| Tarō Araki | |
| Birth Date: | 16 February 1961[1] |
| Birth Place: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation: | Film director screenwriter actor |
| Years Active: | 1981 - |
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. Including Yutaka Ikejima, Yumi Yoshiyuki and Minoru Kunizawa, Araki is one of the four top pink film directors of Ōkura Productions (OP) at the turn of the millennium.[2]
Tarō Araki first entered the film industry as an extra in 1981.[1] He began his behind-the-camera work through Kokuei studio in 1985. There he worked as assistant director on such films as Yukio Kitazawa's Wet Virgin: Obscene Assault (1985) and Kazuhiro Sano's first film as director, aka Last Bullet.[3] Araki often appears as an actor in his films as well as in films by other directors. His performance in (1995) earned Araki a Best Actor, 2nd Place award at the Pink Grand Prix.[4]
Araki's directorial debut was with in 1996.[5] His approach to the pink film is different from that of many of the more prominent directors of the last two decades such as the groups known as the and . Araki has a more populist impulse to his filmmaking, and is a vocal opponent of making a film to please one's self rather than the audience. He intentionally tries to please the traditional theatrical pink film audience, particularly those outside the large cities, rather than the more intellectual critics and fans who are represented by P*G magazine and the Pink Grand Prix ceremony.[3] Nevertheless, Araki has proven himself a successful director at the Pink Grand Prix. Besides the acting and Best New Director awards, Araki's film (2000) was chosen as Best Film,[6] and his Sister-in-Law's Wet Thighs (2001) earned Araki an award for Best Director.[7] Additionally, he has had numerous films on the Pink Grand Prix's yearly Top-Ten list.
|-! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | Pink Grand Prix|-