Yumiko Nogawa

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Grandfather Fuyukichi Takano, a former university professor, gets fired from his museum job when he is affected by Alzheimer's disease, but his affliction serves to deepen family ties. Japan's submission to the 58th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

O-Shin is a young brothel worker who, one night, helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the warnings of her fellow workers, particularly Kikuno and the brothel's owner, O-Shin falls in love with the samurai.

After committing murder, businessman Atsushi is blackmailed into keeping a suitcase of embezzled money. What follows is a descent into lustful, reckless actions and regret.

A Yakuza group from Osaka with dreams of national dominance moves into the snowy Hokuriku region, sparking a bloody turf war with local gangs.

While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.

In Osaka during the Edo period, ruler Sanada Yukimura was in losing position, fearing Toyotomi's blood descendents would end, he impregnates one of five Shinano female ninja with the seed of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in hopes of continuing the bloodline. Princess Sen and the five female ninja escape from Osaka castle by blending in with the handmaidens. Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu who was supposed to rule all under the heavens was informed of this secret. So Ieyasu orders five samurai of the Iga Ninja clan (brought by Hattori Hanzo) to stop the Toyotomi bloodline by killing the Kunoichi ninja. An attack of ninja magic arts unfolds in a battle of the sexes.

Set in a Kyoto geisha house during the post-WWII era, the young Omocha begins her rigorous apprenticeship within the traditional community of geiko and maiko. She must navigate complex internal rivalries and a strict social hierarchy while the house struggles to maintain its customs. As modern society shifts around them, the residents face the increasing pressure of Japan's changing cultural identity.

The 22nd film in the Ekimae series about shop-owners living near Akabane Station, Tokyo.

Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.

Ichibei is assigned by Shogun Tokugawa to prevent the sale of a Dutch ships-load of rifles to the hostile Shogun Satsuma. On his mission he meets a cowardly Ronin who becomes his assistant, as well as a female spy and a female warrior...

The 17th "Ekimae" feature.

The film depicts the resilient life of the daughter of a Kyushu boss who becomes a Ginza hostess with Shinichi Mori singing in the background.

The desires and pretensions of woman of the Ginza are depicted.

After World War II, when Okinawa was under control of the United States, the local yakuza prospered. But when Okinawa is returned to Japan, the mainland yakuza tries to take over; the local yakuza tries to compete. Now sides are drawn among the local yakuza guys who used to be best friends since their childhood, and brother fights brother. It results in the biggest yakuza war in Okinawa.

A tragic love story about the heiress of the Kitakyushu Tagawa family who becomes a hostess in Osaka.

A mysterious thief called "Yami no Kiba" (Fang of Darkness), who sneaks into the residences of the shogunate one after another and steals the shogun's treasures, has been shaking the public authorities. The identity of the thief is Ichibei, a medicine seller whose father was once killed by the shogunate, and his daughter Oasa. Ichibei had been seeking revenge against the official to avenge the death of his father, Sasajima Hyobu, who was a member of the Kurokuchi clan, the official ninja. He was also plotting to seize the gold orca of the Nagoya Castle keep, aiming at the Owari clan that had slain his father. ......

Near the end of the nineteenth century, as the balance of power shifts from Shogunate towards the Emperor, Japan restlessly awaits the dawning of a new age. But not all are content...The Shinsengumi, a small army of samurai, farmers and peasants, band together to do battle against the tide of history. Their leader, Isami Kondo is a man who rises from farmer to fighter to head the fierce Shinsengumi brigade. Using a stern hand and a heart of gold, he rallies his men in defense of the tottering Shogunate. But bloodshed and treachery lurk around every corner.

Like a girl runaway, Tsuyu moves to Osaka to work as a bar hostess. She meets the owner of a model school, Yoko, and seriously thinks about becoming a fashion model. Yoko tells her that she can move in to Yoko’s house to take lessons, while making a living at the same time.

A young intellectual conscientious objector is forced to serve with the Japanese army in Manchuria. He joins with a dim-witted former gangster in an effort to desert by stealing a train.

Rumors are circulating that the shogunate is losing control of some feudal domains. Lord Yagyu Munefuyu is assigned to deal with the problem and the rebellious clans will be crushed! Meanwhile, a former vassal of the Kazama clan is shot and killed. Moments later a second man is killed by a mysterious master swordsman. Matsudaira Choshichiro and his companions arrive at the crime scene and find a new type of repeating gun. The carved seal on the gun stock belong to the Saiga; a ninja clan abolished by the shogunate many years ago. The blame for the murders is placed on the Kazama clan. Are they guilty or is this a wise cunning plan by Lord Yagyu to be able to destroy the Kazama clan? Choshichiro sets out to reveal the truth and try to save the doomed Kazama clan! In his way are the Owari, Lord Yagyu and his ninja assassins, and the mysterious master swordsman! Will Choshichiro prevail against impossible odds...?

Movie adaptation of the TV series.

A film commemorating the 25th anniversary of Hibari Misora's performing career. Written by Matsutaro Kawaguchi for Hibari Misora to celebrate her 25th anniversary. The film tells the story of a fisherman's daughter from Izumo who rises from poverty to Kyoto, throws herself into the harsh world of dance, abandons her promised future and love, and finds the path to womanhood by living a life devoted to her art, which is rooted in the masses. Hibari Misora plays the role of a 16-year-old girl to a mature 26-year-old woman in this film, which also contains many autobiographical elements of the singer, who made her debut at the age of 8 and has continued to sing about the joys and sorrows of the common people, thereby touching the hearts of the Japanese people.

A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.

Story of love, jealousy and hatred among waitresses of a deluxe bar.

Mourning the death of her boyfriend, Yukiko wanders aimlessly from one city to another. During her mourning, she becomes addicted to gambling. One day, a man that resembles her deceased lover asks for help. He's being pursued by a dangerous gang of yakuza.

11th installment of the 16-film franchise.

Yukiko is on her way to meet Boss Gunji. Judging by her appearance, no one would suspect that this beautiful young woman, sitting quietly in a suburban train, is the only woman able to beat the best professional players in Japan; or that she is wearing the tattoo of the man that loved her and died for her...

Jiro, a smooth-talking, womanizing bartender, flees from a Yakuza boss to Yanagase.

The fourth film in the Kanto Street Peddlers series. The protagonist, played by Bunta Sugawara sides with female boss Yumiko Nogawa to fight evil Hiroshi Nawa, who at one point employs rebellious young hood Tsunehiko Watase and Kagawa. Tatsuo Umemiya also shows up as a cool, leather jacket gunman who gains Sugawara’s respect despite playing for the opposing team. What eventually keeps this film from being as good as the first is the loose script that doesn’t really tie all the fun stuff into a coherent package. Much is forgiven however when the last 20 minutes arrives with several visually striking set pieces (including one death scene stylized to the point of ridiculousness) and a terrific final massacre. This was Suzuki’s last contribution to the series; the fifth and final picture would be helmed by Takashi Harada.

No description available.

The 18th "Ekimae" feature.

The Crazy Cats try to steal 1,000,000,000 yen in laundered Yakuza money.

Suzume Akamatsu works at a library in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture. She delivers books by riding a bicycle. Through her work, Suzume grows as a person.

Late entry "Ekimae" feature, about the hunt for lost treasure.

A young girl in an industrial town is saving her money to enter college. But her drunken father loses his job, her mother cannot make ends meet, and then the boy she likes loses everything when his factory fails. She takes all her savings out of the bank and offers them to him to make a new start. He refuses at first but eventually agrees and so she goes back to school to tell her teacher that she has decided not to continue college, that she is young and strong, and can make her own way in life.

When the aging leader of the yakuza gang Maeda-gumi decides to retire, many of the gang members have no confidence in the young man he has chosen to replace him. A fight for the succession begins.

Based on the comic written by Masao Yajima and illustrated by Kenshi Hirokane.

Three women, deceived by a man, make full use of their feminine weapons, replete with daring and unbridled seduction strategies.

An action-comedy about three men who try to bilk money out of gambling dens.

Nonaka Tetsugoro, a substitute for the Aoi group, held a flower party to celebrate the complete recovery of his boss. However, three rival bosses, trying to steal the Aoi's territory, made take-over plans in the shadows. The second in the two part Daimon series movies.

This is a magnificent drama about love and chivalry, telling about the stormy fate of Seiji, nicknamed "The Rising Dragon", who swore never to take up a sword again because of the emptiness of the Yakuza's life, and the passionate fate of his named sister Maki, nicknamed "The Scarlet Cherry Blossom", who falls in love with him without suspecting that he was the one who was responsible for her father's death and to whom she should take revenge.

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The fourth "Tenamonya" feature. Adapted from the popular television comedy, Fujita stars in this film based on historical events.

A film produced by Toho and Watanabe Productions as part of the Crazy Movie project featuring The Crazy Cats comedy group and jazz band members. It is the sixth film in the Crazy Operation series where the lead role was handed over from Eikichi Ueki to Kei Tani. According to the plot, Planet Alpha Secretary severely worried by the effects of the Earth's atomic bomb experiment and sent Mistake 7 and Zero 8, as a watchers to Earth for a nuclear disarmament.

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A young man with a strong sense of justice is torn between two girls: the flighty Taneko and the serious Suzuko. With wisdom, courage and honor in a Japanese spirit of manliness he wins the day.

It is the Taisho era in Japan. A man has quit the Yakuza after five years and returned to Shikoku in order to begin his life anew as a ferryman. His boss, however, became ill and the boat is taken due to unpaid debts to the local thugs. His new life has not begun well and he is determined to rebuild the shattered business. The Yakuza, however, have added the ferry business to the rest of their portfolio of local concerns.

A con man defrauds a small rural town, sparking an international manhunt.

Based on the comic by Mako Takami.

No description available.

No description available.

The 10th film in the travel series. The original work and screenplay is by Kazuo Funahashi, the director is Shoji Segawa, and the cinematography is by Keiji Maruyama.

A teacher coaches a troubled youth who learns about life through the game of soccer.

The night in Ginza was shimmering with neon lights. A grand celebration was being held for the seventh anniversary of the club "Ayako." Among the celebrities gathered for the beautiful Madame Ayako were Ayako's patron, businessman Hisamatsu Kozo; Madame Kahoru of "Black Pearl"; Madame Reiko of "La Bonne"; and the drunken, disheveled Fukiko, the owner of "Pahiyon," who relentlessly insulted Ayako. The next day, Fukiko jumped from the roof of a building. Her suicide, the result of her failure to attract customers, seemed to symbolize the harshness of Ginza beneath its glamor.

This is the story of the 47 ronin of the Ako clan who rose up to avenge the brutal death of their beloved master Asano Takumi-no-kami after his failed attack on the vile Lord Kira led to his being ordered to commit ritual suicide in a garden on the grounds of the shogun's palace.

A flower is a woman or a man is a butterfly... Love and melancholy bloom wildly in the nighttime garden! This is a moody entertainment work depicting the love, laughter, melancholy, and human drama of an iron-fisted daughter of a family of expositors who, after her father's death, disbanded her gang and moved to Tokyo by herself, where she becomes a hostess and demonstrates her natural chivalrous temperament, risking her life in the neon-lit Ginza district.

A young yakuza soldier is torn between staying in his current life or leaving his family when his boss refuses to follow their ancient code of ethics.

The eighth installment of ten in Nippon Ichi film series.

Saburo Sarutobi, a former member of the Zengakuren, and Maruo Inumaruo, a former member of the police force, have joined two rival companies, Toyotomi Denki and Tokugawa Musen, respectively, and have been at each other's throats at every turn. They are engaged in a nightly industrial espionage war in an attempt to somehow get under each other's noses, but eventually they both find themselves targeted by an international industrial espionage ring...

Just after the Battle of Sekigahara, a pair of children Denji and Kichizo witnessed a team of the defeated forces hide the Toyotomi treasure. When the leader cuts down the rest of the team, a bloodstained footman seems to be the only survivor, and his image haunts the pair for the next twenty years. As they are serving a prison sentence a plan is hatched to get them released so they can lead their captors to the hidden gold on Hikone Beach. Danger and excitement await the two as they run into unexpected and dangerous obstacles!

Set in Osaka just after the end of the war, the story depicts an unconventional merchant who returns from evacuation. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Teru Miyamoto, and the screenplay was written by Eizo Sugawa, who also wrote "Horagawa". The director is Takeichi Saito, who also directed "Kawachi no Osan no Uta: Yokita no Ware". Kozo Okazaki, who worked on "I am a Cat," is in charge of the cinematography.

Teppei Omori is a man of extraordinary virility, with 21 mistresses, over 30 children, and more than 1,100 women he has had relations with. Teppei's daily routine involves visiting each of the beef hot pot restaurants, "Akasatana," run by his mistresses, to collect the sales and keep an eye on the women. One day, Noe, one of his mistresses at the first branch, announces that she wants to marry Urakawa, the chef. The other mistresses, in the prime of their lives, can no longer be content with working for him only once a month, and they compete for Teppei's attention, cheating on him behind his back.

The story of three brothers who, after loosing their parents in the Great Kanto Earthquake, continued their respective yakuza family business and the revenge of the youngest one when his siblings were killed by a rival vicious yakuza boss. The first in the two part Daimon series.

Two travelers (Makoto Fujita and Minoru Shiraki) have adventures along the road including strange supernatural happenings, ghosts, and monsters.

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Shino, a resilient young woman sold into prostitution must navigate the gritty realities of the red-light district to survive. Within the confines of her small 4½-mat room, she encounters a variety of men, using her wit and body to endure a system designed to exploit her.

An exciting and fast-paced entertaining action in which G-Man Joe of Aces (Japanese version 007) challenges a terrible international mafia organization based in Japan. To defeat the villains, Joe uses his unprecedented skills of fast shooting and karate secrets!

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Framed by his enemies, Manbe finds himself imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. His only hope lies with his daughter Yuki who takes it upon herself to clear his name.

Two pharmaceutical companies in Tokyo and Osaka engage in a fierce battle of wits over the sale of aphrodisiacs. Shigeru Amachi and Yumiko Nogawa, special sales agents known as "propers," operate in the shadows.

An industrial espionage film.

1968 film

In this entertaining period drama, Kanemon appears at a post town in Katsuyama where a group of seven homeless ronin make a living by raiding dojos. When he visits the dojo where his cousin serves as assistant instructor, his connection to the group is revealed, and he gets drawn into a showdown.

Arikawa runs a transport company. But this is only a front for his gambling house. Yuriko is a regular on the scene, and she is fascinated by the dice and the one who throws them. A year before, Yuriko's father died in mysterious circumstances; she decides to go in search of the truth.

No description available.

No description available.

A luxury European tour turns deadly when two wealthy participants die under mysterious circumstances. With the celebrity guide absent, her assistant Etsuko steps in and, along with tour conductor Ryohei, must manage the difficult group while unraveling the truth behind the murders as secrets among the travelers come to light.