Acting
No biography available.
106 movies sorted by popularity
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.
Brain is the world's greatest computer, and also the most intelligent being on planet Earth. One day, Brain decides to abandon its terrestrial moorings, and it's up to The Defenders to track it down. Unfortunately, Brain has developed an amazing army of deadly giant robots, including one with a huge "17" emblazoned on its chest-plate, with which it plans to subjugate its creators. A young boy whose family was killed by Brain's followers manages to activate Daitetsujin 17, which thereafter comes to his rescue whenever he is in danger from Brain's minions.
A submarine expedition to salvage the remains of Mechagodzilla is thwarted by a massive dinosaur named Titanosaurus. An Interpol investigation leads biologist Ichinose to uncover the work of Dr. Mafune and his mysterious daughter Katsura. Aligned with the Black Hole Aliens, Katsura's life becomes entwined with the resurrected machine.
Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.
After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.
In Japan, scientifically advanced invaders from the war-destroyed planet Mysteroid cause an entire village to vanish, then send a giant robot out to storm the city by night, after which they request a small patch of land on Earth and the right to marry earthling women, claiming to be pacifists. Mankind must decide whether to capitulate or to resist.
When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works.
Tadateru Matsudaira, the sixth son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, was exiled for not taking part in the attack on Osaka Castle. 10 years before his exile expired, he was attacked in a clandestine Yagyu operation believed to have been ordered by his older brother Hidetada. In order to correct his brother's true intentions, Tadateru broke the law and went all the way from Hida Province, where he was exiled, to Edo Castle. However, the Yagyu do not stop trying to kill Tadateru...
In 1945, after the horrific fire-bombings of the Pacific War levels Japan to the ground, the government consults spiritual psychics to aid them in winning the war. Unfortunately, the souls' resentment and agony of the victims culminate together to revive the evil Onmyoji, Yasunori Kato. Only a young, psychically imbued priests' apprentice will dare fight the evil magician.
A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.
A dramatisation of the 24-hour period in which the Japanese government was deadlocked over the decision to accept or reject the Allies' demand for an unconditional surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.
Lt. Col. Senda resists the idea of sending Japanese fighter pilots on suicide missions. He believes that what is really necessary for Japan to regain momentum in the war is for the air force to gather its most brilliant pilots into an elite squadron and use the unit to pinpoint attacks on the Americans. Disrespected by the kamikaze pilots who think the "non-suicidal" pilots are afraid, the unit redeems itself by stunning victories. But success leads the military leaders to expect too much of the unit, and new orders portend disaster.
A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away.
A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Three apparently unrelated suicides occur on the same day in Tokyo. One involves a young athlete, one a groom at his wedding reception, and the third an elderly man celebrating his wife's birthday. A middle aged detective investigating one of the cases begins to suspect a connection between the three when he discovers that each person mentioned a "green monkey" before they died. With the help of a young psychiatrist he formulates the theory that hypnosis is somehow involved. In the mean time other bizarre "suicides" are reported and the mystery intensifies. Who will be next? What is the truth? Can more deaths be prevented?
A man is involved in a fatal car accident, and though he is blameless, his company transfers him to a remote branch in a small town. Before he leaves, he gives the man's widow a large sum of money that she uses to move back to her hometown.
Japanese police detective Saburo Fujioka is suspected of corruption, demoted, and sent to the city of Kojin. Kojin is the scene of fierce fighting between rival gangs. Fujioka is assigned to investigate the death of the wife of gangster Tetsuo Maruyama of the Kozuka gang, probably at the hands of one of the Oka gang. During a gang gunfight, Maruyama is rescued by Detective Fujioka and the two become friends. But Maruyama insists on avenging his wife's murder, even if it means conflict with his new friend.
Men are being murdered by a killer who uses a matter-transmitting device to locate his victims.
Desperate to escape her grueling life caring for her paralyzed husband, Tamiko murders him and burns down their home to start anew. She is soon entangled in the dark web of an influential, elderly power broker, becoming his mistress and a pawn in his political schemes. As she descends further into a downward spiral of moral decay, Tamiko realizes that the freedom she sought is merely a new form of entrapment.
Yuzo Kayama plays the protagonist, a whale-hunting cannon manufactuing supervisor, whose brother is an automobile tester for Komatsu Motors which has a fatal accident. As his brother investigates the "Accident" with his old college friend (makoto Sato), now a reporter... They stumble across murder, espionage and cover-ups. High-class night club, femme fatale, and a "Blueprint of Murder" all adds up to a bigger plot then first expected.
In 1943, the Aleutian island of Kiska was fortified by a small contingent of Japanese soldiers. When word arrived of an impending attack by an overwhelming force of Americans, the Japanese Navy attempted one of the most daring and unlikely evacuations in military history. This is that story.
Back after four years, Goro learns his younger brother's been thrown out of the gang and his girlfriend's married another man. It's payback time.
No description available.
A woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in his years in Siberian labor camps and considers himself 'already dead'.
When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother's killer.
A brave, highly principled warrior resigns his post as a bodyguard to the head of a powerful clan after he learns that his employers have been smuggling arms to the enemy. The remaining samurai try in vain to coerce him back, but their efforts are thwarted by crooked warriors who launch an attack.
Osami, a soldier-of-fortune from Japan, joins with priest Ensai in a quest for the ashes of the great Buddha. Their journey takes them to a kingdom in the Middle East, where they find intrigue and romance in the court of an evil king.
Kikumori runs a cabaret on the docks, while his friend Kaji operates transport boats. When a gang of drug dealers tries to force the pair to cooperate in a smuggling scheme, conflict arises between the two friends. Falsely blamed for murder, Kikumori is blackmailed into an attempt to sabotage Kaji's boats and kill him. But the friendship between the two men proves an obstacle to the gangleader's plans.
Story of an ex-sailor, caught up in a murder mystery involving gold dust buried in Manchuria, while romancing a woman whose father may be the center of the intrigue.
Oichi may have met her match as she vies against the evil beauty that has set her sights on destroying her. She must face numerous other challenges before confronting her greatest rival. While longing to live and love like other women, she realizes that she can never have a normal life, her sword which she holds on to like a security blanket will always come between her and such a life...
An adventurous and daring sailor sets sail to the castle of an ailing king to stop an evil premier, hungry for power and wealth, from succeeding the throne and marrying the king's beautiful daughter. Along the way, with the help of some courageous rebels and a lustful wizard, he must overcome the powers of a bewitching witch, a band of ruthless pirates, and the castle's Imperial guards. He must also free those kidnapped into slavery and restore the king's reputation.
This biopic of notorious yakuza-turned-actor Noboru Ando focuses on the days leading to his arrest after the shooting of businessman Hideki Yokoi.
Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokuro, steals the money from Jibu, but after meeting and befriending Taro, Rokuro decides to return the money to Taro. But Taro's unscrupulous brother Jiro falsely accuse Taro of the theft, and Taro reactively joins the outlaw band and encourages them to steal from the nobles and give to the poor.
Towards the end of World War II, five men are tasked with freeing the son of a general from Chinese captivity.
Utamaro was an artist who lived in Edo (which was later to become modern-day Tokyo) in the late 18th century. This film, which has a complex and wide-ranging storyline, recreates the world of that time, as it appeared in Utamaro's paintings.
A lone-wolf detective known as "The Shark" must navigate hostile territory within both the criminal underworld and his own corrupt department to hunt down a ruthless serial cop-killer in the streets of Shinjuku. Adaptation of the Arimasa Ohsawa novel Shinjuku Shark.
Ryusuke and Joe Oki escape from prison. Ryusuke was incarcerated for killing his younger brother Yasuhiko, who was a bouncer at the cabaret "Three Cats" and Junko's lover who worked at the same restaurant. Of course, Ryusuke did not commit this crime...
A 19-year-old newspaper delivery boy begins collecting information on the households in his neighborhood and keeping a journal of why he doesn't like them. Declaring himself a 'right-winger' and calling in bomb threats against the neighbors he doesn't like, the 19-year-old begins a war of psychological terror against the families in his neighborhood.
During the raging war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, the swordsman Mohei (whose family has been completely decimated) is recruited by Toyotomi to overcome the seat of power, Osaka Castle. Mohei's daredevil skills will be put to severe tests.
The life story of Japan’s greatest leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose shogunate ruled the nation for almost 300 years has never been told like this before. From the early days as a supporter of Imagawa Yoshimoto, then on to his days with Oda Nobunaga, leading to his wars against and ultimate victory over the Toyotomi to become shogun is a fascinating tale of his military genius coupled with a native intelligence that allowed him to become the last of the great warlords and ultimately the leader of the nation. With great performances from an all-star cast featuring names like Kitaoji Kinya and Takahashi Hideki this is history come to life on the screen.
Ultra-perky model likes single freedom but feels ryosai kenbo ("good wife, wise mother") pressure, exemplified by her bored-to-tears sister.
Grown up son arrives home to learn his father, the newly elected mayor, has been assassinated. So he journeys down a path to find the assassin and gets involved with two opposing yakuza gangs.
Three men, all named Masa, join forces to capitalize on each of their unique yet questionable talents against a hyper-competitive Tokyo underworld.
On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder.
Toho-produced crime drama involving the drug trade.
A wandering tough biker girl aids a female delinquent gang in their battles against an all-male Seiyu group over a fixed boxing match.
Intelligence director Suritai asks agent Kitami to steal money from anti-government guerrillas.
An intoxicated man promises two magazine editors that he will write a masterpiece. Once he sobers up, he commits to his promise and writes a story based on his life.
Four fishermen friends are caught up in a piracy plot.
Fourth entry in Toho's Wakadaishō series directed by Jun Fukuda and released on a simultaneous screening with Matango. Filmed on location in Hawaii.
A star tennis player takes revenge on the blackmailers out to ruin his athletic career.
In this patriotic WW II drama, the Japanese army demonstrates its courage and willingness to do anything to win as they endeavor to sneak into Communist China to bring back the flag of a defeated enemy regiment.
Suspense drama about a married salaryman whose affair with one of his co-workers is compromised when, returning from a clandestine meeting with his lover, he runs into a neighbor who is later accused of murder. Questioned by police about the neighbor, and blackmailed by his lover's neighbor, the salaryman's lies lead him on a path to destruction.
A once-powerful yakuza clan disbands as a result of a police crackdown, but one small group refuses to bow to police pressure, and launches a campaign to take over Tokyo's drug, prostitution, and gambling rackets. Someone wants to stop them. Is it the police? Rival gang members? Or is it an entirely new group of hired killers who will stop at nothing to gain complete control of Tokyo's "bloody territories"?
When his pistol is stolen, police detective Murakami is humiliated, especially when the gun is later implicated in a crime. Working with his superior, Chief Detective Sato, Murakami works feverishly to trace the location of his pistol, ultimately clashing with a gang of youthful Okinawans.
The fifth film in the Toho Diamond series, following "The Hateful Thing." Based on the true story of "Zoo Story" by author Fukuda Saburo. During the Tokyo air raids of World War II, Zen-san, an elephant keeper at Ueno Zoo, is faced with the heartbreaking task of euthanizing Tonki, a beloved elephant, due to food shortages and wartime pressures. Unable to carry out the order, Zen-san secretly feeds Tonki, but the elephant is ultimately shot by the military police. The film poignantly captures Zen-san’s despair and the devastation of war, as he reflects on his powerlessness amid the chaos.
Captain Murakami takes over as skipper of the Azuma Maru, replacing the well-liked former captain. Murakami forces the crew to work harder than they ever have, creating enmity and exhaustion. Just when the ship has taken a huge catch of tuna in its nets, Murakami learns that his ship is the only one in position to rescue the crew of another ship, sinking in a storm. He must choose between saving the catch or saving lives. Either choice may mean his ruin.
The sixth film of the desperado outpost series directed by Takashi Tsuboshima
Soldiers on the front lines in China during World War II are besieged by guerrilla attacks and attempt to destroy an enemy fort.
Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must kill his brother if he wants to survive.
A youth drama set in the Japanese alps. Two robbers, chased by the police, escape from the youths of a university mountain club who are trapped in a lodge during a blizzard. This ski action romp has the tempo of a musical, and Okamoto Kihachi's style is on full display. Tsuruta Koji makes a special appearance as a senior member of the mountain club.
Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the genius who staked his love, glory, and life on a duel with the supreme master of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi (Tatsuya Nakadai). Oscar winning Hiroshi Inagaki directs this epic motion picture based on Genzo Murakami’s fascinating story. Despite his humble birth, the orphan Sasaki Kojiro (Onoe Kikunosuke) is determined to become the foremost swordsman in all Japan, a title that traditionally belongs to a nobleman. At fencing school, young Kojiro receives the contempt of his classmates because of his superior swordsmanship. When rumors of the upcoming civil war between Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans spread, Kojiro leaves the school and sets out, seizing every opportunity to realize his dream.
The eleventh film in the comedy series starring Japan's leading comedy group, the Crazy Cats. Susumu Sakamori and his friends travel to Mexico to find a stone statue that contains the location of the secret treasure "Olmeca".
In 1999, the human race had reached the time of the end. Military balance is lost in the wake of the nuclear test of a certain country, the threat of nuclear war had been swept.
After Tokyo police officer Yokoda is killed in the line of duty, his chief decides give Yokoda's body to Dr. Tani for use in a secret scientific experiment: Yokoda's brain will be transplanted into a super-powered robot body, making him into an unstoppable policeman of the future. The supercop develops problems, however, when he begins to remember his human past. Then there is the matter of Dr. Tani's other cyborg, who has become a super-powered homicidal maniac.
Japanese crime film.
Two young women start their first jobs at a construction firm.
Japanese neo-noir crime drama movie directed by Jun Fukuda
A young man from a family photo studio becomes a newspaper photojournalist, learning the risks and demands of the job through repeated setbacks. His growing dedication strains his relationship with Keiko, and on the eve of their wedding he puts everything on the line to cover a devastating typhoon.
Young orphan Saburo uses a special helmet to command the Iron Robot 17 against the forces of the renegade computer Brain. Theatrical release re-edited from the first two episodes of the TV series, which actually preceded the original broadcast of the second episode.
Taut thriller about a too-perfect criminal case against an ex-convict that makes a nosy detective suspicious.
Thriller about a narcotics investigator uncovering a dope ring.
End of the Taisho period. In the city of Kiryu, where the wind is constantly blowing, the heads of the yakuza families of Kanhasshu (eight Kanto provinces) were to raise funds for the construction of the Chuji Kunisada monument. Responsible for the fundraiser was Jokichi from the Asami family, but Matsugoro from the Kuromatsu family, who wanted to become the greatest boss of the Kanhasshu yakuza, is trying to take over the textile market that Jokichi controls and intercept the fundraiser.
An honorable yakuza syndicate deeply rooted in Kyoto fights for survival when a new breed of gangsters threaten their very existence.
1962 Japanese movie
A "hustler's hustler" (Takarada), works his way up the corporate ladder at a camera company. His biggest scheme involves winning the business of a foreign visitor by setting him up with a beautiful "model" (Tsukasa), actually a bar hostess, but the plan backfires when the would-be executive falls for the woman himself.
In the third installment in the "Kokusai himitsu keisatsu" series, agent Jiro Kitami investigates the mysterious disappearance of a prominent scientist. Edited into Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" along with the 4th film in the series, "Key of Keys".
A Datsun driving, face-punching moody super-cop Cobra Cumera battles homicidal mobsters intent on causing mayhem and trouble in beautifully shot Tokyo. Complete with strippers, muggins, drugs, car chases, bouncy pop tunes, freak-outs, and a saucy lady assassin.
1961 Japanese movie
Modern comedy social drama about a reporter (Mihashi) for the Toto Shimpo determined to scoop his rivals during the murder investigation of the president of a machinery company. A highly critical drama about the lack of ethics by both reporters and the newspapers they work for.
Captain Gomes uses a flying battleship to battle the giant robot Daitetsujin 17. Theatrically-released abridgement of Episode 15 of the TV series.
Modern love story.
Set in a juvenile detention center and depicted with a documentary touch.
1964 Japanese movie
Klima, Deputy Minister of Industry of the Republic of Alabanda, has come to Japan to purchase materials for the water dam construction. Kitami, who called himself a salesman and met with Klima, acts as his bodyguard. However, Kitami learns that a large number of industrial cylinders unrelated to dam construction have been purchased, and Klima secretly confined her secretary, a former army colonel, and threatened to produce poisonous gas. Klima packed the gas in a cylinder and sent it to Alabanda in an attempt to cause a civil war between the government and the tribes. Around that time, Klima secretly investigated Kitami's identity and learned that he was a secret agent.
A 1964 war film directed by Kengo Furusawa
Crime melodrama about two detectives (Ikebe and Arashima) and one detective's trumpet-playing son (Sato) who become involved in a complex murder investigation.
A young detective tries to determine whether a mysterious death was the result of murder or self-defense.
Third film in the series.
Yuuichi Tanuma, our young hero, is a senior at Kyonan University and captain of the marathon team. His parents run a sukiyaki restaurant back in his hometown. When his allowance stops coming in, Yuuichi moves back in with his folks to work part-time. He has his eyes set on nationals in the fall, until one day he runs into a young woman who's fallen into trouble with the Lightning Gang...
Thriller directed by Seiji Maruyama
JA woman is witness to a murder but flees the scene, leaving behind only a handkerchief with her name, Rie, embroidered upon it. Police race to find her before the yakuza can track her down.
A salaryman promoted against his will skips his first morning meeting and slips into a spiral of small rebellions—cafés, nightclubs, and a fleeting romance—while rejecting the rigid “medals” of corporate success. Torn between family and freedom, he plots a staged disappearance to reclaim a late-coming youth, in a bittersweet drama underscored by the haunting refrain of “Akita Ondo.”
The fourth "Diary of a Successful Salaryman" feature.
Optimistic student Hideyoshi struggles to land a job at Japan Motors, facing setbacks and rivalry but winning his way in through persistence—and a mix of charm, luck, and chaos in both work and love.
A private detective and a colleague investigate a man for a wealthy young lady.