Kenzō Tanaka
Also Known As: 田中謙三
Biography: Biography not available
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: Not available
Adult: No
Gender: Other
Popularity:
Known For:
Pfc. Story - Behind the Enemy Lines
Overview: First "Pfc. Story" sequel and eighth overall sequel to "Story of Second Class Private".
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-01
Popularity:
Gan-chan no keisatsu nikki
Overview:
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-02-04
Popularity:
Kwaidan
Overview: Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
Genres: Horror Fantasy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-01-06
Popularity:
Story of Second Class Private, Sequel
Overview: First sequel to "Story of Second Class Private".
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-03-18
Popularity:
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Overview: During the ultra-violent era of the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate one man rose above the rest with his ideas of how to overthrow the corrupt government and end the bloodshed between the Choshu and Satsuma clans which would ultimately lead to the alliance of these 2 clans and restoration of the emperor to full power. Based on the play that made Sawada Shojiro famous, this is the story of Tsukigata Hanpeita, a forward looking samurai from Choshu, who along with Katsura Kogoro and Sakamoto Ryoma of Tosa worked to bring their dream of a new era in Japan.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-05-29
Popularity:
The Sun's Burial
Overview: In Osaka's slum, youths without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the buying and selling of identity cards and of blood. Alliances constantly shift. Tatsu and Takeshi, friends since boyhood, reluctantly join Shin's gang. Shin's an upstart and moves his gang often to avoid the local kingpin. Hanoko is a young woman with ambitions: first she's in the blood business with her father, then she joins forces with Shin. She soon breaks off that partnership, even though she's taken the sensitive Takeshi under her wing. Double crosses multiply. Those with the closest bonds become each others' murderers.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-08-09
Popularity:
Kagebōshi
Overview: On the night the shogunate's treasury was breached, the guard Utsugi had already been taken down. His colleague Ryunosuke felt responsible and decided to catch the culprit, not only for the sake of the beautiful wife of Utsugi, Chika, but also for his own honor. Chika's younger brother Shinjiro and the powerful Uechi family living near Ryunosuke's abode, join hands to support Ryunosuke. Counterfeit coins begin to surface—a scheme by the corrupt faction led by Yanagisawa. The henchman behind this is Koyamada Tesshin, who gathers ronin to amplify Yanagisawa's power. Among those ronin is Tendo Sakon—a man who drinks silently and plays the flute when in a mood.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-01-03
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:
快盗三人吉三
Overview: On March 11 in the seventh year of Tenpo (1836), a monk named Bennō, who fell in love with a geisha named Oshima, was publicly exposed at Nihonbashi for committing an illicit act with a woman. While this was happening, an extravagant procession led by another monk named Nikkei passed over the bridge. Nikkei, the head of the Kanouin temple, in collusion with Nakano Harima-no-Kami, had schemed to make his younger sister, Miyoshi, the Shogun's mistress and aimed to transform Kanouin into the Shogun's family temple. To fund the renovations, Nikkei accepted bribes from a corrupt merchant named Koya Bunzo.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-04-21
Popularity:
Denshichi Torimonocho: Tattoo Woman Trouble
Overview: During the era of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one night a carver named Fujijiro was murdered. Immediately launching an investigation, Denhichi, accompanied by Otoshi and Take, toured the entertainment houses of Ryogoku. There, they discovered a connection between an acrobat and the incident. On their way home, Otoshi unexpectedly encountered an old friend, Inosuke, nervously buying a dagger. Inosuke, a clerk at the Kashimaya store, was in love with Oko, a secret lover of Bunzaemon. Amidst this, Seihei, the head clerk, was murdered by someone, and a dagger belonging to Inosuke was found at the scene, leading Gohei to suspect Inosuke as the culprit. However, Otoshi was hiding Inosuke. Driven by Otoshi's plea and a professional instinct that Inosuke wasn't the perpetrator, Denhichi desperately searched for the real culprit.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-07-06
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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:
振袖釼法
Overview: In Marugame Domain of Shikoku, a low-ranking foot soldier named Tagami Genbachi was envied for marrying Tsuji, the most beautiful woman in the domain. However, due to a personal grudge held by Horikawa Gentazaemon, the swordsmanship instructor, Genbachi met an untimely and bitter death through foul means within the precincts of the Hachiman Shrine. Due to the domain's oppressive treatment of those of low status, Tsuji, now with her infant son Botaro, was dispossessed of her home and exiled.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-07-26
Popularity:
Enoken ohako rakuda no Ma-san
Overview: 1950 Japanese movie
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-03-26
Popularity:
荒木又右衛門
Overview: Watanabe Kazuma and Kawai Matagorō from the Bizen Okayama Ikeda clan were close friends, but they inevitably became enemies after Matagorō killed Kazuma's younger brother, Gentayū, and fled. Seeking assistance, Kazuma asked his brother-in-law, Araki Mataemon, for help, but Mataemon refused, saying that it was against the code for a brother to avenge another brother's death. On the other hand, the lord of the clan, Ikeda Tadao, ordered a search for Matagorō, who was found to be sheltered by the Hatamoto, including Andō Jiemon, in Edo. Tadao was furious but unable to act. Matagorō, in Edo, came to regret his birth as a samurai. He met and fell in love with Okō, a bathhouse maid. As the discord between the Hatamoto and the Ikeda clan deepened, Tadao died of illness. Seizing the opportunity to ease the conflict, the shogunate ordered the Ikeda clan to be succeeded by the young lord Katsugorō and to relocate to the Ikeda clan of Inshū Tottori. Meanwhile, Matagorō was exiled from Edo.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-09-21
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Travels of Lord Mito Pt.3
Overview: Third film in the 'Travels of Lord Mito' franchise.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-12-22
Popularity:
Navy
Overview: Japanese war film.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1943-12-08
Popularity:
大当り男一代
Overview: Shinzō, the heir of the prominent Edo lumber dealer Yamashiroya, left home when his stubborn father, Chōzaemon, dismissed his lover, the maid Oyasu. Shinzō and Oyasu set up a household near a soba shop in Fukagawa, but Shinzō struggled financially, turning to gambling and fighting, while Oyasu worked as a tea server in a theater, constantly harassed by a small-time gangster, Rikichi, for cigarette money. The only ones concerned about Shinzō and Oyasu were Shinzō’s sister, Omitu, and her dance teacher, Oyoshi. Later, Shinzō managed to get a job at another lumber dealer, but after a conflict with the detective Hansuke, who was also infatuated with Oyasu, Shinzō accidentally dropped lumber into the river and was fired. Unaware that Oyasu had borrowed money from a bar to repay the lumber dealer, Shinzō left to earn money in the Mito clan's crew quarters and ended up rescuing Rikichi from a dice game trouble.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-01-22
Popularity:
元祿美少年記
Overview: On February 4th of the 16th year of the Genroku era, Yatō Uemon no Shichi reminisces while waiting his turn for seppuku at the Mizuno residence. When news of his lord, Asano Naganori, attacking Kira Yoshinaka in the palace reached Akō, Uemon no Shichi was sixteen. The family elder, Ōishi Kuranosuke, determined to avenge, gathered allies, but Uemon no Shichi's father, Chōsuke, being sickly and considered too young, was not included. Chōsuke committed suicide.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-12-21
Popularity:
Denshichi Torimonocho: Female Fox Palanquin
Overview: One night in Edo, a mysterious woman in a palanquin appeared at the moneylender Yamashiroya, revealing herself to a beautiful woman. She told the owner, Shigebē, that she had come to collect a life he owed from twenty years ago and then left. The same night, Maruiya Genbē also received a visit from the woman's palanquin, and nearby, a man named Manbē was murdered. The detective Hayanawa Gohē concluded the murder was the work of a fox spirit, but another detective, Den Shichi, skeptical of this theory, noticed footprints on the tatami and decided to investigate further.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-06-01
Popularity:
The Further Adventures of Genta
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-06-07
Popularity:
Kaze no uchi so to
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-03-24
Popularity:
Surprising 53 Stations of the Tokaido
Overview: Kintaro goes on a journey to his hometown to meet his mother and sister. His love for singing leads him to a perceptive and cheerful girl named Onatsu... A road trip comedy featuring Kokichi Takada and Hibari Misora singing and dancing.
Genres: Adventure Comedy Music
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1954-08-11
Popularity:
Somersault on the Way
Overview: A young boy named Chomatsu (Misora Hibari) lives with an old man Denbei near the grounds of Asakusa temple as bell ringers. In their house is an Echigo lion mask, a memento of Chomatsu's deceased father. After several incidents of Echigo lion masks being destroyed in the area, a local kingpin Saheiji shows up at Denbei's demanded he hand over the mask, a request Denbei rejects out of pity for Chomatsu. However, after it is accidentally revealed that the mask contains an important map, Saheiji plots to steal the mask. Chomatsu gets involved after his mother makes a sudden reappearance that sends the boy on a roundabout journey that will reveal the truth about his family.
Genres: Music Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-12-31
Popularity:
Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 2
Overview: Part 2 starts where the first film ended, with Iemon disposing of the bodies of his wife and Kohei, marrying upward, and being blackmailed by the evil Naosuke.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1949-07-16
Popularity:
Harakiri
Overview: Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-09-15
Popularity:
Street of Ronin
Overview: Based on the famous novel by Yamagami Itaro, this is the story of a group of ronin living in abject poverty in the latter days of the Edo period. Starring the great Konoe Jushiro, Ronin Gai is populated by an ensemble of colorful characters, social outcasts who patronize a restaurant and bar on the outskirts of Edo. Among them are masterless samurai reduced to drunkenness and debauchery. One disgraced and disillusioned former warrior gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to retrieve a famous knife from a corrupt lord. This is the third version directed by Makino Masahiro and is considered a true classic.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-04-03
Popularity:
The Battle of Kawanakajima
Overview: This epic depicts the battle between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The focus of the story is the struggle by the unit leader in charge of the main supply wagons and the supply troops to transport materiel to the Uesugi army. To this are added episodes involving an itinerant woman.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1941-11-30
Popularity:
Three Outlaw Samurai
Overview: Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-05-13
Popularity:
Assassination
Overview: Assassination begins with the events of 1853 when "four black ships" anchored at Edo Bay, sparking civil unrest and the major political manoeuvring that saw the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At a time when assassination had become a disturbing political tool, Shinoda's film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, an ambitious, masterless samurai whose allegiances drift dangerously between the Shogunate and the Emperor.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-07-04
Popularity:
Samurai from Nowhere
Overview: Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-05-20
Popularity:
Weeping Doll
Overview: A Hibari Misora musical about an impoverished girl and her brother in Postwar Japan.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1951-05-19
Popularity:
The Love of the Actress Sumako
Overview: The stage director Shimamura, who is bringing western theatre to Japan, falls in love with the outspoken actress Sumako Matsui, and leaves his family to be with her, while trying to keep his Art Theatre solvent.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1947-08-16
Popularity:
The Image of Mother
Overview: A resolute young man searching for his mother, whom he was separated from as a child, defies a family who mistreat the poor and homeless.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-12-24
Popularity:
Sakon Detective Story: Handprint in Fresh Blood
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-12-02
Popularity:
Den nana torimono jō bijo koumori
Overview: The head of Oshu, Harumichi Honma, was ordered by the boat bugyo (Commissioner of the board) Tajima Kuze to extract five gold coins to the Shogun family in Edo, and put it into Ryujin Maru. However, Tajima, who was the chief retainer of the shogunate, said that he was a member of the board, tetsugoro Funabashi, kumiyumi no Kami ichibei, and his son, masakichi, and others, and in the middle of the night, he killed all the members with poison in the night of the storm, threw Masayoshi, who was a fellow of the city, and masakichi, who escaped from the death of poison, into the sea and sank the boat to eliminate evidence.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-01-29
Popularity:
Zoku kagebōshi ryūkoaiutsutsu
Overview: A continuation of the prior film (影法師).
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1950-01-08
Popularity:
Honno-Ji in Flames
Overview: The plot is based on the novel "Akechi Samanosuke no Koi," the final work in a trilogy by Hiroshi Kato about the forced suicide of Oda Nobunaga at the temple Honnoji. Historically, the general Akechi Mitsuhide is credited with causing Nobunaga's downfall. Kato's novel focuses on Mitsuhide's nephew Samanosuke, who fought alongside his uncle during the assault on Honnoji.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-09-11
Popularity:
As the Clouds Scatter
Overview: A provincial bus driver plans to marry his conductress, but one night he glimpses the woman he once loved, which throws him into turmoil.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-07-09
Popularity:
Adventures of Princess Anmitsu
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-12-27
Popularity:
The Adventures of Chuji
Overview: Chuji Kunisada runs into strange adventures which tests his skill as a samurai as he untangles intrigue and murder against the backdrop of the majestic Mount Akagi.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-01
Popularity:
Six Men Mustered in Great Edo
Overview: A parody based on Kabuki plays about thieves led by the famous Soshun Kochiyama.
Genres: Comedy History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1953-12-22
Popularity: