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{{Short description|Japanese actress, director and cinematographer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kei Fujiwara
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|3|12}}
| birth_place = [[Kumamoto]], Japan
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Actress, cinematographer, writer, film director, theater director
| years_active = 1973–present
}}
{{nihongo|'''Kei Fujiwara'''|不二稿京|Fujiwara Kei|born March 12, 1957}} is a Japanese actress, cinematographer, director and writer. Her first role was in the American film ''[[The Neptune Factor]]'', but she is perhaps best known for starring in the Japanese [[cyberpunk]] cult film ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]''.<ref name="encyclo">{{cite book |last1=Murguia |first1=Salvador |date=2016 |title=The encyclopedia of Japanese horror films |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6166-2 |pages=83–85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfasDAAAQBAJ&q=%22%E4%B8%8D%E4%BA%8C%E7%A8%BF+%E4%BA%AC%22&pg=PR6 |via=GoogleBooks |access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref> More recently she has devoted her time to writing and directing, and is known for her [[Surrealism|surreal]] and violent [[experimental film]]s<ref name="encyclo" /> as well as her experimental theater company Organ Vital.<ref name="Noe">{{cite web |last=Noé |first=Amber |title=Capturing a World in a Crystal Ball: A Conversation with Kei Fujiwara |url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/capturing-a-world-in-a-crystal-ball-a-conversation-with-kei-fujiwara |website=[[Mubi (streaming service)|Mubi]] |date=November 27, 2019 |accessdate=January 18, 2020}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Fujiwara was born into a poor family in a rural part of [[Kumamoto]] in 1957, and moved to [[Tokyo]] in her early twenties to pursue a career in [[Theatre|theater]].<ref name="Noe" /><ref name="midnight">{{cite book |last1=Mes |first1=Tom |last2=Sharp |first2=Jasper |date=2005 |title=The Midnight Eye guide to new Japanese film |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |isbn=1-880656-89-2}}</ref> Playwright [[Jūrō Kara]] wrote roles for her to act in his plays and eventually became her mentor. She spent years creating underground theater companies, and collaborated with [[Shinya Tsukamoto]] in the 1980s on the plays and 8 mm films he created. Becoming closely involved with Tsukamoto's underground theater troupe Kaijyu Theater, she took on the title of his "right hand"<ref name="Noe" /> woman and played a contributing role in his films ''The Phantom of Regular Size'' (1986), ''The Adventure of Denchu Kozo'' (1987), and ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]'' (1989). For Tsukamoto's film ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]'', she participated both in front of the camera as the unnamed Girlfriend character, as well as behind the camera as the prop artist and one of the cinematographers.<ref name="Noe" /> In addition, Fujiwara's apartment was used as a primary set for the film, with even her cats appearing in certain scenes. She also engineered ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man|Tetsuo]]''<nowiki/>'s iconic phallic drill.<ref name="Noe" />

After the production of ''Tetsuo'', she returned to underground theater and working with Jūrō Kara.<ref name="Noe" /> She also formed the Organ Vital company, which produced the play ''Organ'' and adapted the play into the [[Organ (film)|film of the same name]].<ref name="midnight" /> When interviewed, Fujiwara has said that the name "Organ Vital" comes from an [[Antonin Artaud]] book "...that featured this French term. It meant the vessels of life. When translated to English, I'm told it just becomes, 'vitals of organ,' or something, but in Japanese it is called gozōroppu and to me signifies the corporal. That's the name of my theater company, and it has always been that for me. Born into this three-dimensional world with bodies, we sense and express."<ref name="Noe" /> Fujiwara returned again as a film actress in ''[[Organ (film)|Organ]],'' playing the role of Yoko, the eye-patch wearing sister of organ dealer and high school biology teacher Jun.

''Organ'' and her later 2005 film ''Ido'' never gained financial or critical success, but have become noted examples of the [[Japanese horror]] genre.<ref name="encyclo" /> She has continued producing theatre work through Organ Vital: a new "nomadic" theatre project called ''Ibunkitan'' debuted in 2019, and has been presented in shops, salons, and temples.<ref name="Noe" />

She lives in a remote part of the [[Nagano Prefecture|Nagano]] mountains <ref name="Noe" /> and operates a cat shelter in her spare time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Another Gaze Journal|url=https://twitter.com/anothergaze/status/1195317185297563648|access-date=December 4, 2021|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref>

== Style and themes ==
Fujiwara's work deals with themes of morality, spirituality, fear, pain (bodily transformation and decay), and pleasure. Her films are known for their graphic depiction of gore and violence and their surreal, experimental style.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

She states, "I think humans, in order to live, can't cut those away from existence. If you deny desire, you're not human. The existence of such things causes our misery, too. Thus, desire and slaughter are inescapable. My fear and sorrow regarding this, and my questioning what are they anyway. That's what I wanted to portray."<ref name="Noe" />

She cites the work of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] novelist [[Kenji Miyazawa]] and [[manga]] artists [[Osamu Tezuka]], [[Sanpei Shirato]], and [[Daijiro Morohoshi]] as being influential to her creative worldview.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

== Filmography ==
;As actress
*''[[The Neptune Factor]]'' (1973)
*''Denchu Kozo No Boken (The Adventure of Denchu Kozo)'' (1987)
*''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]'' (1989)
*''[[Organ (film)|Organ]]'' (1996)
*''Ido'' (2005)
*''Hana-Dama: The Origin'' (2014)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blacktooth |title=Hana-Dama: The Origin (Review) |url=https://www.horrorsociety.com/2016/03/11/hana-dama-origin-review/ |website=Horror Society |date=March 11, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2024}}</ref>

;As director
*''[[Organ (film)|Organ]]'' (1996)
*''Ido'' (2005)

'''As cinematographer'''

* ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Organ (film)|Organ]]'' (1996)
* ''Ido'' (2005)

'''As writer'''

*''[[Organ (film)|Organ]]'' (1996)
*''Ido'' (2005)

'''As costume designer'''

*''Denchu Kozo No Boken (The Adventure of Denchu Kozo)'' (1987)
*''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]'' (1989)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|297872}}
*[http://www.organvital.com Organ Vital], the official website of Kei Fujiwara's theater company (in Japanese)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujiwara, Kei}}
[[Category:Japanese actresses]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Japanese women film directors]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Japanese women cinematographers]]
[[Category:Japanese horror film directors]]

Kei Fujiwara - Revision history

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