Michiyo Kogure
Also Known As: Tsuma Wada, Митиё Когурэ
Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michiyo Kogure (木暮実千代, Kogure Michiyo) (31 January 1918 – 13 June 1990) was a Japanese film actress. She appeared in nearly 200 films in a career which spanned 45 years,[3] starring in works by Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and others. Film historian Donald Richie once called her "one of Japan's most versatile actresses, and perhaps the most intellectual of all in her approach to acting." Michiyo Kogure was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from Nihon University in 1940. While still a student, she joined the Shochiku film studios and gave her screen debut in 1939. She worked for directors such as Hiroshi Shimizu, Heinosuke Gosho and Kōzaburō Yoshimura, before following her husband to Manchuria in 1944. Upon her return two years later, she starred again in films by Shochiku, but also Toho, Daiei and other studios, and repeatedly appeared in films by Mizoguchi and Shimizu. She received the 1949 Mainichi Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Aoi sanmyaku. In addition to her appearances in films and commercials, Kogure volunteered in charity work. In 1976, she was awarded the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michiyo Kogure, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Birthday: January 31, 1918
Deathday: June 13, 1990
Adult: No
Gender: Female
Popularity:
Known For:
The Fourth Lady
Overview: It was the first time in six years that I was able to step on the land of my homeland, the land of my nostalgia. It was Tokyo that had turned to burnt earth. A Tokyo with no one to rely on.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-12-23
Popularity:
Shogun and His Mistress 2
Overview: In the year 1786, Shogun Ieharu Tokugawa selected beautiful Ochisa to be his concubine. It causes other concubines to become very jealous and mean. When the Shogun passes away, his concubines are forced to become nuns, which they are not happy to be. The subject is life inside a shogun's harem, and the treatment is again more restrained than in most of the historical pinku eiga films being produced by independents at the time, but the tone of this middle installment in the trilogy is decidedly more grim than that of its predecessor. There's a good deal of abuse and violence on display, as the shogun dies and his concubines are sent to a remote convent to become buddhist nuns. the hysterical nuns are being punished for their transgressions and committing suicide in grand exploitation fashion.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-11-01
Popularity:
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Overview: After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers. While Otsu waits, Akemi also seeks him, expressing her desires directly. Meanwhile, Takezo is observed by Sasaki Kojiro, a brilliant young fighter, confident he can dethrone Takezo. After leaving Kyoto in triumph, Takezo declares his love for Otsu, but in a way that dishonors her and shames him. Once again, he leaves alone.
Genres: Drama Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-07-12
Popularity:
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
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:
A Lonely Gamble
Overview: In post-war Japan, it is difficult for private business to stay afloat. The small atelier has a debt of several million yen. To get a loan, his proprietress is forced to turn to a successful businessman, owner of entertainment establishments and bars. But she has nothing to guarantee the return of the debt, and then she offers herself as collateral. A drama about the contradictory nature of human feelings.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-03-10
Popularity:
Drunken Angel
Overview: Doctor Sanada treats gangster Matsunaga after he is wounded in a gunfight, and discovers that he is suffering from tuberculosis. Sanada tries to convince Matsunaga to stay for treatment, which would drastically change his lifestyle. They form an uneasy friendship until Matsunaga's old boss Okada returns from prison.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-04-27
Popularity:
Kaisen no Zenya
Overview: Kempeitai fights American spies in Japan
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1943-01-14
Popularity:
Street of Shame
Overview: The lives of five prostitutes employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-03-18
Popularity:
A Geisha
Overview: Eiko seeks out Miyoharu, a geisha, and asks to be her apprentice. When she is ready to receive clients, both women want the right to refuse certain men.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-08-12
Popularity:
Portrait of Madame Yuki
Overview: A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-10-21
Popularity:
Taira Clan Saga
Overview: Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-09-21
Popularity:
Shinran
Overview: A biographical movie about Shinran
Genres: Drama History Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-06-21
Popularity:
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice
Overview: The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-10-01
Popularity:
Orders from Hell
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-01-09
Popularity:
The Blue Mountains: Part I
Overview: Teacher Yukiko finds herself in opposition to conservative faculty and villagers after defending a student for being in a relationship with a young man from Tokyo.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1949-07-19
Popularity:
Surging Waves
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1939-10-13
Popularity:
Divorce
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-05-29
Popularity:
Mother is Strong
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1939-12-17
Popularity:
Women at War
Overview: Naomi Tazawa (Hiroko Kawasaki), who works at Isetan Department Store, was told by an executive at a film company (Ken Uehara), that he was going to make a film about her. She was scouted to become an actress, but she held strong. Around that time, her adoptive father dies, and at the time of his death, she learns that her real father was a man of high rank.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1939-02-01
Popularity:
A Certain Woman
Overview: Pretty Oshige is deceived by her first love. After this, she lives a hard lifestyle, working at a number of jobs. Her only pleasure is her nephew, who eventually becomes a merchant marine. When Oshige meets her old love ten years later, she is able to forgive him and even thank him for the path her life has taken.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1942-10-29
Popularity:
Torrent of a Big City
Overview: A young yakuza student is led back to the straight and narrow path by his uncle.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1940-06-13
Popularity:
Otoko no iki
Overview: This was 1942, so it was a national policy film, no matter what you call it. But when the war was still on the winning side, there wasn't even a little bit of sadness in the film (as the war was getting worse and worse, the burdens on our backs were increasing day by day, and we had to keep forming a line for tomorrow with nowhere to go (Akira Kurosawa's "The Most Beautiful", Admiral Nomura's "Enemy Air Raid", etc.) (Song of Annihilation, directed by Sasaki Yasushi). The film closes with the hope of the blue cloud that is bubbling up in the air. Or it may be the last time that a Japanese film talks about war and looks at the end of the war with an unconcerned eye.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1942-07-09
Popularity:
Yoka chigo zakura Make no wakamusha
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-07-08
Popularity:
Four Love Stories
Overview: Omnibus of love stories from 1947 directed by famous directors, featuring big stars.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1947-04-01
Popularity:
Winter Jasmine
Overview: An inept and recently graduated Japanese man begins working in the administration of Manchuria, under the supervision of his uncle. Meanwhile, he becomes acquainted with both a Japanese and Manchurian woman.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1942-03-21
Popularity:
Passion Fire
Overview: The time was the first year of Keio (1865). Upon hearing the news that the Imperial Army was approaching Hida Takayama, the district head Shimizu Uzen fled to Edo. Local officials like Yoshida Bunsuke and Yoshizumi Hironoshin showed their allegiance by welcoming them. The commander at the time, Umemura Hayami, was a former member of the Tengu Party and had previously been pursued in the town. He took refuge in a restaurant named Kabuya, and owing to a tip-off from a woman named Oraku, he was almost captured for her lover, Yoshizumi. Oraku and Yoshizumi probably feared revenge from that previous encounter, but Umemura had come back to Hida because he couldn't forget Oraku.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-12-10
Popularity:
Hanran
Overview:
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-01-03
Popularity:
Denshichi Torimonocho: Vampire Spider
Overview: In the town of Izu known for its hot springs, Den Shichi from Kuromon Town sets off for a healing trip with his companion, a bamboo craftsman with a nose like a lion's snout, at a time when the town is under a tight security network due to a nearby gunpowder depot explosion. Staying at Tsuruya, Den Shichi and his group are investigated by officials whose behavior seems somewhat odd. That night, a man looking like a craftsman is murdered, and gunpowder residue is found at the scene, prompting Den Shichi to suspect that something is amiss.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-04-19
Popularity:
In Search of Mother
Overview: Period piece about a young man who, because of his hard life alone in the world, has become a yakuza. When he hears that his mother may be living in Edo (Tokyo), he travels there, intent on finding her and leaving the swordsman's life behind. But a team of rival gangsters is hot on his heels.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-01-14
Popularity:
A Man Explodes
Overview: Kensaku Muro and his father manage a farm in Sakudaira at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains. One day Kensuke saves a suicidal woman, Fukiko Uzu, who jumps into a waterfall. Having injured his eyes in the process, he is brought to Tokyo for medical treatment. In Tokyo, Kensaku visits his mother Kaneko who left her son years ago. She now owns an exclusive club and has a son, Isao, with the president of Kobe Concern. Isao plots to steal Kensuke's farm as part of a land development scheme with Fukiko's husband. Without knowing they are blood related, their conflict over the farm intensifies.
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-04-28
Popularity:
Komadori shimai oke-sa wataridori
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-09-16
Popularity:
A Boy and Three Mothers
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-02-18
Popularity:
続南国太平記 薩南の嵐
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-02-03
Popularity:
Nangoku Taiheiki
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-01-15
Popularity:
The Sun
Overview: Adaptation of the Riichi Yokomitsu novel.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-11-18
Popularity:
Sisters of Gion
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-05-18
Popularity:
疾風愛憎峠
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-03-10
Popularity:
直八子供旅
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-02-25
Popularity:
Ghost Cat of Nabeshima
Overview: Tanuma Kandayuu is a high class samurai of the house of Nabeshima. He finds a lavish board of Go (a Chinese Board game) at Kinbei's store. He recommend Kinbei to offer it to his lord. Kinbei hesitates at first, since he knows the board has a mysterious legend surrounding it; it's believed that for every game played on the board, one death is required.
Genres: Mystery Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1949-08-23
Popularity:
Kaze no uchi so to
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-03-24
Popularity:
Thirty-three footprints
Overview: Fourth film of the Bannai Tarao series starring Chiezo Kataoka
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-12-30
Popularity:
The Tale of Genji
Overview: Genji, the illegitimate offspring of a Japanese potentate, goes by the philosophy of "love 'em and leave 'em" as a matter of course. Only when his heart is broken by Awaji does Genji realizes how much pain he himself has caused.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-06-11
Popularity:
Shinran, Part II
Overview: Continuation of the biographical film about the monk Shinran, based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. Shinran, born of the fading aristocratic class, was placed in a monastary on Mount Hiei when still a child. He did not come down for twenty years, when his wanderings begin as he spreads his ideas for achieving enlightenment through the Pure Land sutra. Because his teachings contradict the powerful Tendai sect, he comes to grief with the government, his followers persecuted, himself exiled to far coastal Echigo where he married & began raising a family but soonafter was wandering & teaching again. He lived to be ninety.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-09-27
Popularity:
Marriage of the sky and the sea
Overview: A love comedy directed by Osamu Takahashi based on an original screenplay by Kei Tasaki.
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-12-19
Popularity:
Way of Morning Mist
Overview: Jidaigeki by Tai Kato
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-02
Popularity:
Golden Devil
Overview: 1948 adaptation of Golden Devil
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-01-20
Popularity:
Golden Devil Part 2
Overview: 1948 adaptation of Golden Devil, part 2
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-02-03
Popularity:
Tora-san, the Matchmaker
Overview: Tora-san helps out a runaway bride.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-08-04
Popularity:
Four and A Half Mats
Overview: Fukazawa Shino is a prostitute in the late Meiji period. Shino was deceived by Tatsukichi and sold. One day Shino came to like a thief (Yoshioka) who came as a customer.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-02-17
Popularity:
Freelance Samurai
Overview: One of Japanese folklore's most popular characters is brought to life on the silver screen in this terrific version of legendary Demon slaying Peach Boy.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-12-15
Popularity:
A Carpenter and Children
Overview: A carpenter, Shigetsugu, learns a lesson of love and humanity from five orphaned children and an affectionate woman named Oritsu. It's a winning combination of drama and humor. The warm friendship that grows between the carpenter, the woman and the children making this into a true masterpiece.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-06-10
Popularity:
Yūkyō no mure
Overview: 1948 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1948-12-28
Popularity:
The Path of the King
Overview: 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.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-03-06
Popularity:
Fireworks Over the Sea
Overview: A fishing union depends on two brothers to make up the losses caused by the dishonest captains they replaced.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-10-25
Popularity:
Cold Rice, Osan, Chan
Overview: Three stories revolve around independence, a man searching for his wife, and a poor craftsman trying to make money.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-04-10
Popularity:
The 47 Masterless Samurai
Overview: While the story of the Ako Clan's vendetta has been told countless times, never before has there been an array of major motion picture stars to bring new life to this timeless tale. Starting with the corrupt practices of Lord Kira and Yanagi-sawa, the Shogun's Secretary, which in essence led to the incident of Lord Asano's attacking Kira in the Pine Corridor of the Shogun's Palace, this is the definitive version. Asano Takumi no kami was a young lord with high scruples, who refused to join in the general corruption and bribery which ran rampant in the capital at that time. By not giving bribes, he angered Kira Kozuke no suke the elder lord in charge of protocol at the Palace. Refusing to teach the younger man, and giving him false instructions was only the beginning. Insults followed, and a man of honor had no choice but to draw his sword in anger. Forty seven masterless samurai are willing to give their lives to avenge their lord.
Genres: History Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-01-15
Popularity:
Run, Genta, Run!
Overview: A touching story about a young boy, Genta, who bravely takes on life's challenges in hopes of finding a better life for himself and his sickly mother.
Genres: Family Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-11-22
Popularity:
Hibari the Traveling Performer
Overview: Kimie, a traveling guitarist, performs at various inns at help out her sickly mother. One night while out with her mother, Otoshi, Kimie unexpectedly sees her father, who had abandoned the family 20 years ago. Her hopes for a happy reunion are quickly dashed as her father, having married into a wealthy family, wants nothing to do with her. Will Kimie be able to regain her father’s love?
Genres: Drama Music
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-08-12
Popularity:
紋三郎の秀
Overview: Japanese film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-01-15
Popularity:
Life of Geisha
Overview: The tragedy of the geiko girl Ume and the men who try to pursue her.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-01-22
Popularity:
The Tale of Jiro
Overview: Based on the novel by Kojin Shimomura. Story of a young boy and his adventures in the country. His idyllic life is shattered by the illness and death of his mother.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-10-25
Popularity:
Tokyo Profile
Overview: A motley cast of characters, including a human billboard and a shoeshine girl, help a 5 year old girl after she is separated from her mother on the crowded streets of Ginza.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-07-08
Popularity:
Okuni and Gohei
Overview: A high-born woman named Okuni travels around the country with Gohei, a samurai retainer who is in service to her. They are in search of Tomonojo, who has killed the man who was Okuni’s husband and Gohei’s master, and they cannot return to their lord’s home until they have fulfilled their duty of hunting down and killing Tomonojo.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-04-10
Popularity:
The Spell of the Hidden Gold
Overview: Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-21
Popularity:
The Loyal 47 Ronin
Overview: Japan, 1701. A group of samurai become rônin after their lord is forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official, who will become the target of a merciless revenge.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-04-01
Popularity:
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
Overview: A geisha helps a runaway who looks just like her.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-02-07
Popularity:
Eyes of Mother and Daughter
Overview: Japanese drama film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-02-04
Popularity:
Official with a Tattoo
Overview: Kinnosuke of Toyama sets out on a private mission to clear his father’s name for a crime he did not commit.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-03-15
Popularity:
寛美の三等社員
Overview: Japanese comedy film.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-09-09
Popularity:
The Spy Has Not Died Yet
Overview:
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1942-04-23
Popularity:
47 Vendettas
Overview: The legendary tale of the forty-seven samurai who seek vengeance against the man who caused their master's death.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-03-31
Popularity:
The Blue Mountains: Part II
Overview: Continuation of The Blue Mountains: Part I. Released a week later.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1949-07-26
Popularity:
A Night in Hong Kong
Overview: Romantic melodrama set in contemporary Hong Kong, Japan and Laos. Hiroshi Tanaka (Takarada) is a Japanese journalist on assignment in Hong Kong who meets and falls in love with Wu Li Hung (Ming). He proposes to Wu Li but she rejects him because of her distaste for mixed marriages (her mother was Japanese but deserted her family and returned to Japan during WWII). Tanaka locates Wu Li’s mother and unsuccessfully tries to reunite them, but eventually Wu Li accepts his proposal. A joyous Tanaka flies off to Laos to finish an assignment but on the eve of his wedding he is killed there.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: zh
Release Date: 1961-07-01
Popularity:
A House in the Quarter
Overview: With her family suffering from extreme poverty, Yuko, as the eldest daughter, is sold to a successful brothel in Kyoto. There she is assigned to serve Takamatsu, one of the brothel’s top customers. But while Takamatsu falls madly in love with Yuko, she finds herself attracted to a young priest named Kunugida. Torn by jealousy, Takamatsu hatches an evil plan to tear them apart.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-11-01
Popularity:
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
Overview: In the third installment of Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, things continue from the 2nd film at the end of battle, where Miyamoto continues on a mission of learning; with the introduction of his arch-rival Sasaki Kojiro; and lastly the large cast of characters rendezvouses for a fateful finale.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-08-14
Popularity:
Wood and Stone
Overview: Movie about a devoted and single woman and her daughter. The mother's nickname is "Bokuseki" (wooden head) because of his supposed stubbornness. No.10 in the list of "The 10 best films of 1940" by Kinema Junpo.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1940-08-01
Popularity:
Dances of Flame
Overview:
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-11-23
Popularity:
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
Overview: The Ni Family is the most well know and respected group of firefighters in the Kanto region. When their leader dies and the successor disappears, Tsuruji, a beautiful yet tough geisha, becomes the boss. But will she be able to confront a yakuza gang trying to take over the area?
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-03-04
Popularity:
Stop the Old Fox
Overview: Historical and political detective. The main characters are drawn into court intrigues, and the investigation of corruption in the administration of the shogun Ienari Tokugawa comes to the fore in the plot. Based on the novel of the same name by Matsumoto Seicho.
Genres: Mystery History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-09-27
Popularity:
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
Overview: In 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the life and career of his friend and mentor Mizoguchi.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-05-24
Popularity:
Miyamoto Musashi
Overview: In this first episode, we are introduced to Takezo, what Musashi used to be before he became the man of legend. His beginning are not exactly auspicious. He sides with the Toyotomi at Sekigahara, and as a result finds himself on the losing side of the historic battle. He and his friend Matahachi manage to escape the slaughter although the latter is wounded in his leg. They stumble across the young Akemi who makes her living with her mother Oko by robbing corpses of their armor and anything else they can sell. Oko takes it into her head to seduce Matahachi, which she does first by skillfully sucking the gangrene from his blood, and then just by sucking.
Genres: History Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-27
Popularity:
Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights
Overview: The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle after three years of intense contemplation and philosophical study and starting on his epic quest to complete his skill in the Way.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-11-17
Popularity:
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
Overview: In the fourth installment, Musashi's potentially greatest opponent Kojiro jumps in and out of the story at the oddest and most coincidental moments. As his great love Otsu has succumbed to madness. Musashi then sets off to beat the functionaries of a treacherous clan in an arranged duel. 73 against one. Boastful Kojiro watches, secure in the knowledge that only he is a worthy opponent.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-01-01
Popularity:
Female Ninja Magic
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-10-03
Popularity:
The Ako Retainers
Overview: Toei’s 10th anniversary film, featuring an all-star cast from the golden movie era of the 1960s. A famous story of the 47 loyal samurai. When Lord Asano is unjustly executed, his loyal retainers strike back for revenge.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-03-28
Popularity:
Reminiscence
Overview: Kazuo Miyagawa’s prizewinning black-and-white cinematography draws out the moral shadings of Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata’s 1952 novel Thousand Cranes, a quietly devastating story of a young man, orphaned during the war, who stumbles into a passionate yet tragic relationship with his late father’s mistress and her daughter.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-01-15
Popularity:
Gambler's Legacy
Overview: A yakuza member embarks on a trail of revenge for his murdered boss. Senzo, the successor of the Mita Family, searches for the man bearing a tattoo of a dragon who is said to be responsible for the death of their former leader.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-12-27
Popularity:
Koto—The Lake of Tears
Overview: A touching story following young shamisen string maker, Saku. Beautiful Saku moves to Lake Yogo, known for its production of quality shamisen strings, only to find her peaceful life turned upside down when a master musician takes personal interest in her.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-11-13
Popularity:
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
Overview: The fifth and final installment with the build up of the epic battle between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. With all the familiar characters making appearances: Otsu (Musashi's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi (still doggedly trying to defeat Musashi), and even the return of Priest Takuan (the man responsible for his journey towards enlightenment). But most of all, the boastful, long-haired and long-sworded Sasaki Kojiro.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-09-04
Popularity:
Sanbaba
Overview: A story about being scared of getting old.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-06-01
Popularity:
The Black Cat
Overview: Helping her mother manage a nightclub, young Emiko quickly realizes how difficult life is.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-02-13
Popularity:
Eleven Gangsters
Overview:
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-01-15
Popularity:
Souls in the Moonlight II
Overview: This is the second installment of the trilogy based on Japan’s greatest novel “The Great Bodhisattva Pass”, following the life and times of bloodthirsty samurai, Tsukue Ryunosuke. Blinded in an explosion and further injured from a fall, the master swordsman is taken in by Otoyo, a woman who falls in love with him. Under Otoyo’s dedicated care, Ryunosuke’s physical and emotional wounds seem to heal. However, deep inside, the demons that drive him to kill yearn to resurface. Meanwhile he is being pursued by Utsugi Hyoma, a young samurai seeking to avenge his brother’s death at Tsukue’s hands. Hyoma is being aided along the way by the clever thief Shichibei.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-04-20
Popularity:
Dôkoku
Overview:
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-10-16
Popularity:
Okoma, the Orphan Gambler
Overview: Taking place in Shinshu in the 1920s, Tsumakoi Okoma, while traveling to hone her gambling skills, teams up with the vagabond Tsukuba Tsuneji and comes into conflict with gamblers plotting to take over a rustic hot-spring town. Handling a gun and sword as skillfully as a man, Fuji Junko portrays an appealing personality that differs from Oryu in the Red Peony Gambler series. Tsuruta Koji stars as the vagabond Tsukuba Tsuneji that tops the list of an impressive all-star cast that includes Endo Tatsuo, Kogure Michiyo, Ashiya Gannosuke, Kitamura Eizo, and many others. This film is an authentic yakuza movie that conveys the true "Matatabi" (wandering gambler) feeling.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-01-23
Popularity:
Pure White Nights
Overview: "Pure white nights" - A romantic tale that depicts love between married people and the psychology of their marriage with elegant and a controversial touch. Love, art and suffering until the tragic and absurd ending.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-08-31
Popularity:
Flowery Brothers
Overview: Early film by Kenji Misumi.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-06-08
Popularity:
Karate Cop 3
Overview: A cop, Katayama, gains the trust of a mother and daughter whose father, Nishina, is missing after being accused of killing a gang boss.
Genres: Action Comedy Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-07-07
Popularity:
Nerves for Victory
Overview: A young yakuza who respects obligation and humanity must face cruel and heartless turf wars leading to a fight to the death with his own brother.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-08-26
Popularity:
Her Hidden Past
Overview: Adaptation of a famous Kyouka Izumi novel. Set in the early 1900's, it tells the story of the impossible love between a young scholar a beautiful geisha.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-02-21
Popularity:
Night School
Overview: An Ishiro Honda Film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-04-18
Popularity:
The Red Shadow
Overview: Fifteen years after Ishida Mitsunari lost in the battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu foresees his unavoidable battle with Toyotomi Hideyori and goes into Fushimi Castle. At the night, Hattori Hanzo, the leader of 36 Iga members who were performing as guards of the castle, perceives the existence of a ninja and captures the mysterious sneaker.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-12-24
Popularity:
Madcap Mixup
Overview: Five fellows are taken by the police for bank hold-ups.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-07-23
Popularity:
Lovers' Duet
Overview: Melodrama about a talented singer who finally makes her debut
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1939-08-31
Popularity:
Gambler: Victory Without Death
Overview: Tsunetaro Asakura AKA "Dynamite Tsune" is a talented gambler, but not infallable. After losing his Boss's money in a dice game he repays his debt by serving as a pit boss for a struggling coal mine in Kyuushu. Quickly there's trouble with the local mining competition, who doesn't always play a fair game. True to his hot-headed nickname, Tsune only gets into deeper trouble.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-07-08
Popularity:
Women in Prison
Overview: The woman prison has a cast all with a story of their own and with no dull or routine day. There is an employee who is divorced after her husband had an affair. She loves the jailed criminals and almost sees them as family. One day at a workshop someone faints while working hard to make money because she has a poor boyfriend. Another inmate is knocked up Another is a mother and has her child with her.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-09-11
Popularity:
The Shogun and the Fishmonger
Overview: Fishmonger Tasuke and Shogun Iemitsu swap their identities in pretence for the protection of Iemitsu.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-03
Popularity:
The White Orchid
Overview: A Japanese adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story Boule de Suif, directed by Kimura Keigo
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-03-24
Popularity:
Lady From Hell
Overview: Three and a half years after Japan was bombed, the tax authorities organized the T-Men. Nango is in love with a girl called Mibu, and the two are against the T-Men organization. Mibu whats to kill all of the T-Men one-by-one.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1949-03-15
Popularity:
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Overview: During the bloody era of the Tokugawa Shogunate collapse, a man appeared capable of overthrowing a corrupt government and ending the feud between the Choshu and Satsuma clans. This is the story of Tsukigat Khanpayit, the sword maker of the Choshu clan, who, along with Katsuro Kogoro and Sakamoto Ryoma, sought to fulfill the dream of a new peaceful era in Japan. Can he realize his ideals or will he die in the chaos of internecine fights...
Genres: Action Romance History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-10-16
Popularity:
Sound in the Mist
Overview: In the heart of the Japanese Alps, in Kamikochi, Nagano Prefecture, botany professor Kazuhiko Onuma spends time with Tsuruko, his lover. One night, Kazuhiko's wife Kazuyo comes to see them and confronts the professor about his extramarital affair, and Tsuruko, an inevitable witness to the confrontation, leaves the professor the following morning. Over the next decade, whenever he visits the mountain cabin every autumn equinox, the memory of Tsuruko will forever haunt Kazuhiko...
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-11-21
Popularity:
Spring Thunder
Overview: Eiko is an innocent young lady born into a wealthy family with nothing to offer. She was good at singing, and lived her life playing around with her cronies, organizing music concerts and so on. However, things change when her father's business fails and she was suddenly thrown out into the world without any foundation. Eiko has no one to support her after she loses her social status, and her only tutor, Shinnosuke (Natsukawa Daijiro) was the only one who was sincere. Eiko is a stickler for using everything she can get her hands on, and she quickly moves into Shinnosuke's house.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1939-04-13
Popularity:
Yataro’s Travel Hat
Overview:
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-02
Popularity:
The Magnificent Five
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-01-15
Popularity:
The Man Who Came to Shimizu Harbor
Overview: One of Japan's most enduring stories is the true-life yakuza boss Jirocho of Shimizu and his gang as they took over the Tokaido Highroad and went on to everlasting fame. Many of the gang members have become household names although their backgrounds and how they came to join the group are mostly lost in the mists of a time gone by. This is the tale of Masa, who arrived in Shimizu Port hungry and down on his luck. His adventures contain some light-hearted moments as he meets up with the other gang members and goes on to join the group and become one of their best swordsmen. A truly exciting tale starring the ever-popular Okawa Hashizo along with all-time great Okochi Denjiro.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-07-31
Popularity:
Tales of the Inner Chamber
Overview: Love-hate drama of three beautiful sisters in Ooku in Edo Castle.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-16
Popularity:
Exterminate the Young Boss!
Overview:
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-02-11
Popularity:
Japan's Most Chivalrous
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-03-19
Popularity:
Speed Crazy
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-12-20
Popularity:
The Swordsman In The Golden Valley
Overview: Jidaigeki film from 1960
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-08-28
Popularity:
Castle of Revenge
Overview: The film vividly shows the misadventures of Oishi Kuranosuke and the human dramas inside the castle, which lead to the surrender of Ako Castle after seppuku by its lord Asano Takumi-no-kami and the termination of his family's power. This is the first film of the Ako Castle trilogy.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-04-24
Popularity:
The Blue Revolution
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-06-10
Popularity:
Yurusareta ichiya
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1946-12-24
Popularity:
The Red Bat
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-07
Popularity:
Probation
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-07-25
Popularity:
Homecoming
Overview: A former naval officer returns to Japan after the Second World War ends, encounters the former mistress who ratted him out, and reconnects with his daughter.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-11-25
Popularity:
Migratory Birds of the Flowers
Overview:
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-01-03
Popularity:
Flowers of Patriotism
Overview: A nurse's tale of self-sacrifice during wartime. The title is borrowed from a patriotic song made popular by singer Hamako Watanabe during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1942-11-12
Popularity:
Dawn Chorus
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1941-06-12
Popularity:
Bored Hatamoto: Island of No Return
Overview: Part of the Bored Hatamoto series. The most popular samurai in Edo, Saotome Mondonosuke, known to most as the "Bored Hatamoto" is the only one who can save the shogunate from the dastardly plot to take over the country.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-01-09
Popularity:
Kigeki: Tonkatsu ichidai
Overview: Ensemble comedy.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-04-10
Popularity:
Story of Lightning
Overview: Gensaburo Funaki and Oyuki were childhood friends, but Gensaburo misunderstood that Oyuki was hesitant to get married because he had to feed his father and younger brother. I left the town.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-12-30
Popularity:
Daiei Studio is Bustling
Overview: A studio introduction version for Daiei Stars.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-01-15
Popularity:
鳴門秘帖
Overview: 1961 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-26
Popularity:
The Sharks
Overview: A film adaptation of Masatsugu Nobuhiko's novel of the same name, directed by Tasaka Tomotaka and starring Nakamura Kinnosuke. This literary epic tells the story of how the protagonist, who has become mired in evil due to his poverty and low position, eventually awakens to humanity through an encounter with a nun. Shark was born without a father in a fishing village where the main occupation is catching sharks. In his poor and humiliating life, his only source of comfort is the tender love of his mother. However, on the night of a festival, the village burns to the ground and his mother dies. Left alone, Shark sets off for Kyoto with an old caster.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-06-27
Popularity:
遙かなる母の顔
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-10-05
Popularity: