Biography: Shōichi Hirose was a Japanese actor. Sometimes credited as Solomon Hirose, he is probably best known for playing Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah and for being the actor inside the King Kong suit in King Kong vs. Godzilla, along with several tough guy roles.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: June 23, 1918
Deathday: June 20, 1998
Popularity:
1958-12-28
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-12-28
Popularity:
1959-05-21
Overview: A prehistoric monster called Gigantis emerges alongside another creature named Angurus.
Genres: Action Horror Science Fiction Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-05-21
Popularity:
1956-12-26
Overview: Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-12-26
Popularity:
1957-12-17
Overview: Ushinosuke returns to his hometown to become a farmer. Part three (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi’s novel, Oban.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-12-17
Popularity:
1957-03-05
Overview: A young country boy leaves his village for Tokyo, where he begins to work as a stock trader. First part (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi's novel, Oban.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-03-05
Popularity:
1961-12-17
Overview: Japanese neo-noir crime drama movie directed by Jun Fukuda
Genres: Action Drama Crime Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-12-17
Popularity:
1968-11-02
Overview: The sixth "Japan's No. 1 Man" feature. Followed by "Japan’s No. 1 Disconnected Man".
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-02
Popularity:
1957-10-29
Overview: A woman struggles to raise her young son on her own in postwar Japan, finding companionship with a kind laborer while still hoping for the return of her missing husband.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-10-29
Popularity:
1954-02-10
Overview: A squadron of Japanese fighter pilots realise that they are never going to win the war when they understand that Japanese military tactics have little regard for life. Seeking the companionship of any woman who will have them, they spend their days indulging in every fantasy in order to escape the overwhelming fear of death looming just over the horizon.
Genres: Romance War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-02-10
Popularity:
1960-04-10
Overview: Men are being murdered by a psycho called "The Telegian," who uses a matter-transmitting device to locate his victims.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-10
Popularity:
1954-12-29
Overview: When an invisible man is run down by a car it’s up to an eager young reporter and a strange clown to bring a dangerous gang to justice.
Genres: Science Fiction Thriller Mystery Horror Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-12-29
Popularity:
1953-10-21
Overview: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-10-21
Popularity:
1963-08-31
Overview: This Japanese action-adventure is set in the 17th century when all forms of swordplay were banned. One fighter, an excellent swordsman believes the law is unfair. His brother keeps his opinions about the law to himself. The swordsman vents his frustration by cutting off the thumbs of an enemy. The fighter is then banished. To live, he becomes a thief. To restore the family's lost honor, the other brother is forced to challenge the fighter to a duel.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-08-31
Popularity:
1958-10-21
Overview: Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-21
Popularity:
1962-07-14
Overview: Wang Xinglian returns from her studies in Japan to visit her father in Hong Kong where she has an encounter with the young Japanese Hasegawa Toru. The two meet again and fall in love in Hokkaido when Wang and her best friend Sugimoto Kanako are going on a holiday. Urged by her friend Zhang Yingming to concentrate on her studies, Wang remains ambivalent about the relationship, and is even more upset to realise that Sugimoto is in love with her fellow countryman. Feigning an engagement with Zhang, Wang initiates a break-up with Hasegawa and finds work in Singapore after graduation. Hasegawa learns the real cause of the break-up from Sugimoto in Hong Kong. A frenzy search finally leads to a reunion and a proposal in Kuala Lumpur. However, their love is doomed by a twist of fate as Wang must leave to see her desperately ill father in Hong Kong while Hasegawa has to leave for America to pursue his career.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: zh
Release Date: 1962-07-14
Popularity:
1964-12-20
Overview: After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Fantasy Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-12-20
Popularity:
1957-12-28
Overview: 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.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Drama Thriller War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-12-28
Popularity:
1965-12-19
Overview: Astronauts Glenn and Fuji investigate Planet X and encounter mysterious aliens known as the Xiliens, who ask Earth's people to help save their world from "Monster Zero". In exchange for borrowing Godzilla and Rodan, the Xiliens offer a cure for cancer. As Glenn investigates, he develops a romance with Miss Namikawa and uncovers the Xilien's true intentions.
Genres: Science Fiction Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-19
Popularity:
1961-04-25
Overview: A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-04-25
Popularity:
1965-04-03
Overview: Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-04-03
Popularity:
1966-12-17
Overview: Searching for his brother, Ryota stows away on a boat belonging to a criminal alongside two other teenagers. The group shipwrecks on Letchi island and discover the Infant Island natives have been enslaved by a terrorist organization controlling a crustacean monster. Finding a sleeping Godzilla, they decide to awaken him to defeat the terrorists and liberate the natives.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-12-17
Popularity:
1962-12-07
Overview: In an effort to find an economic means of purifying salt water, a joint U.S.-Japanese military command is set up on an isolated Japanese island where an unusual salt water lake is situated. However, their purifying experiments arouse the prehistoric monster Obaki from hibernation at the lake's bottom, and it proceeds to attack Japan. Although made by a U.S. independent film company, this film was based on a Japanese Toho monster film of 1958, "Daikaiju Varan", from which all of the monster effects scenes and a few incidental dramatic shots were edited into it.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-12-07
Popularity:
1955-04-24
Overview: 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.
Genres: Science Fiction Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-04-24
Popularity:
1955-08-14
Overview: Three competing parties all race against time to track down an elusive creature known only as the Snowman.
Genres: Science Fiction Horror Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-08-14
Popularity:
1961-07-30
Overview: Shipwreck survivors found on the presumably uninhabited Infant Island leads to a scientific expedition that discovers a surviving native population along with the Shobijin, tiny twin fairy priestesses of the island's mythical deity called Mothra. After the fairies are kidnapped by an exploitative businessman named Clark Nelson, Mothra sets out to rescue them.
Genres: Adventure Science Fiction Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-07-30
Popularity:
1963-12-22
Overview: The legendary empire of the lost continent of Mu reappears to threaten the world with domination. While countries unite to resist, an isolated World War II Captain has created the greatest warship ever seen, and possibly the surface world's only defense.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Adventure Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-12-22
Popularity:
1958-06-24
Overview: Nuclear tests create a radioactive man who can turn people into slime.
Genres: Science Fiction Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-06-24
Popularity:
1965-08-08
Overview: During WWII, Germans obtain the immortal heart of Frankenstein's monster and transport it to Japan to prevent it being seized by the Allies. Kept in a Hiroshima laboratory, it is seeming lost when the United States destroys the city with the atomic bomb. Years later a wild boy is discovered wandering the streets of the city alone, born of the immortal heart.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-08-08
Popularity:
1962-08-11
Overview: The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.
Genres: Science Fiction Comedy Adventure Fantasy Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-08-11
Popularity:
1960-12-11
Overview: A librarian is subject to a scientific experiment which goes wrong and transforms him into 'The Human Vapour'. He uses his new ability to rob banks to fund the career of his girlfriend, a beautiful dancer. The Human Vapour is ruthless in his quest for money and kills anyone who stands in his way, especially police. He soon becomes Tokyo's most wanted criminal. Can he be stopped before he kills again?
Genres: Science Fiction Crime Drama Romance Thriller Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-12-11
Popularity:
1954-04-26
Overview: A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-04-26
Popularity:
1967-07-22
Overview: An adaptation of the Rankin/Bass cartoon, "The King Kong Show". King Kong is brought in by the evil Dr. Who to dig for Element X in a mine when the robot Mechani-Kong is unable to do the task. This leads to the machine and the real Kong engaging in a tremendous battle atop Tokyo Tower.
Genres: Action Fantasy Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-07-22
Popularity:
1956-07-05
Overview:
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-07-05
Popularity:
1964-08-11
Overview: A floating amorphous life-form descends from the atmosphere to consume carbon in the form of diamonds.
Genres: Science Fiction Crime Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-08-11
Popularity:
1971-08-14
Overview: The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.
Genres: War History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-08-14
Popularity:
1963-06-26
Overview: When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus.
Genres: Action Science Fiction Comedy Adventure Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-06-26
Popularity:
1961-02-01
Overview: Taut thriller about a too-perfect criminal case against an ex-convict that makes a nosy detective suspicious.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-01
Popularity:
1972-05-13
Overview: A comedy featuring The Golden Bat
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Action Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-05-13
Popularity:
1975-03-15
Overview: 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.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-03-15
Popularity:
1968-03-16
Overview: A killer-for-hire gets mixed up with a cast of wacky characters involved in a gold smuggling route from Beirut to Tokyo.
Genres: Action Comedy Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-03-16
Popularity:
1956-10-16
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-10-16
Popularity:
1959-01-15
Overview: 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.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-01-15
Popularity:
1958-10-14
Overview: When a rare species of butterfly is found in a mysterious valley in Japan, a pair of entomologists go to investigate and find more. They discover Varan, a giant monster, who decides to leave the valley and head straight for Tokyo.
Genres: Science Fiction Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-14
Popularity:
1965-07-04
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-07-04
Popularity:
1955-09-13
Overview: The story of a couple, a spoiled son and a down-to-earth girl, in Osaka in the early Showa era. The film won the prestigious Blue Ribbon awards for best director, best actor (Morishige) and best actress (Awashima), and the Mainichi Concours award for best actor and best screenplay (Yasumi Toshio). It ranked second (after Naruse Mikio’s Ukigumo) on the Kinema Junpō top ten films for the year.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-09-13
Popularity:
1967-04-28
Overview: The Crazy Cats, a Japanese musical-comedy group, were showcased a series of comic adventures throughout the 1960s. Las Vegas Free-For-All, one of their most popular movies, featured scenes filmed on location in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. Appearing with the seven Cats were the lovely Mie Hama and such Japanese musical artists as The Peanuts, The Johnnys, The Drifters, and Jackie Yoshikawa & the Blue Comets.
Genres: Comedy Adventure Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-04-28
Popularity:
1956-01-03
Overview: A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Romance History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-01-03
Popularity:
1959-11-01
Overview: The legend of the birth of Shintoism. In Fourth Century Japan, the Emperor's son Ouso expects to succeed his father on the throne, but Otomo, the Emperor's vassal, prefers Ouso's stepbrother, and conspires to have Ouso die on a dangerous mission he has contrived. But Ouso prevails in the mission and returns to his father's castle under a new name, Prince Yamato Takeru. Otomo plots to have the Prince sent into even greater danger, but Otomo is unaware that the gods have favored the Prince and the outcome is far from what any of them expected.
Genres: Fantasy Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-11-01
Popularity:
1974-06-15
Overview: Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.
Genres: Action Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-06-15
Popularity:
1973-12-01
Overview: Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-12-01
Popularity:
1966-07-31
Overview: Gaira, a humanoid sea beast spawned from the discarded cells of Frankenstein's monster, attacks the shores of Tokyo. While the Japanese military prepares to take action, Gaira's Gargantua brother, Sanda, descends from the mountains to defend his kin. A battle between good and evil ensues, leaving brothers divided and a city in ruins.
Genres: Action Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-07-31
Popularity:
1966-10-01
Overview: Four sisters are all named after flowers. While the two youngest are married, the eldest two remain single, much to the annoyance of their long-suffering mother. The mother and her brother try various schemes to find husbands for them.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-10-01
Popularity:
1952-11-27
Overview: An Ishiro Honda film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-11-27
Popularity:
1955-06-07
Overview: An Ishiro Honda film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-06-07
Popularity:
1967-10-28
Overview: International thief Zivaco, who can assume any identity, eludes the authorities and battles rival thief WCWC for a rare gold samurai sword.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-10-28
Popularity:
1977-08-26
Overview: Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip to the countryside to visit her aunt at their ancestral house. She invites her six friends, Prof, Melody, Mac, Fantasy, Kung Fu, and Sweet, to join her. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-08-26
Popularity:
1979-07-14
Overview: Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
Genres: Comedy Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-07-14
Popularity:
1952-10-09
Overview: Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-10-09
Popularity:
1957-07-09
Overview: An Ishiro Honda film. The second part of A Rainbow Plays in My Heart released the same day as the first film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-09
Popularity:
1956-12-26
Overview: Mining engineer Shigeru investigates the disappearance and death of his fellow coworkers when prehistoric nymphs are discovered emerging from the mines. After an attack on the local village, Shigeru heads deeper into the mines only to make a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature. Soon a second monster appears as the two converge in Fukuoka.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-12-26
Popularity:
1957-07-09
Overview: An Ishiro Honda film. The first part of A Rainbow Plays in My Heart released the same day as the second film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-09
Popularity:
1962-01-01
Overview: Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Genres: Drama Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-01-01
Popularity:
1958-12-01
Overview: An American scientist tells two colleagues about the finding of an abominable snowman living in the Japanese alps, where it is worshipped by a remote tribe as a god, and how it was discovered by modern man after it raided a skiers shelter following an avalanche, killing all inside. This is an adaptation of the Japanese film "Jūjin Yuki Otoko" (1955) with added American-made footage, narration, and music.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-12-01
Popularity:
1959-06-09
Overview: A promising post-graduate literature student is transformed into a psychotic killer following the suicide of his father and a sleazy affair by his mother with a younger man.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-06-09
Popularity:
1952-07-15
Overview: Following the Second World War, the lives of various people in a poverty-stricken area of Tokyo are entertwined. Pachinko parlor girls, shoeshine boys, a maker of costume jewelry, and a streetcorner artist all struggle to make their livings and to find happiness in difficult surroundings.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-07-15
Popularity:
1965-08-08
Overview: Eternal young guy, Yuzo Kayama stars in this fifth installment of the Young Guy series. Young Guy returns to the swim team from the first movie, boards his rival Blue Guy's boat, and meets a young woman on a small island.
Genres: Comedy Action Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-08-08
Popularity:
1961-11-12
Overview: In the middle of the period of high economic growth in Japan, a family is thrown into disarray over work, money, and romance. Their father's sudden unemployment later in life causes friction among the siblings of the Akagi family. Kensuke, a salaryman at a top company, refuses to support his parents while his brother, Shoji, determines to care for them despite only working as a taxi driver. The concern over money affects Noriko's own love life as she courts a wealthy salaryman to the chagrin of her mechanic boyfriend.
Genres: Drama Family
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-11-12
Popularity:
1971-09-11
Overview: A satirical comedy starring Makoto Fujita, depicting the two East and West con artists swindling illicit money from bad guys.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-09-11
Popularity: