How a Terrible Japanese Porn Franchise Became the World's Longest-Running Film Series
There's a lot to be said about Japan's porn industry.
It's huge
, earning tens of billions of dollars a year. It
helped keep people indoors
during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. And it even has its own
porn actress theme park
. It
pushes the envelope
on the definition of porn.
The world of Japanese adult entertainment also has another claim to fame: the creation of the (likely) longest-running film series on the planet. However, it's really more of a claim to infamy, as it belongs to the
Groper Train
(Japanese title:
Chikan Densha
) movies.
List of Contents:
Defining the Longest-Running Film Series
A Dark Journey Into the Films
The Destructive Reality Behind Groper Train
Final Stop for Groper Train
Related Posts
Still from 'Chikan Densha: Ikenai Yume Ryoko' (2014) | IMDB
Defining the Longest-Running Film Series
How, exactly, do you define the world's 'longest-running' film series? If you're going by which series debuted first, then Universal's
The Mummy
— kicking off in 1932 and last in cinemas in 2017 before going on hiatus — is due the title. You could also make a case for Batman
,
since his first serial came out in 1943, and we're still getting new movies about the Dark Knight. Those, however, would be the
oldest
franchises.
If you measure the longest series by the number of entries it produced, some sites will tell you that the title should go to the
Wong Fei-Hung
filmography about the titular Chinese martial artist and folk hero who's been portrayed by Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung and other actors who starred in 123 movies.
However, 123 is just a little over half of the number of entries in the
Groper Train
movies. The exact number is actually a matter of some discussion, as a lot of the
Groper Train
films — and information on them — have been lost. Online sources put their total number at 227 films.
The films in the series were written and directed by dozens of different people and were primarily distributed by Xces Film, Okura and Shintoho, according to the documentary
Riding the Groper Train — Part Two
. And if that last studio name sounds familiar, it's because it is related — in a roundabout way — to Toho, which is best known as the producer and distributor of
Godzilla
,
Akira Kurosawa movies
and Studio Ghibli productions.
Still from 'Chikan Saishu Densha' (1978) | IMDB
A Dark Journey Into the Films
The
Groper Train
films primarily and sort of self-explanatorily take place on trains where a woman — and also a man in one gay take on the theme — gets molested by a groper. You'd think that such a concept might wear thin after a few dozen movies, but the
Groper Train
series has been around since 1975.
The films in the series are all fictional, featuring adult film actors — although some of the earliest entries were shot guerilla-style on real trains. Many of the early films that were shot on a set still featured exterior scenes on actual station platforms as well.
Stylistically, the
Groper Train
series is a classic pink film. Japanese pink films, or
pinku eiga
, emerged in the 1960s as erotic, low-budget independent films that blended soft-core porn with stronger narratives, artistic styles and experimental storytelling. To qualify as a pink film, a work generally had to include a minimum number of sex scenes, though Japanese censorship laws prohibited the depiction of actual intercourse or genitalia.
During their peak, pink films were controversial, yet tolerated as training grounds for emerging talent. For instance, director Takahisa Zeze — the force behind acclaimed films like
Tapestry
,
one of the best Japanese movies of 2020
, and
Tonbi
, a
poignant film with a focus on single fatherhood
— was once part of a group called the 'Four Heavenly Kings of Pink.'
Obviously, none of the
Groper Train
films rise to those levels of filmmaking, but the point is that they weren't just porn without a story. They had actual plots — some of the films were framed as detective thrillers, for instance, and at least one involved time travel — and that allowed them to stick around and eventually break filmmaking records.
Still from 'Chikan densha: Chibusa ga Yureru' (1990) | IMDB
The Destructive Reality Behind
Groper Train
The reality behind
Groper Train
is sobering. Sexual assault on Japanese trains is a pervasive problem, so well-known around the world that the governments of Canada and the UK are
warning tourists about it
. Even the Japanese word
chikan
— meaning molester, groper or simply pervert — has started to appear in international travel advisories. Most victims, though, remain Japanese.
A 2024
government survey
found that 56.3% of women and 15.2% of men had experienced groping on trains, with up to 3,000 attacks occurring per year. And that's just the reported cases. It's alleged that most attacks happen in the morning when the trains are packed, meaning that many of the victims are minors on their way to school.
Nearly 40% of victims don't engage the groper out of fear and end up traumatized by the assault, suffering from physical and mental distress, flashbacks and agoraphobia. Studies have shown that the best way to stop a groper is to get the people around you to intervene. There are some apps that help with that, with one of them, Digi Police, downloaded 800,000 times between its release in 2016 and April 2024.
The only real long-term solution to groping is other passengers stepping up to help. A study has shown that 96.8% of gropers stop when they're called out by a third party, because train perverts are cowards who prey on the vulnerable.
Final Stop for Groper Train
In the documentary
Riding the Groper Train – Part Two
, pink director and actor Yutaka Ikejima said that Japan used to release up to three
Groper Train
movies each for cinema's three peak seasons, i.e., during the New Year period, Golden Week and the summer.
And different studios were free to make their own films under the
Groper Train
umbrella — resulting in dozens of new films per year.
In 1986 alone, that meant 17 new
Groper Train
releases. However, since then, the numbers have steadily fallen, and the franchise now seems to be dead. The last installment came out in 2020, with only one movie released in 2019, none in 2018 and two in 2017. Maybe now's the time for
The Mummy
to emerge from hiatus and reclaim the crown.
Related Posts
Kaho Shibuya Reveals the Bright and Dark Sides of the Japanese Porn Industry
A Complete Beginner's Guide to Live-Action Japanese Cinema
What's Up with Japan's Women-only Cars?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
3 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: June 21, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 3 hours ago - 09:42 | All, World, Japan The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan to provide defense equipment to Thailand, 7 other nations TOKYO - Japan plans to supply defense equipment to Thailand, Tonga and six other nations in the current fiscal year as security aid, a government source said Friday, in bid to ensure safe sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific region where China is evolving its military posture. The eight countries -- also including East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Sri Lanka -- are expected to be designated as the recipients of Japan's "official security assistance" framework, designed for like-minded partners, for fiscal 2025 from April, the source said. ---------- Chinese aircraft carrier moves from Pacific to East China Sea: Japan TOKYO - One of the two Chinese aircraft carriers operating in the Pacific moved to the East China Sea on Friday, the Japanese Defense Ministry said, after confirming their simultaneous operations in the ocean for the first time early this month. Together with five other ships including missile destroyers, the Liaoning sailed northward through waters between Okinawa's main island and Miyako Island, while the Shandong remains in the Pacific, according to the ministry. ---------- Tokio pop group member removed from TV show over past misconduct TOKYO - A member of Japanese all-male pop group Tokio has been removed from a popular TV program due to past conduct that breached compliance rules on multiple occasions, a TV network said Friday. Taichi Kokubun, 50, was removed from "The Tetsuwan Dash," a variety program aired by Nippon Television Network Corp. and fronted by the members of Tokio. Neither Kokubun, his company nor the TV network has elaborated on what the breaches entailed, but according to a source close to the matter, they involved behavior that could be considered sexual harassment. ---------- 87 Japanese nationals, family members evacuated from Iran, Israel TOKYO - A total of 87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated from Iran and Israel amid conflict in the Middle East, the Japanese government said Friday. The evacuees arrived in Azerbaijan's capital Baku and Jordan's capital Amman by bus as local airports remained closed and none of them had health issues, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said. ---------- U.S. reportedly asked Japan to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP WASGHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has asked Japan to raise its defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, a request that angered Tokyo and led it to put off a planned high-level meeting with Washington, the Financial Times reported Friday. The request was made recently by Elbridge Colby, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, the newspaper said, citing three people familiar with the matter, including two officials in Tokyo. ---------- Japan imperial couple visit Hiroshima A-bomb survivors nursing home HIROSHIMA - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Friday visited a nursing home in Hiroshima for atomic bomb survivors, wrapping up a two-day trip to the city ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. At Yano Orizuruen, they listened attentively to recollections of the bombing by 10 residents aged between 81 and 99, bending down to be at eye level with those seated in chairs or wheelchairs. ---------- Regular parliament session to end June 22 ahead of key national election TOKYO - This year's 150-day regular parliamentary session will end on Sunday, around a month ahead of a crucial national election for the ruling coalition, which lost its majority in the House of Representatives last October. On Friday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba came under renewed pressure as opposition parties united to push for a bill scrapping a controversial gasoline tax in the final phase of the Diet session. His minority government has described the proposal as "unrealistic." Video: Baseball legend Ichiro gives advice to students at Osaka Expo event
Asahi Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: It's never too late to learn as I'm happily finding out late in life
When I was in senior high school, there were two tricks I relied on to help myself get through boring classes. One was to look at an atlas and go on an imaginary trip, riding trains freely and travelling upriver. Another was to open my copy of 'Kokugo Binran' (Japanese literature handbook), a hefty reference book that contained facial photos of famous authors, a chronology of literary history, and so on. On a bald portrait of poet Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), I once used a pencil to give him long tresses. On another occasion, I kept gazing at a 'pike and shield' diagram of ancient China. Although I used the handbook only once or twice for schoolwork, I always kept it handy during Japanese class. 'Karaa-ban Shin Kokugo Binran' (Revised edition of Japanese literature handbook in color), published by Daiichi Gakushusha Corp., is registering unprecedented sales among adults. The book sold out after it went viral on social media in late March. When it was reprinted and sold by online lottery, the ratio of lottery winners against applicants exceeded 1 to 10. I was finally able to get a copy the other day. Jogging my memory and feeling nostalgic, I have been poring through it ever since. It has a relationship diagram of characters in 'Genji Monogatari' (The Tale of Genji), and a special feature on 'war and literature.' There is even a guide on how to make a presentation, which seems to be indicative of the present day. Re-reading the book for the first time in ages, I was surprised by the sheer richness of the information contained in just one volume. A spokesperson for the publisher noted, 'Because most purchasers were women at first, we presumed they were fans of games and manga featuring famous literary greats. More recently, however, the book seems to have caught the interest of more readers across generations.' My desire to learn again has been fired up, too. In the margin on one page of the book, I came across this gem that goes to the effect, 'Learn when young, and you will achieve great things in your prime. Learn in your prime, and your mind will not decline in old age.' There is no time like the present. When learning is involved, I am sure there is no such thing as 'too late.' --The Asahi Shimbun, June 21 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Kyodo News
4 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Regions cashing in on Japan's anime, manga soft power reach: study
KYODO NEWS - 18 minutes ago - 11:29 | Arts, All Visits by foreign tourists to locations related to manga and anime works in Japan have proven a boon to local economies, a research institute said, providing impetus for more areas to cash in on the nation's soft power reach. In 2024, around 3 million foreign tourists, or 8.1 percent of 36.87 million inbound visitors, likely visited places linked to movies or anime. That is up from 4.8 percent, or an estimated 1.15 million, of the 24.04 million who did so in 2016, the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute said based on a government survey. Purchases of anime and manga-related goods are estimated to have totaled 54.3 billion yen ($372 million) last year, up 53 percent from 2016, the report said. Japan's anime industry continues to expand, with more than 3 trillion yen spent by consumers globally in 2023, while animated films led domestic box office revenues in recent years. The phenomenon known as "seichi junrei," literally meaning "holy pilgrimage," has become a rite of passage for fans. They visit places that inspired or were the real-life settings for popular works. The trend became prominent after the success of 2016 Japanese anime film "your name." One popular destination among foreign fans is the Homangu Kamado Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture linked to the "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" anime and manga series. The southwestern prefecture ranked fifth in the nation in foreign tourist numbers, said Takafumi Fujita, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research. In addition to its positive impact on local economies, the growing popularity abroad of Japanese content, including games and movies, also has the potential to reduce the country's massive digital trade deficit. While Japan incurred a record 6.8 trillion yen digital trade deficit in 2024 due to domestic firms' heavy reliance on technologies provided by U.S. IT giants, exports of Japan's entertainment content, which stood at 4.7 trillion yen in 2022, could offset much of the deficit if the industry continues to grow, the report said. However, the benefits are tempered by some downsides. Fujita said local governments need to address overtourism issues affecting the lives of those who live near the popular locations. "To accommodate a large number of tourists, including those from abroad, local authorities need to develop systems to offer multilingual support and train local tourism volunteers," Fujita said. Related coverage: FEATURE: Anime "Slam Dunk," "Suzume" locations in Japan a magnet for tourists FEATURE: Tokyo spots bank on cherry blossom peak as foreign tourists return FEATURE:Korea boom in Japan sparked by drama 20 yrs ago kept going by young
