルー 夢なら醒めて, Pāfekuto Burū: Yume Nara Samete) is a 2002 Japanese psychological thriller film directed by Toshiki Satō and adapted from the novel of the same name by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. The story centers on Ai, a teen pop idol transitioning to a recording career, whose life unravels amid fixation from a obsessive convenience store clerk, leading to themes of distorted self-perception, narcissistic delusions, and violent events.

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete

2002

A Girl on the Shore poster
7.0

Keisuke Isobe and Koume Satou live a rather dull life. But when Koume's crush breaks her heart, their situation becomes quite unordinary. She starts a "no-strings-attached" relationship with Keisuke, whom she had previously rejected, both finding solace in the other in order to fill the emotional voids in their lives.

A Girl on the Shore

2021

Film credits

2020s · 3 titles

2010s · 4 titles

2000s · 3 titles

1990s · 3 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Shape of My Heart poster
5.7

A romance about a man and a woman who, due to an unexpected event, end up switching bodies. Despite coming from completely different backgrounds and environments, the two try to overcome the various difficulties that arise from their body swap.

Shape of My Heart

2024

Shape of My Heart poster
5.7

A romance about a man and a woman who, due to an unexpected event, end up switching bodies. Despite coming from completely different backgrounds and environments, the two try to overcome the various difficulties that arise from their body swap.

Shape of My Heart

2024

Ghost Cat Anzu poster
6.9

Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant "ghost cat" and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu's odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.

Ghost Cat Anzu

2024

Let Me Hear Your Voice poster
5.9

Fashion model Haruka is faints during the shoot due to food restrictions. On the way back, she hears the voice of the butcher Anharu with whom, she realises, she shares the gift of telepathy. Haruka is frightened but she gradually resolves the situation with Anharu. Haruka and Anharu, both of whom are married. eventually grow closer.

Let Me Hear Your Voice

2019

Let Me Hear Your Voice poster
5.9

Fashion model Haruka is faints during the shoot due to food restrictions. On the way back, she hears the voice of the butcher Anharu with whom, she realises, she shares the gift of telepathy. Haruka is frightened but she gradually resolves the situation with Anharu. Haruka and Anharu, both of whom are married. eventually grow closer.

Let Me Hear Your Voice

2019

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete poster
6.4

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete (パーfectブルー 夢なら醒めて, Pāfekuto Burū: Yume Nara Samete) is a 2002 Japanese psychological thriller film directed by Toshiki Satō and adapted from the novel of the same name by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. The story centers on Ai, a teen pop idol transitioning to a recording career, whose life unravels amid fixation from a obsessive convenience store clerk, leading to themes of distorted self-perception, narcissistic delusions, and violent events.

Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete

2002

The Drudgery Train poster
6.1

In this offbeat coming-of-age tale, a charming, rebellious high school dropout named Kanta befriends the kind, provincial Shoji. The two bring out the best in each other, each gaining confidence from their friendship - especially regarding pursuit of the opposite sex. The working class Kanta becomes a sort of unruly anti-hero, maintaining his pride, defiance, and self-assurance even as his prospects seem increasingly grim.

The Drudgery Train

2012

Lunchbox poster
4.5

The film tells the story of Aiko, a 35-year-old mute woman who works in a bowling alley, and her brief romance with Yoshioka, a younger man who works as a postal carrier. The two meet when Aiko accidentally knocks Yoshioka off his bicycle, and they have a sexual encounter soon after. Aiko begins preparing lunchboxes and giving them to Yoshioka at his workplace as a way of expressing affection, which she cannot do verbally.

Lunchbox

2004

Lunchbox poster
4.5

The film tells the story of Aiko, a 35-year-old mute woman who works in a bowling alley, and her brief romance with Yoshioka, a younger man who works as a postal carrier. The two meet when Aiko accidentally knocks Yoshioka off his bicycle, and they have a sexual encounter soon after. Aiko begins preparing lunchboxes and giving them to Yoshioka at his workplace as a way of expressing affection, which she cannot do verbally.

Lunchbox

2004

Manami 100% poster
5.0

A ten-year love story told from the perspective of the selfish and eccentric main character, "I", who falls for Manami in high school but also navigates relationships with others from his adolescence.

Manami 100%

2022

Underwater Love poster
5.1

35-year-old Asuka works in a lakeside fish factory. She’s about to be married to her boss, Taki, but one day, she encounters a kappa – a water sprite found in Japanese folklore – and learns that the creature is in fact the reborn form of Aoki, an old crush who’d drowned when they were 17.

Underwater Love

2011

Underwater Love poster
5.1

35-year-old Asuka works in a lakeside fish factory. She’s about to be married to her boss, Taki, but one day, she encounters a kappa – a water sprite found in Japanese folklore – and learns that the creature is in fact the reborn form of Aoki, an old crush who’d drowned when they were 17.

Underwater Love

2011

Two Maladroits in Life: A Love Story poster
NR

Seven years of modest love between two people who are not good at living Yuta and Ayako can't communicate well with people. Two people meet by chance and fall in love. A coming-of-age movie that depicts the seven years from the meeting of two people whose lives are inadequate to their separation.

Two Maladroits in Life: A Love Story

2022

Waiting for the Comet poster
3.7

Shinji Imaoka’s debut film about three men, a woman, and a dead body.

Waiting for the Comet

1995

Waiting for the Comet poster
3.7

Shinji Imaoka’s debut film about three men, a woman, and a dead body.

Waiting for the Comet

1995

Kagi poster
NR

Another adaptation of Tanizaki's novel The Key.

Kagi

2026

Kagi poster
NR

Another adaptation of Tanizaki's novel The Key.

Kagi

2026

Uncle's Paradise poster
4.7

This surrealistic comedy follows the life of Haruo Maekawa, a young man who makes a living catching squid. Haruo is obsessed with catching a legendary giant squid rumored to live in Tokyo Bay. Haruo's uncle Takashi, fallen on hard times, comes to stay with his nephew until he can get back on his feet. Uncle Takashi is addicted to energy drinks, and seduces any woman in sight, including Haruo's girlfriend Rika. While praying at a Shintō shrine, Uncle Takashi is bitten in the scrotum by a poisonous snake and dies. The uncle is destined to spend the afterlife in Hell unless his nephew and girlfriend can rescue him from the King of Hell.

Uncle's Paradise

2006

Deep Story poster
5.7

Hostess Aki has drinks with men and gets allowance in return. She survives day by day until one day she hears from Saiki that there is someone looking for a fake marriage partner. Aki thinks about it, but in the end decides to do it and marries Jin-il when she is on the verge of being evicted. They become a married couple but Jin-il's girlfriend visits from Korea and they have sex every night...

Deep Story

2017

Deep Story poster
5.7

Hostess Aki has drinks with men and gets allowance in return. She survives day by day until one day she hears from Saiki that there is someone looking for a fake marriage partner. Aki thinks about it, but in the end decides to do it and marries Jin-il when she is on the verge of being evicted. They become a married couple but Jin-il's girlfriend visits from Korea and they have sex every night...

Deep Story

2017

The Woman of Brother poster
4.0

Misaki, who is not satisfied with her husband, feels surprised satisfaction every night when she sees a scene in which her husband, Chae Sung shares her forbidden love with her brother Sana. Then one day, Misaki, who actually met Chae Sung, the main character in the dream, falls in love with him and has a happy time. However, when he finds out that he has entered the drama [woman of his brother's] world without knowing himself, Misaki becomes confused.

The Woman of Brother

2016

Hana-Dama poster
6.2

Transfer student Mizuki is bullied mercilessly by her classmate. Nevertheless, she is always able to maintain her composure. Kirie, who is also bullied, becomes interested in Mizuki and longs for her. The two become close.

Hana-Dama

2014

The Temptation Came at Stormy Night poster
2.8

Romantic fantasy about the ruckus that ensues after a mother and daughter switch bodies. Director Imaoka Shinji wrote the script for The Drudgery Train and has worked on numerous erotic films. Housewife Suda Sawako (Takaki Mio) is dissatisfied with her husband Kenzo (Haruta Junichi). Meanwhile, her daughter Yasuko (Ishikawa Yumi) is going out with Kitamura Mitsuru (Nagaoka Tasuku), a struggling musician. When Sawako visits Yasuko's apartment one day, her built-up frustrations explode and she gets into a physical altercation with her daughter.

The Temptation Came at Stormy Night

2016

The Temptation Came at Stormy Night poster
2.8

Romantic fantasy about the ruckus that ensues after a mother and daughter switch bodies. Director Imaoka Shinji wrote the script for The Drudgery Train and has worked on numerous erotic films. Housewife Suda Sawako (Takaki Mio) is dissatisfied with her husband Kenzo (Haruta Junichi). Meanwhile, her daughter Yasuko (Ishikawa Yumi) is going out with Kitamura Mitsuru (Nagaoka Tasuku), a struggling musician. When Sawako visits Yasuko's apartment one day, her built-up frustrations explode and she gets into a physical altercation with her daughter.

The Temptation Came at Stormy Night

2016

Setsuna: Vampire's Love of 100 Days poster
6.5

A vampire, Brado, becomes responsible for taking care of a girl, Setsuna, in exchange for his life saved by the evil that created her. The evil tells him that if she doesn't have sex for a hundred days, she'll become a full-fledged vampire, and Brado will be able to gain complete control of her. However, if he breaks the promise, both of them will die, so he reluctantly takes on the care of her. While he sleeps, Setsuna begins going to nearby town and gradually learns how precious human lives are through her observations. When she meets a young priest in a church, her affection to humans becomes stronger-- and trouble begins to brew when Brado realizes that she is falling for the priest.

Setsuna: Vampire's Love of 100 Days

2012

Setsuna: Vampire's Love of 100 Days poster
6.5

A vampire, Brado, becomes responsible for taking care of a girl, Setsuna, in exchange for his life saved by the evil that created her. The evil tells him that if she doesn't have sex for a hundred days, she'll become a full-fledged vampire, and Brado will be able to gain complete control of her. However, if he breaks the promise, both of them will die, so he reluctantly takes on the care of her. While he sleeps, Setsuna begins going to nearby town and gradually learns how precious human lives are through her observations. When she meets a young priest in a church, her affection to humans becomes stronger-- and trouble begins to brew when Brado realizes that she is falling for the priest.

Setsuna: Vampire's Love of 100 Days

2012

Long Goodbye: Tantei Furui Kurinosuke poster
NR

Kurinosuke Furui (Ryu Morioka) grew up at an orphanage. He now works as a private detective. One day, he receives a request. The request is to collect money which was stolen by a woman who killed herself. During Kurinosuke Furui's investigation he uncovers a shocking truth.

Long Goodbye: Tantei Furui Kurinosuke

2017

Two on the Road poster
NR

After saving homeless Nozomi from an attack in the park, truck driver Ryuuhei offers Nozomi a part-time job in his truck and decides to set on an aimless trip. As they travel together, they encounter various eccentric individuals, including a deriheru girl (prostitute), a street poet, and a man who is being chased by the yakuza, and gradually learn about each other's circumstances.

Two on the Road

2023

Two on the Road poster
NR

After saving homeless Nozomi from an attack in the park, truck driver Ryuuhei offers Nozomi a part-time job in his truck and decides to set on an aimless trip. As they travel together, they encounter various eccentric individuals, including a deriheru girl (prostitute), a street poet, and a man who is being chased by the yakuza, and gradually learn about each other's circumstances.

Two on the Road

2023

Yamikin gurentai poster
NR

Shoji, who moved to Tokyo from Tohoku, meets Daisuke by chance and hits it off. Hoping to make quick money, the two join forces with the yakuza and start a loan shark business, lending money at exorbitant interest rates. Shoji is strong-willed and ruthlessly collects from debtors, while Daisuke is timid and unable to be completely ruthless. Despite their polar opposite personalities, the two get along surprisingly well, and their loan shark business is going smoothly. One day, Shoji is approached by Narimatsu, the boss of a gang, who is like a leader to him, to join the yakuza. Meanwhile, Daisuke discovers that his girlfriend Maika is in debt. With the money from Narimatsu's gang, Daisuke and Maika disappear.

Yamikin gurentai

2018

Midsummer Fruit poster
3.0

Ayumi and her husband, Ryoma, who meet by chance and run a grape farmer together. Every winter, Ryoma leaves his house and fields to his wife and goes to Tokyo to work. In the meantime, Ayumi lives with her mother-in-law, and even if she calls Ryoma occasionally, she always hangs up bluntly. Ryoma had a chance reunion with his childhood friend Chihiro in Tokyo. Ryoma floats to the reunion with Chihiro, who used to like him. On the other hand, Kusakabe, a younger man who was also attracted to Ayumi, appeared. Ayumi and Kusakabe suddenly approach each other, and at some point they cross the line...

Midsummer Fruit

2025

Summer When My Wife Was in Love poster
NR

Imaoka Shinji, one of Japan's best-known adult film directors and The Drudgery Train scriptwriter, tells a couple's secret tale. One day, Koji (Kaneko Noboru)'s wife Kaori (Miyaji Mao) suddenly dies. He learns from the doctor that Kaori was three months pregnant, but Kenji knows it can't be him. Eventually, he discovers an unknown side of Kaori.

Summer When My Wife Was in Love

2014

Summer When My Wife Was in Love poster
NR

Imaoka Shinji, one of Japan's best-known adult film directors and The Drudgery Train scriptwriter, tells a couple's secret tale. One day, Koji (Kaneko Noboru)'s wife Kaori (Miyaji Mao) suddenly dies. He learns from the doctor that Kaori was three months pregnant, but Kenji knows it can't be him. Eventually, he discovers an unknown side of Kaori.

Summer When My Wife Was in Love

2014

Married Nurse - Soft Skin Dedication poster
NR

Shoko, a married woman, works in a hospital as a nurse. One day, one of the patients happens to meet an old boyfriend, Tagawa. Shoko learned from her nurse that Tagawa is terminal cancer and can only live for 3 months. However, I couldn't tell Tagawa, so I don't know. The hospital says to give up treatment and just go home. She makes a decision because she wants to do something for Tagawa ...

Married Nurse - Soft Skin Dedication

2010

Married Nurse - Soft Skin Dedication poster
NR

Shoko, a married woman, works in a hospital as a nurse. One day, one of the patients happens to meet an old boyfriend, Tagawa. Shoko learned from her nurse that Tagawa is terminal cancer and can only live for 3 months. However, I couldn't tell Tagawa, so I don't know. The hospital says to give up treatment and just go home. She makes a decision because she wants to do something for Tagawa ...

Married Nurse - Soft Skin Dedication

2010

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 1: Angel Descends poster
10.0

Rumi, married into a farming family, grows increasingly frustrated with her husband's lack of interest in their nighttime intimacy. Her only escape is karaoke nights with her fellow farmer wives at a local snack bar. One day, she learns that an elderly couple she met at the bar is on the verge of falling victim to a phone scam. Determined to stop the fraudsters, Rumi takes action to bring them down.

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 1: Angel Descends

2021

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 1: Angel Descends poster
10.0

Rumi, married into a farming family, grows increasingly frustrated with her husband's lack of interest in their nighttime intimacy. Her only escape is karaoke nights with her fellow farmer wives at a local snack bar. One day, she learns that an elderly couple she met at the bar is on the verge of falling victim to a phone scam. Determined to stop the fraudsters, Rumi takes action to bring them down.

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 1: Angel Descends

2021

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 2: The Organic Grand Strategy poster
7.5

Rumi, now accustomed to life on the farm, remains frustrated with her husband's continued lack of interest in their nighttime intimacy. One day, she begins to suspect that her husband might be falling for a dubious organic farming investment scheme. Following him, Rumi discovers the presence of an unusually seductive woman, but...

The Farmer's Bride Requires Care! Part 2: The Organic Grand Strategy

2021

Boys Hitting the Road poster
3.7

A bar in Shinjuku 2-chome. Toru is the manager of this bar, but one day, the owner, Ishii, suddenly passes away. The bar is to close, and Toru receives a list of regulars from Takano, the accountant, and decides to start a journey to collect retirement benefits. Together with Kenichi, the bar's number one, they borrow Ishii's old car and set off to northern Kanto. First up is Sato, a company president with a foot fetish. Although married, he can't stop playing around with men, and whenever he comes to Tokyo, he requests Kenichi. In order not to let the people around him know, he gives Kenichi more money than the tab. Next is Yamamoto, a city council member in the local assembly. A born sadist, he likes to tie Kenichi himself or have a young bondage artist tie him up, and then watch it happen. Kenichi continues on his journey, but he has another goal: to meet Shouji, a man he used to date...

Boys Hitting the Road

2017

Seaside Lover poster
3.5

As men and women around the age of 30 struggle to reach their dreams, they also go through trial and error in love. This work, which depicts the encounter and parting of such a man and woman.

Seaside Lover

2023