Naomi Tani
Naomi Tani (谷ナオミ) is a Japanese actress of the 1960s and 1970s, best-known for her BDSM roles in the Nikkatsu company's Pinku movies.
Born in 1948, Naomi Tani (her Stage Name is a reference to Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki) was featured at age 18 in an illustrated weekly, which resulted in her getting her first role in the soft-core erotic film Special (スペシャル) in 1967. She started playing in a number of low-budget independent films, and discovered early on a fondness for roles that involved bondage scenes.
In 1972, she started working for Japan's oldest filmmaking company, Nikkatsu, which had decided to enter the Pinku market. When the company offered her the chance to play major roles, she accepted on one condition: that every movie she starred in would involve BDSM. The first one, in 1974, was an adaptation of the novel Flower and Snake (花と蛇), which would be followed by many others, both live-action and animated; the same year, she also starred in Wife to be Sacrificed (生贄夫人). She then played in 11 other films before retiring in 1979 at the height of her popularity.
Naomi Tani was famous for her complete dedication to her work and high level of professionalism: she would never complain about her bondage scenes no matter how extreme or humiliating, even when they involved actual physical pain. She shunned sunbathing because she considered that pale skin shows off blushes and bruises better than dark skin does. She also kept a few extra pounds on her frame because she felt that slightly-plump flesh takes welts and rope-marks well, and because ropes bite into plump flesh more vividly.
She retains a dedicated fan base to this day, and is now the owner of a restaurant she has playfully named O-Tani[1].
- ↑ tani means "valley", and, figuratively, "cleavage"