This is an obscure question, but maybe people will see it if they look on this person's page.

Why does the film critic Jasper Sharp (which is where I think this information originated from, in his book Behind the Pink Curtain) say Yamatoya's pen name "日野洸" that he used on some films is romanized as Wataru Hino?

In the film Branded to Kill that Yamatoya co-wrote, he plays a character named Kō. In his film Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands one of the characters has that name too.

With that in mind, is "日野洸" meant to be read "Kō Hino"? It could also be Akira Hino, etc.

I never understood why Sharp thinks the name would be read that way. And I can't find that reading in any Japanese sources.