We got word last night the cult-followd Japanese film director, Eiichi Yamamoto, has passed away on September 7, 2021 at the age of 80. He is probably most remembered for his classic film, Belladonna of Sadness from 1973, one of the iconic films of Japanese erotica and precursor to many more salacious anime works in the decades to come. We wrote about the film in the past on Juxtapoz.com.

As Wikipedia notes, "was a Japanese film director and screenwriter of anime. He is known for directing the Animerama film series conceived by Osamu Tezuka. Yamamoto directed ten films between 1962 and 1986. His 1973 film Kanashimi no Belladonna was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. Besides film work, Yamamoto also served as screenwriter on the anime television series Space Battleship Yamato and wrote the screenplay for its 1977 film adaptation."