Aiko is 35 years old, mute and works in a bowling alley. On her way from work she accidentally knocks the postal worker Yoshio from his bicycle. Soon after this initial encounter they also have a sexual encounter, and Aiko falls in love with the younger man. Unable to express herself verbally, she tried to show her affection by preparing exquisite lunchboxes for Yoshio, which she delivers to his workplace.
The relationship works for a while, but very soon Yoshio gets tired of Aiko and leaves her. Aiko, however, finds it difficult to let go. She waits for Yoshio to return, and when he finally shows up again the encounter ends in tragedy.
Since his debut in 1995 Imaoka Shiji has directed in addition to more than a dozen V-cinema films 14 pink films, all except one produced by Kokuei. His eighth pink film Lunch Box earned him wide recognition also outside of the pink film world. The film made it into the Top 10 of the film magazine Eiga Geijutsu’s critic’s voting and won the PG Pink Film Award.
In addition Imaoka was awarded Best Director, Hayashi Yumika as Best Actress and Hanazawa Lemon as Best New Actress. When the film opened at the Eurospace cinema in Tokyo eight months after its release on the pink film circuit it drew a huge crowd of young women and consolidated Imaoka’s popularity with a female audience.
Lunch Box is atypical for a pink film in two respects: for one thing the sex scenes are not simulated, but real, and for another thing the sound is recorded live and not post-synch as is common with pink films.
The career of actress Hayashi Yumika, who gained critical acclaim for her intensive performance of the mute protagonist, was cut short in 2005 when she died accidentally on the day after her 35th birthday. In September 2011 a new documentary on Hayashi Yumika by her former real life lover and AV director Hirano Katsuyuki will be released in Japan.