Yoshikazu Katō
Life and career. Yoshikazu Katō was born in Kyoto in 1972, and became a fan of the "pink film" while still in junior high school. He graduated from the Nikkatsu Visual Arts Academy in 1993, and began working in the film industry in 1995. He worked as assistant director on nearly 100 "pink film"s beginning with Hisayasu Satō's (1995), for the gay-themed ENK studio. His directorial debut was at Ōkura Pictures (OP Eiga) with , filmed in 2001 and released in 2002. Also at OP Eiga he filmed "" (2007) which was given the Best Film award at  the Pink Grand Prix and which won Katō the award for Best Director. At the Kansai region Pinky Ribbon Awards the film was also given the top award, the Gold Prize. Ninja films. Katō directed the V-Cinema ninja-sexploitation series in 2006 and 2007. The films featured AV idols as Kunoichi protagonists and were later released in the United States by Switchblade Pictures. References. ! | Pink Grand Prix