Makoto Satō
Also Known As: Макото Сайто, Makoto Satô, Makoto Sato
Biography: Makoto Satō 18 March 1934 – 6 December 2012 was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1953 to 2008.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Kanzaki District, Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan
Birthday: March 18, 1934
Deathday: December 06, 2012
Adult: No
Gender: Male
Popularity:
Known For:
The Hidden Fortress
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:
The Eel
Overview: A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1997-05-12
Popularity:
The Killing Machine
Overview: Mr. Soh, a righteous man with a cold stare and fists of steel, returns to a lawless post-war Japan in 1946. He protects the weak, defends the poor and knocks some good sense into friends and enemies alike. Rapists and gangsters get the worst of it, as Mr. Soh builds up his school on the island of Shikoku.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-02-01
Popularity:
The H-Man
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:
Ninja Hunt
Overview: It's a rare occasion when a noted filmmaker like Yamauchi Tetsuya gets to re-visit a previous film, and in this re-make of NINJA GARI, he not only does that, but has created an even better piece. While the original from 1964 starred the great old-time actor Konoe Jushiro, this version is perfectly cast with his son Matsukata Hiroki in the lead as Wadakuro, one of four ronin hired to fight against the Shogunate's plot to abolish the Gamo Clan, who are struggling to reinstate their young heir Tanemaru as their Lord. Facing the threat of the Koga Ninja, Wadakuro shows his own cruelty while on a personal vendetta. This is a very brutal film, with lots of realistic ninja action, violent deaths, a dark story line and is completely without any light-hearted 'humor' elements that Toei used to incorperate back in the golden era. And with Matsukata Hiroki's outstanding martial skills, the swordplay is even better in this one. This is definitely one of the best ninja movies ever made!
Genres: Action TV Movie Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-04-09
Popularity:
Chûshingura
Overview: After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
Genres: History Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-11-03
Popularity:
The Crimson Sky
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-03-21
Popularity:
Operation Mad Dog
Overview: Film number six in the Desperado Outpost serie directed by Jun Fukuda
Genres: Drama Action War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-09-29
Popularity:
Outpost of Hell
Overview: The fifth film of the desperado outpost series directed by Senkichi Taniguchi
Genres: Action War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-07-28
Popularity:
Ant Hell War
Overview: The sixth film of the desperado outpost series directed by Takashi Tsuboshima
Genres: War Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-04-29
Popularity:
Shikoku
Overview: Years after moving to Tokyo with her parents, Hinako returns to her hometown in rural Shikoku. She soon learns that her childhood friend, Sayori, died several years ago and that Sayori's mother, who used to perform seances and exorcisms, has gone almost insane with grief. After seeing Sayori's ghost several times during the night, Hinako consults with some local experts on the paranormal and discovers that Sayori's mother has something planned for her daughter...
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1999-01-23
Popularity:
Attack Squadron
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-01-03
Popularity:
Samaritan Zatoichi
Overview: Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.
Genres: Adventure Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-12-28
Popularity:
Adventure in Kigan Castle
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Adventure Family
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-04-28
Popularity:
The Incident at Takanodai
Overview:
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-07-29
Popularity:
The Youth Killer
Overview: Though his parents help him run the family business, Jun still feels persecuted by their love; when they bar him from meeting with his girlfriend, tensions increase.
Genres: Drama Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-10-23
Popularity:
Adults Cannot Understand - Record of Youth
Overview: The first work of 27-year-old director Eizo Sugawa, contrasting a politician father and his son, a drummer in a student band. It depicts the conflict between old and new morals, and the lives of young people.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-11-11
Popularity:
The Executioner II: Karate Inferno
Overview: When a priceless jewel owned by rich heiress Sabine is stolen, along with her daughter, Professional thief and hired killer Ryuichi Koga and his gang are hired to retrieve both. At a ransom exchange, the team save the girl but lose the money and the jewel. When Sabine decides to deal directly with the thieves and obtains the jewel on her own by paying the ransom, Koga, having been stiffed of his fee by Sabine, steals the jewel. Little does he know, it’s a fake. Now, Koga and the team must break into a high security bank to steal the real jewel.
Genres: Action Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-12-28
Popularity:
The Witness Killed
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:
Ankokugai zenmetsu sakusen
Overview: The 1965 Japanese yakuza film is the last episode of the Ankokugai series.
Genres: Crime Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-02-14
Popularity:
Woman Boss
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-01-15
Popularity:
Desperado Outpost
Overview: 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.
Genres: War Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-10-06
Popularity:
I, the Executioner
Overview: Police investigators investigate the link between a serial killer's machinations and a teenage boy who committed suicide.
Genres: Thriller Horror Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-04-13
Popularity:
Typhoon Club
Overview: Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, the film takes place over the five-day period before, during, and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which six of the students endure while marooned in their school.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-08-31
Popularity:
I Are You, You Am Me
Overview: 9th-graders Kazuo and Kazumi take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-04-17
Popularity:
The Storm of the Pacific
Overview: Lt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and is welcomed with pride in his hometown on his return. As Japan racks up victory after victory in the Pacific War, Kitami is caught up in the emotion of the time and fights courageously for the standard of Japanese honor. But his assuredness of his government's righteousness is shaken after the Japanese navy is defeated in the debacle of Midway.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-26
Popularity:
The Weed of Crime
Overview: Toho-produced crime drama involving the drug trade.
Genres: Crime Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-12-08
Popularity:
Fort Graveyard
Overview: Charged with insubordination for punching a superior, Sergeant Kosugi is shipped to China in the last desperate days of the Second World War. His commander, Captain Sakuma, is vicious and dictatorial. Sakuma places Kosugi in charge of training for combat what once was the military band. Kosugi must somehow prepare his inept soldiers for the rigors of combat.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-09-18
Popularity:
Golden Eyes
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:
Blueprint of Murder
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-03
Popularity:
Green Lovers
Overview: Pinku from 1975.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-06-21
Popularity:
Battle of the Japan Sea
Overview: Japan and Russia clash in what comes to be known as the Russo-Japanese War. An attempt by the Japanese fleet and army to take Port Arthur fails, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Sea of Japan. Admiral Heihachiro Togo sends his fleet to confront the Russians, with results which stun both nations. Meanwhile, Major Genjiro Akashi makes secret negotiations with the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia, negotiations that have repercussions far beyond the conflict at hand.
Genres: War History Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-08-01
Popularity:
Blind Woman's Curse
Overview: Akemi is a dragon tattooed leader of the Tachibana Yakuza clan. In a duel with a rival gang Akemi slashes the eyes of an opponent and a black cat appears, to lap the blood from the gushing wound. The cat along with the eye-victim go on to pursue Akemi’s gang in revenge, leaving a trail of dead Yakuza girls, their dragon tattoos skinned from their bodies.
Genres: Crime Horror Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-06-20
Popularity:
Samurai Pirate
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-10-26
Popularity:
Moscow, My Love
Overview: A young talented dancer from Japan is invited to study ballet art at a school at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. She achieves professional success, for the first time real love comes to her. However, the girl’s happiness was short-lived — a sudden illness of blood interferes in the fate of the dancer, like an echo of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, where her parents lived.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ru
Release Date: 1974-10-17
Popularity:
The Mad Atlantic
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-07-13
Popularity:
Shogun's Ninja
Overview: In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-11-15
Popularity:
The Executioner
Overview: Three men, the skilled ninja Ryuchi Kog, the deadly assassin and former drug detective Takeshi Hayato, and the criminal mastermind Ichiro Sakura work together to take out an infamous drug dealer.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-08-10
Popularity:
Admiral Yamamoto
Overview: As Japan joins in a political pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is appointed supreme commander of the Japanese fleet. With Japan headed inexorably toward war, Yamamoto, despite his misgivings, believes the only possible victory lies in destroying the American fleet by surprise at Pearl Harbor. The attack succeeds, but fails to sink the American carrier fleet. Thus Yamamoto must lead the Japanese navy into war with ever-diminishing likelihood of success.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-08-14
Popularity:
Rise Against the Sword
Overview: Farmer Abare Goemon is confronted by brigand-like samurai. He raises an army of farmers to fight them and does so brilliantly. When Lord Asakura sees the success Goemon has achieved, he attempts to recruit him to fight in a conflict between Asakura and another clan. Goemon refuses, and Lord Asakura sets out to destroy him.
Genres: History Action War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-11-25
Popularity:
Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast
Overview: During the fervently nationalist months leading up to World War II, a rebellious teenager is transferred to a new primary school in a small Inland Sea town. He vies with the school’s reigning bully, who takes a romantic interest in his older stepsister. When they learn she’s going to be sold to a brothel to pay off her father’s debts, they form an uneasy alliance to free her.
Genres: Drama Comedy War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-10-04
Popularity:
What's Up, Tiger Lily?
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-11-02
Popularity:
Ai・Mai・Me
Overview: Kaoruko, the daughter of a doctor and attending a prestigious high school in Fukuoka, was vaguely anxious about the future. She's even more scared when her friend Natsumi invites her to membership-based prostitution club.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-04-28
Popularity:
Girls Behind Bars
Overview: 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.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-07-31
Popularity:
Princess Mononoke
Overview: Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.
Genres: Adventure Fantasy Animation
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1997-07-12
Popularity:
Bandits on the Wind
Overview: 1961 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-11-22
Popularity:
The Merciless Trap
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:
Zero Fighter
Overview:
Genres: War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-07-13
Popularity:
Fireflies: River of Light
Overview: After finally passing his teacher's exam, Miwa (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) devoted himself to teaching in a rustic primary school. He struggles to get through to his students, until he creates a class project to raise fireflies to fly over it once again. All students, even the reserved girl Hikari (Risako Sugaya), become passionately involved in the project. However, it brings them into conflict with parents and the school, one problem after another stands in his way.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2004-06-05
Popularity:
A Keg of Powder
Overview: 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".
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-12-09
Popularity:
The Killing Bottle
Overview: In Hong Kong an International Secret Police (ISP) Agent is murdered while investigating ZZZ, a group bent on assassinating the Prime Minister of Buddhabal. ISP Agents Carter and Kitami are assigned to the case. When the Prime Minister arrives in Tokyo for a friendship visit, Carter and Kitami are on hand to protect him. On hand, too, are assorted ZZZ blackguards. Several attempts on the Prime Minister's life fail, until finally the ZZZ introduces a new device designed to eliminate not only the Prime Minister but the ISP Agents as well: THE KILLING BOTTLE, then, is a pocket-sized container filled with a substance that can expand to thousands of times its size and throttle its victim, then disappear leaving only the corpse.
Genres: Action Comedy Adventure Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-02-11
Popularity:
The Falcon Fighters
Overview: In the prewar days leading up to the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937, head flight instructor Lt. Katō Tateo of the Imperial Japanese Army-Air Corps trains new volunteers from the Army's Infantry to become Japan's next generation of fighter pilots at the Tokorozawa Flying School. Flying Kawasaki Ko-4 biplanes, Lt. Katō will train both friend and future foe alike. But as war in China breaks out, Katō now in command of the 5th Rentai will take his untested men flying antiquated planes into aerial combat against the Chinese Air Force who is now headed by Lt. Cho who Katō both earlier befriended and personally trained himself. While Katō's squadron ultimately achieves air superiority over the skies of Manchuria, it comes at a high price in men to which each loss carries a heavy burden that he alone must carry. As the war widens into the Second World War, Captain Katō must battle an ever advancing array of deadlier new enemies flying ever more modern fighter planes.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-11-01
Popularity:
The S.S. Happiness Sets Sail
Overview: Adaptation of a 1956 novel by Yukio Mishima.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-11-15
Popularity:
Miss Lonely
Overview: Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-04-12
Popularity:
Westward Desperado
Overview: 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.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-10-30
Popularity:
The Big Boss
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:
The Last Gunfight
Overview: 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.
Genres: Thriller Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-01-03
Popularity:
Operation Enemy Fort
Overview: Soldiers on the front lines in China during World War II are besieged by guerrilla attacks and attempt to destroy an enemy fort.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-10-20
Popularity:
Siege of Fort Bismarck
Overview:
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-05-29
Popularity:
風来忍法帖
Overview: The first of two films based on the novel by Futaro Yamada.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-05-16
Popularity:
風来忍法帖 八方破れ
Overview: The second of two films based on the novel by Futaro Yamada.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-05-08
Popularity:
Interpol Code 8
Overview: Agent Jiro Kitami attempts to stop a smuggling ring from shipping arms to Vietcong guerrillas.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-08-31
Popularity:
Rise and Fall of Chivalry
Overview: A reformed gangster agrees to help a former yakuza member.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-02-21
Popularity:
Amagi Pass
Overview: Japan in the 1940s. A high school boy went into a magic encounter with Ozuka Hana, a geisha (pub-girl) when he traveled through Amagi Pass. A mysterious murder took place afterwards, an Ozuka was held responsible. 40 years later, the boy, who became a printing shop owner, was visited by a retired policeman who came from Amagi Pass. The truth then started to reveal itself.
Genres: Crime Fantasy Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-02-19
Popularity:
Whirlwind
Overview: Set at the end of the Siege of Osaka this film follows the exploits of several members of the defeated Toyotomi clan as they cope with the post battle chaos and the persecution of the Shogun's army. Five samurai decide on different fates when it becomes clear that their side is being destroyed. One wants to attack the enemy head on in a final honorable death. Another decides to commit hari-kiri but wants to find a glorious view to do it. His close friend, the "coward", just wants to run and give up the life of a samurai. The final two set their own castle on fire to garner favors from the enemy and therefore avert their own death during the massacre of all defeated soldiers as
Genres: History Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-07-26
Popularity:
The Retreat from Kiska
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:
Warring Clans
Overview: A brave, highly principled warrior resigns his post as a body guard 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...
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-03-23
Popularity:
Bonds of Love
Overview: Adapted from the Seicho Matsumoto story "Tazutazushi". Ryohei Suzuki, a manager at a travel company, is married to his superior's daughter, but tires of their authority over his life. A chance encounter with Yukiko Hirai one rainy night brings a new romance into Ryohei's life, and he and Yukiko fall deeply in love. Yukiko, however, reveals that she has a violent husband in prison - with only a week left until his release. Ryohei, desperate to maintain his social standing, brings Yukiko to the mountains in Nagano and sets in motion an unthinkable, tragic chain of events.
Genres: Thriller Drama Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-02-15
Popularity:
Blood and Diamonds
Overview: A group of criminals whose diamond heist goes wrong retreat to a WWII era bunker where tensions begin to rise.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-07-01
Popularity:
Flames of Blood
Overview: The story is set in Bakumatsu and revolves around the Bunta Sugawara character, a yakuza (of course :) but instead of a modern yakuza/gangster, he's a gambler/bakuto). After he kills someone and gets wound, is saved by a blind woman (Mitsuko Baishô), who took care of him. They has a happy time under the protection of the Tomisaburo Wakayama character, an oybun. But of course, happy time doesn't last long. The story is also related to Okada Izo and the Shinsengumi (w/ Kondo Isami played by Makoto Sato)
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-01-01
Popularity:
Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder
Overview: A fearless man confronts a yakuza organization pushing the envelope of extravagant & all sorts of violence.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-01-11
Popularity:
Diary of Early Winter Shower
Overview: Kounosuke Mibu and Tae Horikawa are unable to forget each other, even though they met and fell in love 20 years ago. They had promised each other that they would build a retreat in Shiguretei, but Ushio was hospitalized after a stroke a few days later, and when his wife, Takako, rushed to the hospital, she discovered their love affair, which in reality had not gone beyond kissing. Now, 20 years later, against the advice of her ikebana mentor, Tae rushes to meet Ushio at Shiguretei, only to see him clutching his chest in pain. Eventually, the design and plans for the dream retreat are seen by Tae, but she has to visit Kyoto alone... or maybe she's heading for somewhere else.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1998-11-14
Popularity:
Truck Rascals: No One Can Stop Me
Overview: The first of many movies featuring the lighthearted adventures of two truck drivers. Momojiro and his best friend Kinzo take to the road on their cargo trucks impressing each other with their skills in driving fast and evading the police while transporting commodities throughout the country. Chance encounters with people along the way help them to come to terms with events clouding their past and offer them a shot at redemption.
Genres: Romance Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-08-30
Popularity:
The Imperial Navy
Overview: A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-08-08
Popularity:
Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
Overview: Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.
Genres: Action Drama Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-02-04
Popularity:
The Beast Shall Die
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:
Blood for Blood
Overview: The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets of “K City”. With the construction of new buildings and new factories underway, the city has sprouted into a boomtown and business is good. Two of the most infamous mobs of Tokyo want a piece of the pie. As out-of-town yakuza flood the city overnight, the crime boss of the Akiba family, Tezuka (Joe Shishido), is released from prison after a five year sentence. He does not like the "change" he sees.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-06-10
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Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
Overview: A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.
Genres: Action Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-12-19
Popularity:
The Okinawa War of Ten Years
Overview: After World War II, when Okinawa was under control of the United States, the local yakuza prospered. But when Okinawa is returned to Japan, the mainland yakuza tries to take over; the local yakuza tries to compete. Now sides are drawn among the local yakuza guys who used to be best friends since their childhood, and brother fights brother. It results in the biggest yakuza war in Okinawa.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-06-03
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Prison Tales
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-04-10
Popularity:
Thugs of Shinjuku
Overview: Fresh out of jail, a smart-mouth wise guy Goro takes the name “Big Brother Katsumata.” Not fitting in well with established gangs, he forms a rag-tag gang called “the Shinjuku Brothers.” The members of their gang are thugs who only wish they were traditional yakuza. When they turn up at the funeral for a gangster, they are not welcomed, but a senior boss intervenes to keep things calm. The boss of bosses invites them to join a respected local council of warlords. Katsumata is suspicious of why such powerful men would extend an invitation to lowlife like himself.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-12-18
Popularity:
Kazoku no sentaku
Overview: A single mother is being investigated into the death of her ex-husband, which brings to the fore the obscure details of her past.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-11-08
Popularity:
First Love
Overview: This coming-of-age story from Japan opens just after 17-year-old Sataka has gotten dumped by her boyfriend. When her mother is hospitalized with a malignant stomach ulcer, Sataka is left alone with her emotionally repressed father; whiling away the hours one day, she comes across a love letter written to her mother 24 years earlier. Deciding to track down the letter's author, Sataka eventually finds Shinichiro (Hiroyuki Sanada), an overweight slob who was abandoned by his wife years earlier and now spends his time hanging around pachinko parlors. Determined to clean him up and reintroduce him to her mother, Sataka nags Shinchiro until he finally agrees to her demands, and a gradual friendship develops between the two as Sataka drags him to the gym and a clothing store. But once Shinchiro's makeover is complete, he turns the tables on his young friend, and when the time comes for him to meet Sataka's mother, all concerned parties find themselves embarking on a new phase in their lives.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2000-04-01
Popularity:
Port Arthur
Overview: Depicts the bloody siege of the fortress of Port Arthur, one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world, during the Russo-Japanese War of (1904 - 1905). In the story dominated the character Lt Takeshi Kogyo (Teruhiko Aoi), teachers, and a reserve officer who became commander of the platoon and later company. At the same time monitors the conduct of the army commander general Nogi (Tatsuya Nakadai), which was commissioned of the emperor Matsuhito (Toshirô Mifune) to the conquest of the fort.
Genres: War Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-08-02
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The Daphne
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:
A Man in Red
Overview: Takashi, who took the blame when his father shot a gangster, returns home after serving a four-year sentence, only to find it infested with yakuza running a dope ring. Battling gangsters all the way, Takashi searches for his former girlfriend, now a drug addict.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-09-12
Popularity:
Blood on the Sea
Overview: Four fishermen friends are caught up in a piracy plot.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-08-13
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Yun’s Town
Overview: A Japanese boy in love with a girl of Korean origin must battle the prejudices of those around him in order to sustain the relationship.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-06-03
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The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe
Overview: Depicts the life of Nagaharu Yodogawa.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1999-11-07
Popularity:
The Imperial Japanese Empire
Overview: Story of three people, a barber, a Christian and a graduate of the Tokyo Military Academy during the 2nd World War.
Genres: War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-08-07
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Shinjuku's Number One Drunk-Killer Tetsu
Overview: After serving 10 years in prison for murdering a rival boss, Tetsu is appalled to see his yakuza family overgrown and dysfunctional upon his release.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-04-08
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Miyamoto Musashi
Overview: In Part I we see the young would-be swordsman setting out to achieve greatness in war, achieving nothing because fighting on the losing side, & then beginning his long period of wandering & training, with the goal always in mind of his duel with Kojiro. Part II builds toward that great duel on Ganryu Island, with considerable focus on Musashi's planning & forethought as to how to gain an advantage.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-07-13
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The Cross of Vengeance
Overview: Film with Junko Miyazono.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-05-24
Popularity:
Zero
Overview: Two young men are recruited into the Japanese air force just before outbreak of WW2 by the test pilot of Japans new super fighter - the Zero. The movie is told in reverse from the point of one of the young men who don't qualify for the pilot training and instead joins the ground crew. It chronicles the entire history of the famous fighter from the first prototype test flights all through the war.
Genres: War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-08-11
Popularity:
Cute Devil
Overview: While Ryoko is in Vienna studying music, her boyfriend dies in a traffic accident. Ryoko believes that she has psychic powers which killed him, and when she returns to Japan she is sent to a mental hospital. While recovering, her brother-in-law, Kouji, decides to look after her, and she goes to his house to act as a governess for Kouji's sister Keiko's daughter, Alice – who Ryoko becomes increasingly sure had something to do with her sister Fuyuko’s death.
Genres: Drama Fantasy Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-08-10
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Message from Space
Overview: The peaceful planet of Jillucia has been nearly wiped out by the Gavanas, whose leader takes orders from his mother rather than the Emperor. King Kaiba sends out eight Liabe holy seeds, each to be received by a chosen one to defend the Gavanas. Each recipient, ranging from hardened General Garuda to Gavana Prince Hans to young Terrans Meia, Kido, and Aaron all have different reactions to being chosen.
Genres: Action Adventure Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-04-29
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The Stupid Teacher
Overview: Film director Mario Baba meets a mysterious gentleman, and realizes he is a important man from his boyhood. The two chase each other around, causing a lot of commotion.
Genres: Fantasy Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2000-09-30
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Operation Sewer Rats
Overview: Towards the end of World War II, five men are tasked with freeing the son of a general from Chinese captivity.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-06-01
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The Human Revolution
Overview:
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-09-08
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Legend of the Cat Monster
Overview: A legendary actress thought to be dead is discovered living in an isolated mansion. A screenwriter is tasked with writing her comeback film, which leads the two to live under the same roof.
Genres: TV Movie Horror Fantasy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1998-08-16
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Shomuni
Overview: Based on the comic by Hiroyuki Yasuda
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1998-11-28
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Hoero Datsugoku-shu
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-05-15
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Japan's Longest Day
Overview: Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-08-03
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Woman Gambling Expert: Odd/Even Gambling Trip
Overview: 14th in the 17 film Daiei "Woman Gambler" series
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-08-09
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Four Sisters
Overview: Four sisters with no consanguinity are living together since childhood. When facing misfortune and grievances in lives, they give support and encouragement to each other, even sacrifice oneself to help others.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-12-21
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The Summit of Mt. Fuji
Overview: The Japanese government decides to install a radar on the top of Mt. Fuji, in order to detect typhoons as far as 800 km south of the Japanese archipelago, but the task will not be easy.
Genres: Drama Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-02-28
Popularity:
Zoku izuko e
Overview: Sequel to "真実の愛情を求めて 何処へ" (1954). A coming-of-age drama adapted from the novel by Yojiro Ishizaka.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-04-12
Popularity:
25 O'Clock in Shinjuku
Overview: Police detective Amachi fights against those who banished him from his job-both cops and criminals.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-04-12
Popularity: