{{short description|Japanese actress of mixed ancestry}} {{for|the Australian journalist and broadcaster|Kumi Taguchi (journalist)}} {{Infobox person | name = Kumi Taguchi | image = | caption = | birth_date = December 23, 1952 | birth_place = [[North Carolina]], [[United States]] | death_date = | death_place = | birth_name = Constance Kumi Arnold | othername = | occupation = Actress }}
{{nihongo|'''Kumi Taguchi'''|田口久美|Taguchi Kumi}} is a Japanese actress of mixed ancestry who is best known for her roles in [[Nikkatsu]]'s [[Pink film#Second wave (The Nikkatsu Roman Porno era 1971–1982)|''Roman porno'']] series in the 1970s.
==Life and career== Taguchi, half Japanese and half American,<ref name="Weisser 436">{{cite book |last=Weisser|first=Thomas|last2=Mihara Weisser|first2=Yuko|title=Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films|year=1998|publisher=Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications|location=Miami|isbn=1-889288-52-7|page=436}}</ref> was scouted by the film studio [[Toei Company|Toei]] while working in a beauty parlour,<ref name="Sharp 184">{{cite book |last=Sharp|first=Jasper|title=Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema|year=2008|publisher=FAB Press|location=Guildford|isbn=978-1-903254-54-7| page=184}}</ref> and soon afterwards appeared in a small part in Toei's 1975 film ''Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man'' directed by [[Kazuhiko Yamaguchi]].<ref name="Sharp 184"/> That same year also marked her first starring role in [[Tokyo Emmanuelle]] for [[Nikkatsu]] where according to critic Jasper Sharp, her "figure and smouldering dark looks ... could be readily appreciated by viewers both in and outside Japan".<ref name="Sharp 184"/> There is a reference to Taguchi and the film in Chilean writer [[Antonio Skármeta]] 2003 novel ''The Dancer and the Thief'' where the lead character refers to a movie poster and remarks "A film with Kumi Taguchi, Mitsuyaso Mainu and Katsunori Hirose can't be all bad."<ref>{{cite book|last=Skármeta|first=Antonio|others=Silver, Katherine (trans.)|title=The Dancer and the Thief|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dancerthief00skar/page/19 19–20]|year=2008|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-06494-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dancerthief00skar/page/19}}</ref> She also starred in the film's sequel released by Nikkatsu in November 1975, {{nihongo|''Tokyo Emmanuelle: Private Instruction''|東京エマニエル夫人 個人教授|Tōkyō emenueru fujin: kojin kyōju}} directed by [[Katsuhiko Fujii]].<ref name="Weisser 436"/><ref name="Sharp 184"/>
At the end of 1975, Taguchi starred in another Japanese film which took its inspiration from a foreign sex movie, ''[[Deep Throat in Tokyo]]'', directed by [[Kan Mukai]] and released by [[Toei Company|Toei]].<ref name="Sharp 184"/><ref>Weisser p. 104, 113</ref> In early 1976, she joined fellow mixed-race performer [[Runa Takamura]] in director [[Masaru Konuma]]'s ''[[Cloistered Nun: Runa's Confession]]'' for Nikkatsu.<ref name="Sharp 184"/> Later in 1976, she starred in two other Roman Pornos: Shōgorō Nishimura's ''A Call Girl's Testimony: Exposure'' and Katsuhiko Fujii's ''International Stewardess: Erotic Flight''.<ref name="Sharp 184"/>
Taguchi also appeared in non-''pink'' films for the [[Shochiku]] studio, the 1976 action film ''Utareru mae ni ute!'' (known internationally as ''Cobra'') for director [[Umetsugu Inoue]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=145531|script-title=ja:撃たれる前に撃て！|publisher=AllCinema|accessdate=2014-04-28|language=Japanese}}</ref> and the 1977 thriller ''Edogawa Rampo's Perverted Beast'' directed by [[Tai Kato|Tai Katō]] based on a novel by Japanese author [[Edogawa Rampo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movie.walkerplus.com/mv18511/|script-title=ja:江戸川乱歩の陰獣|publisher=MovieWalker|accessdate=2014-04-28|language=Japanese}}</ref> In 1979 she had a small part in director [[Toru Murakawa|Tōru Murakawa]]'s suspense film ''Hakuchyu no shikaku''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movie.walkerplus.com/mv18761/|script-title=ja:白昼の死角|publisher=MovieWalker|accessdate=2014-04-29|language=Japanese}}</ref>
Taguchi also had supporting roles in two television programs, the August 1978 horror thriller {{nihongo|''Kyodai kumo no kan''|巨大蜘蛛の館}} from [[TV Asahi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=85943|script-title=ja:巨大蜘蛛の館|publisher=AllCinema|accessdate=2014-04-29|language=Japanese}}</ref> and episode 10 (''Mask of the Night'') of the cult detective series ''[[Tantei Monogatari]]'' broadcast by [[Nippon TV|NTV]] in November 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvdrama-db.com/drama_info/p/id-17474|script-title=ja:探偵物語|publisher=TV Drama Database|accessdate=2014-04-29|language=Japanese}}</ref>
==Filmography== * {{nihongo|''Wolf Guy: Burning Wolf Man''|ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男|Urufugai moeru rōdan}} (April 1975) * ''[[Tokyo Emmanuelle]]'' (July 1975) * {{nihongo|''Tokyo Emmanuelle: Private Instruction''|東京エマニエル夫人 個人教授|Tōkyō emenueru fujin: kojin kyōju}} (November 1975) * ''[[Deep Throat in Tokyo]]'' (December 1975) * ''[[Cloistered Nun: Runa's Confession]]'' (January 1976) * {{nihongo|''A Call Girl's Testimony: Exposure''|あるコールガールの証言 露出|Aru kōru gāru no shōgen: roshutsu}} (June 1976) * {{nihongo|''Utareru mae ni ute!''|撃たれる前に撃て！}} * {{nihongo|''International Stewardess: Erotic Flight''|国際線スチュワーデス 官能飛行|Kokusai-sen suchuwādesu: kannō hikō}} (September 1976) * {{nihongo|''Edogawa Rampo's Perverted Beast''|江戸川乱歩の陰獣|Edogawa Rampo no injū}} (June 1977) * {{nihongo|''Japanese Don: Conclusion''|日本の首領 完結篇|Nihon no don: kanketsuhen}} (September 1978) * {{nihongo|''Hakuchyu no shikaku''|白昼の死角}} (April 1979)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0846626}} * {{jmdb name|0291350}}
{{Japanese erotic cinema}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taguchi, Kumi}} [[Category:Japanese actresses]] [[Category:Japanese people of American descent]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Pink film actors]] [[Category:1952 births]]