a tribute to
The Excitement of
the Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Girl
by Yoriko Douguchi English Fansite

video package Beta(left ) and VHS(right) 　 back cover of the video package It reads Bumpkin Soup, the orignal English title. 　 　 2 different kinds of VHS video package　 The right one was released later than 1992, when Yoriko Douguchi became more famous than her debut.   　 DVD package different kinds of chirashi flyer　 　 poster!

"Do-Re-Mi-Fa Musume no Chi wa Sawagu" (ドレミファ娘の血は騒ぐ The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl) is Yoriko Douguchi's first film. In 1984, when Douguchi was 19, her life came to its first turning point  when she was starred in a major role in  a "roman poruno " (romantic porn) film. "Roman poruno" is a brand of sex-oriented films by Nikkatsu, the oldest film production company in Japan. Most of them were low-budget films, featuring obscure young and interesting actresses, actors and filmmakers. Some of their works won acclaim for their quality in the 70s in particular. Douguchi's debut film was directed by a young and promising director named Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira Kurosawa). Its working title was "Joshidaisei Hazukashi Zeminaaru" (A coed taking a seminar on shyness). Although Douguchi still had some qualms about playing a major role  in a roman poruno film, she was also excited to work with young and relaxed people who were heavily influenced by Godard and Nouvelle Vague as well. Unfortunately, Nikkatsu, the film company, refused to release the film, due to its not being lascivious enough for a (softcore) porn film. Despite the efforts of Kurosawa and his supporters to purchase the film back from Nikkatsu,some sexual sequences had to be cut from the original version  to pass the censors as  a general (non-porn) movie. Moreover, to make up for the missing sequences, other new sequences needed to be filmed. In 1985, when Douguchi's debut film was eventually shown, it had been reborn as a completely new film,  "Doremifa Musume no Chi wa Sawagu"(The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl).  (excerpt from Yoriko Douguchi English Biography @ http://www.yorikofan.com/yorikopedia.html )

"I realized that Douguchi-san had already been an actress  before the shooting for DO-RE-MI-FA started.         She was just not aware of it, but she was already an actress."  (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)  On November 14, 2009, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the director of Yoriko's masterpieces such as THE EXCITEMENT OF THE DO-RE-MI-FA GIRL, DANGEROUS STORIES (2ND EPISODE: THEY ARE COMING TO GET YOU TONIGHT), THE GUARD FROM THE UNDERGROUND (Jigoku no Keibiin), six episodes of SHOOT YOURSELF OR SUIT YOURSELF, CURE, LICENSE TO LIVE and CHARISMA,　 was invited to be present at Cinemavera Shibuya for Yoriko Doguchi Film Festival, as a special (talk show) guest.  He had a congenial chat with Yoriko about some episodes from the backstage of DO-RE-MI-FA, and on stage was also Souzou Teruoka, who is a film critic now and appeared as Teruoka-kun, a student with Brahms record in that movie.  It was a pleasant evening for us to spend.  Many of us Yoriko's fans do love Kurosawa's films and really wished them to be in one frame of time.  A fan of the both later told me, "I was almost crying !!!", and I really understood what he meant.  Here is my report on this special event, extracting several interesting topics from the evening. 　Kiyoshi Kurosawa reminisced that his first impression of Yoriko was unlike other candidates. "She obviously looked reluctant at the audition", he looked back with a smile. (Hearing this remark of Kurosawa, Yoriko and the audience burst into laugher.) She didn't put on a forced smile toward the audition judges including Kurosawa, and it made a rather strong impression on him. It was a venture for a young director like Kurosawa to choose a non-actress like Yoriko, but he made a bet on her. 　Souzou Teruoka remembered that Yoriko had already had such a star aura that could make her look a little aloof . He also said in jest, "I was afraid that I might be making her angry someday and she'd give me a slap on the cheek! "    Kiyoshi Kurosawa talked about the first of the whole shootings for DO-RE-MI-FA. It was a scene that Yoriko walks across the campus. At first, for fear of Yoriko's lack of experience as an actress, Kurosawa gave her a direction in detail, movement by movement. It turned out disappointing.   She obvisouly seemed to be moving along a director's guide, and ultimately looked awkward.  To Kurosawa, the very first moment of Yoriko's acting was not satisfactory at all. He decided to change a method of mise-en-scène from the first idea to a more sponteneous way of letting her move as she wanted. Suddenly, everything turned out right. It was the birth of Yoriko Douguchi as an actress.  In an interview footage of Tomo-o Haraguchi's latest movie UKULELE, PAITITI THE MOVIE, a documentary of Douguchi's ukulele band Paititi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa mentioned, "Then I realized that Douguchi-san had already been an actress before the shooting for DO-RE-MI-FA started.  She was just not aware of it, but she was already an actress."   Yoriko Douguchi reminisced about when she sang Brahm's lullaby at the ending of DO-RE-MI-FA. "I am not good at singing. I can't sing on key. When I was hesitating to sing, Kurosawa-san came and told me, 'You don't need to sing with a skill, but please sing with confidence', and I did it."

☆  Jerry White talks about Do-Re-Mi-Fa and Yoriko Douguchi. I had a chance to have some "E-mail interview sessions" with Mr. Jerry White, the author of THE FILMS OF KIYOSHI KUROSAWA (Stone Bridge Press). THE FILMS OF KIYOSHI KUROSAWA ( by Jerry White, Stone Bridge Press, 2007) I've always been curious how Yoriko Douguchi is recognized outside Japan, and it's a reason I started this English fansite and  web-survey page. Mr. White's remarks answer my long-time questions, and I'm very thankful to him for his kindness and friendliness.   The intervew is here!

☆ DO-RE-MI-FA GIRL footages @ YouTube A couple of footages from The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa- Girl can be found @ YouTube, though they don't have subtitles. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQDNL-LYzlA　(the last sequence) & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1QZ1eqVQo8 (an operetta sequence)

Yoriko Douguchi (English) filmography

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