Ryūko Azuma
Also Known As: Ryûko Azuma, 東竜子
Biography: 14-year Ryuko debuted in "Yoake" from Kawai Film Company. Two years later she made appearances in three films starred 27-year Ichikawa Tomonsuke who has distribution partnership with Kawai. In 11 years when Kawai Films became Daito Films and later Daiei, Ryuko appeared in 215 films. From 1955 to 1965 Ryuko Azuma and her husband Kusuo Abe work for Toei films.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Adult: No
Birthday: January 10, 1917
Age: 108 years old
Gender: Female
Popularity:
Known For:
Blind Monk Swordsman
Overview: This is the story of a bad man who re-discovering humanity via woman and child while clashing with the yakuza and being hunted by a man called “Death” who has his own dark past. The prototype for the later two yakuza priest series with Shintaro Katsu and Tomisaburo Wakayama. Apparently so. And the swordsman motif seems to have been concurrent with Daiei's first ZATOICHI production.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-06-20
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Bride of Peacock Castle
Overview: Princess Kazu, the daughter of Shogun Ienari, is sent to marry Matsudaira Nobunao, master of Peacock castle in Kozuke province, a domain of 17,000 koku. When the procession carrying her sizable dowry was so large that it was expected to take 30 days to reach the castle the members of the clan were surprised to learn that it contained only her barest essentials! Would her presence create a problem too large for the clan to deal with? And having been trained by Lord Yagyu himself, will her martial skills ruin the marital plans set forth for the couple, or can she be tamed in time for the wedding?
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-04-08
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Ōedo no taka
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-04-11
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Trouble Over Swords and Women: A Woman's Mind
Overview:
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-11-16
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Trouble Over Swords and Women: Sword Light and Shooting Star
Overview: film directed by Tai Katô
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-11-30
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Scramble for Fortune
Overview: A young man and a woman are on a mission to protect a mysterious mirror that hides the secrets of a great fortune.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-10-09
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Three Yakuza
Overview: A tale of three Yakuza gamblers who traveled Japan during the samurai era living by their wits and sword skills. Told in 3 separate vignettes, each part tells the story of a different drifter’s life. Part 1: A man is on the run after killing two Hasshu Officials to avenge his Boss. He must make a life or death decision as he is asked to protect a gang from attack. Part 2: A pair of gamblers chased out of a crooked game must fight not only their pursuers, but the ghosts of their pasts as well. Part 3: A wanderer who wants to live according to the Yakuza Code, but is not sure that he can do so when asked to save a town from an evil official.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-05-22
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Brothers Serving Time
Overview: While imprisoned, Tatsu encounters Danshi, a man who is a big honcho in the prison pecking order. After initial conflict they become sworn brothers. Tatsu and the sworn brothers he acquires weren’t really gangsters before their prison time, just ruffians. Prison, however, introduces them to plenty of gangland characters and three years later, they’re out of prison and enmeshed in the yakuza world.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-05-03
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Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers
Overview: The great Bunta stars as a gangster who is sent to jail for the sake of his gang, but when he’s released he finds everything completely changed and his gang has swept him aside for being too violent. He tries to start a new life with his two ”brothers” but can’t seem to escape old affiliations
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-10-25
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Hikage-Mono
Overview: A Yakuza film directed by Kôsaku Yamashita
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-11-22
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Travels of Lord Mito Pt.1
Overview: The deputy shogun of the realm, accompanied by his loyal and capable aides, makes a stop at Jigokudani, a place along his journey through various provinces. Here, a lively and entertaining tale unfolds, filled with swordplay where heroes and villains clash, intertwined with heartwarming humor.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-02-14
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Travels of Lord Mito Pt.2
Overview: At the transformed Fumaden (Demon Subduing) Temple, with the dynamic efforts of Sukesan and Kakusan, and the appearance of the heroic woman Oshin, Lord Kōmon's ingenious strategy swiftly overcomes the wicked bandits in this exhilarating and unrivaled episode.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-03-06
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Isshin Tasuke: A World in Danger
Overview: Tasuke stumbles across Kokichi, a distraught man whom having lost his fiancee to Lord Kawakatsu is ready to commit suicide. Tasuke learns that Kokichi's fiancee, Otoyo, was a chambermaid whom Kawakatsu abducted in order to make her his concubine and Tasuke feels compelled to right this wrong. Meanwhile Kawakatsu is dealing in black-market lumber and receiving kick-backs but unbeknownst to him he is under investigation by Lord Izu, one of the Shogun Elders. Will Tasuke be able to rescue Otoyo from the clutches of Lord Kawakatsu and can Lord Izu put an end to his money hungry evildoings.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-22
Popularity:
The Kingdom of Jirocho 2
Overview: Jirocho and his henchmen befriend Ishimatsu, a wanderer in Mishima.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-11-10
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鍔鳴浪人
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-02-18
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Jûroku-sai no keiken
Overview: Pinku from 1970.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-11-01
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Love And Order
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-02-17
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Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Overview: In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-01-13
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Utsunomiya tsuritenjō
Overview: Japanese horror movie from 1937.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1937-01-01
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The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
Overview: Third part of Nihon Kyokakuden series is set in Kanto in 1924. Ken Takakura playing a ship's mate befriending fish shop owners harassed by yakuza.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-08-12
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
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Tenjiku Tokubei
Overview: Japanese horror movie from 1936.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1936-12-31
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Jūrokumon karasudō: Sennin higan
Overview: Japanese film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-10-12
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Withered Tree, the Adventures of Monjiro
Overview: Kogarashi Monjiro is a lone samurai who agrees to take responsibility for a murder that his friend committed so that he can stay with his dying mother, with the expectation that his friend will confess and get him pardoned once she dies. Monjiro is sentenced to an island for prisoners. When he discovers that his friend's mother has died over a year ago, Monjiro seeks to escape with a group of prisoners in order to get his revenge.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-06-21
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Yakuza on Foot
Overview: An Osaka gangster Shimamura just got married. His new bride, Mineko is also involved in drug trafficking. When she goes to China to make a deal, things get botched pretty badly. Shimamura must travel to save her and recoup his employers’ losses.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-03-30
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The Story of a Man Among Men
Overview: During the Showa era, a young yakuza survives war and injury and rises to become a clan boss with the help and respect of his sworn brothers.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-11-17
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The International Gang of Kobe
Overview: In 1947, in Kobe, Japan, a local street gang fights for their survival when its turf is overrun by United States occupation forces and international gangs.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-10-14
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The Pledge
Overview: When Omuro Yahachi of the Omuro family is selected as Mutsumikai Soke's successor, the conflict between the Kitakyushu and Wakamatsu begins.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-07-30
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Death at an Old Mansion
Overview: A woman and her bridegroom are found murdered in their bed the day after their wedding. It had snowed overnight and the killer left no tracks. It is up to an amateur detective to figure out what happened. Carefully and systematically, he pieces together the clues in this locked room mystery.
Genres: Drama Horror Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-09-27
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The Story of a Geisha
Overview: In the year 1873, a Japanese woman is sold as a mistress to an American diplomat stationed in Japan.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-08-27
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Three Gamblers
Overview: Three closely associated gamblers have adventures in Yokohama, Hokkaido, and Macao. Gambling trio endure hardships to rescue Naojiro’s family.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-01-12
Popularity:
Samurai Reincarnation
Overview: After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.
Genres: Action Fantasy Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-06-06
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Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit
Overview: Nabeshima Naoshige murders his lord, Ryuzoji Takafusa, seeking to gain power and steal his Lord’s wife. To avoid her fate, Lady Takafusa drowns herself along with her cat in a nearby marsh. A decade later, Naoshige’s efforts to steal another woman trigger a curse on him when she also commits suicide at the same marsh — forcing him to suffer the consequences of his past actions.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-07-12
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Bride of White Castle
Overview: A young girl, Okimi, falls in love with Kiritaro, a handsome thief disguised as a wealthy young master.
Genres: Drama Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-17
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An Actor's Revenge
Overview: Nakamura Yukinojo gains popularity in Edo's kabuki scene as a handsome onnagata (a male actor who plays female roles). But hidden behind the placid expression of his stage face is a deep grudge for the men responsible for dishonoring his parents' names and leading them to suicide when he was still a child. When he discovers that the mastermind behind those crimes has come to see him act onstage, he begins in earnest to plot his revenge. With the help of a renowned Robin Hood-like thief named Yamitaro, he makes out his first target: the daughter of the man who orchestrated his parents' demise.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-12-25
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Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu
Overview: In turbulent 16th-century Japan, the leaders of a minor fief have their child taken from them as a political hostage. His mother and his clan endure years of tribulations until he can return.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-01-03
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The Cross of Vengeance
Overview: Film with Junko Miyazono.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-05-24
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Gambling Den's Master Clan
Overview: Sixth entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-09-03
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Case of a Young Lord 8
Overview: A family is brutally murdered in their own home and the official government's sake dealer is framed as a rebel by a corrupt member of the Shogun's Council of Elders. Young Lord decides to take on the Shogun's vile chief attendant.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-12-27
Popularity:
The Street Fighter's Last Revenge
Overview: Terry Sugury is hired to recover one of two tapes containing a formula for making heroin for a price of 200 dollars a pound. But he gets double crossed. So he wants the tape back.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-11-22
Popularity:
Sakura Official
Overview: As Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate nears the end of its rule, Edo North Magistrate Toyama no Kinsan is called upon to judge the most difficult case of his career. In a masterfully woven tale, he has to face the truth about his estranged father’s possible involvement in a nefarious plot to take over rule of the Hizen Shimabara clan by assassinating the rightful lord, his son, and install one of Shogun Ienari’s offspring as daimyo.
Genres: History War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-02-28
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Road In the Mist
Overview: Okinu, the beautiful daughter of a feudal lord, discovers her true identity and leaves her lavish life behind to avenge her birth father's death.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-04-06
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Shimmering Sword
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-07-01
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Blind Wolf
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-09-29
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Isshin Tasuke: Edoites Festival
Overview: A costumed film featuring the famous hero of Japanese history, Isshin Tasuke, arranged in the form of a popular song.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-04-20
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The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
Overview: The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-02-03
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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
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Little Tengu
Overview: A story about a tomboy, Otoshi, who is good at singing, dancing and fencing.
Genres: Action Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-04-25
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The Kanto Brothers' Code of Honor
Overview: The Kanto Brothers' Code of Honor (関東兄弟仁義 仁侠) is a 1971 film directed by Buichi Saitō. It is the ninth and last film in the Duty of Brotherhood series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-09-07
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Rumble Festival
Overview: 1960 Toei film
Genres: History Action Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-07-26
Popularity:
Japanese Humanity and Justice
Overview: When a mob boss retires under political pressure, his successor and yakuza family are tested to their limits as new alliances and enemies are formed.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-05-28
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The Gambler
Overview: A crime film released in 1965
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-07-10
Popularity:
Noble Tasuke
Overview: The story opens in October of 1624 when the newly appointed Shogun Iemitsu visits the famed Kan-ei temple. On his way the procession is disrupted when a small child runs into the street, a crime punishable by execution. One man steps forward to save her life by putting his on the line. Brave and compassionate Isshin Tasuke has come into the limelight as a hero of legendary proportions. His uncanny resemblance to Shogun Iemitsu will lead to many adventures that formed on of the great series in Japanese cinema. With his intelligence and personality, Tasuke seeks to intervene in the struggle between opposing factions in the Shogun's Ruling Council.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-02-05
Popularity:
Tenamonya Sandogasa
Overview: The Tokaido highway is crowded with people heading for Shimizu Port with the dream of defeating Jirocho of Shimizu and becoming the strongest in Japan. Tokijiro is a fallen yakuza who is trying to make his mark by heading for Shimizu Port with his partner, Chinen.
Genres: Comedy Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-06-09
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Mermaid Murder Case
Overview: The sixth episode of Hashizo Okawa's "Wakasama Samurai" catch series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-09-29
Popularity:
The Kingdom of Jirocho 4
Overview: The continuing adventures of the Jirocho gang.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-08-25
Popularity:
Iwami Jūtarō
Overview:
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1937-03-03
Popularity: