Rinichi Yamamoto
Also Known As: Yamarin, رینیچی یاماموتو
Biography: Yamamoto Rinichi (Yamamoto Rinichi, January 16, 1927 - October 16, 1980) is an actor in Japan. Born from Asahikawa city, Hokkaido. Nickname is Yamrin (Yamarin). From Wikipedia (ja), the free encyclopedia
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Asahikawa, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
Birthday: January 16, 1927
Deathday: October 16, 1980
Adult: No
Gender: Male
Popularity:
Known For:
Red Peony Gambler
Overview: Ryuko was raised by her father, a gambler named Senzo Yano in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after her mother died when she was little. When she turned 18 years old, her father was attacked and killed by a stranger in alley. Ryuko then dissolves her yakuza family, and, carrying the wallet left by the killer, she sets out on a journey to avenge her father's death. Five years later, she wanders the nation, known only as! Red Peony Oryu who has a red peony tattooed on her shoulder and has the defiance and courage of a man. She meets Katagiri - a loner gambler, Kumatora - boss of a family in Shikoku, and Otaka - female boss of the Doman Family in Osaka. With their help, she finally catches up with the man who murdered her father.
Genres: Drama Action Comedy Thriller Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-09-14
Popularity:
One Man's Chivalry
Overview: Tokizо, the boss of the Tenmaru-gumi group, assists Kikujiro, a traveler on the run. At this time, a tender is being held to conclude a contract for the construction of the railway. Tokizo, who made the highest bid, was bought by the head of the Wakatsuki section of the Kansai Railroad, who was thinking about the country, and won by suppressing Takebe-gumi, who used bribes. However, not everything went as smoothly as planned...
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-10-15
Popularity:
Judo Hall Demon
Overview: Sequel to the movie Judo Ichidai (Judo Life) with Sonny Chiba
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-02-02
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 14
Overview: An elderly woman, Ume Matsumoto, complained to the First Investigation Department that her son Hirasaka, who runs a shoe store, had disappeared. The ominous foreboding of the First Investigation Department hit the mark, it turned out that the discovered unidentified body of the drowned man was Hirasaka. Moreover, the land in front of the station, owned by Hirasaka, was sold by someone. Suspecting that this is a planned murder, the Investigative Group, fearing the escape of the criminal, begins to act secretly, without creating an investigation headquarters.
Genres: Mystery Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-06-21
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 13
Overview: On a quiet spring day in the suburbs, a stray dog found the corpse of a baby. Three days after his death, the blood group of the victim was determined. Detectives Hayashi, Kaneko, Nagata and Yamagata begin their investigation, suspecting the parents of the murdered child. They use a towel, baby diapers and bruises on the baby's body as clues in the investigation. Who killed the baby?
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-06-07
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.15: Alibi
Overview: The First Investigation Department is investigating a murder case that took place at a government agency, with particular attention to finding an alibi for the suspects. A security guard was killed in the building, the safe was broken into, but nothing was stolen. The three suspects have alibis, but who then killed the guard and broke into the safe? The 15th work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department. Sonny Chiba's first film role as one of the seven detectives.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-26
Popularity:
Men Fighting Whales
Overview: A film about the rivalry between Captain Gondo and the harpooner Yosuke Yamagami, working on the best whaling ship Hayabusa Maru. One day they will have to face a giant, monstrous whale.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-09
Popularity:
Woman His Prey
Overview:
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-07-30
Popularity:
腕まくり七色娘
Overview: 1961 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-17
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 17
Overview: The murder took place at a hotel in Matsushima. The victim is a woman about 28 years old. The suspect is a young man who visited her the night before, and the evidence, in addition to shoe horns and handkerchiefs, is soap with the name of the tavern. When detectives at Shiogama Station followed the man's tracks, it turned out that he had come from Ueno.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-09-13
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.16: 15 Year Old Woman
Overview: Detectives of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department are investigating the murder of a 15-year-old girl, whose strangled corpse was found in the bay of the Tama River. As usual, the film runs only one hour and doesn’t depart too far from the usual formula; however, it greatly benefits from frequent outdoor locations that were missing from the previous film. It also touches far more serious topics, such as child abuse and mental insanity. 16th work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-01
Popularity:
Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance
Overview: Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.
Genres: Action Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-06-15
Popularity:
Gang's Upward Strategy
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-18
Popularity:
A Doting Parent’s Lullaby
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-11-01
Popularity:
Rogue Of The Night
Overview:
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-06-15
Popularity:
Sympathy for the Underdog
Overview: A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-01-12
Popularity:
Modern Sorority
Overview:
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-03-29
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.18: Mysterious Red Phone
Overview: The investigation team of the police department is chasing a vicious criminal who kidnaps children, the key to catching the villain this time is the phone. The 18th work from the series "Keishicho Monogatari".
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-06-24
Popularity:
Golden Partners
Overview: A motorcycle cop and a freelance photographer, having learned the location of 1 billion yen's worth of the Imperial Navy's gold, team up to salvage it.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-04-28
Popularity:
Japan Organized Crime Boss
Overview: Coming out of jail and hoping for a quiet life, Yokohama yakuza has to take the lead of his gang after the death of his boss. His small group is is taken in a crossfire between a big yakuza group from Osaka at war with the Tokyo alliance for the control of the city. He tries to keep to the old yakuza code but he is no match for the new thugs who live and fight without honor.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-07-08
Popularity:
Mid-August Commotion
Overview: A suspense work based on the "Miyagi Incident," an attempted coup d'etat led by some officers working for the Ministry of the Defense and the General Staff of the Konoe Division on the eve of the end of the Pacific War.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-08-22
Popularity:
Brave Red Flower of the North
Overview: An exciting tale of action on the distant northern island of Hokkaido around the beginning of the 20th Century starring two of the biggest names in Yakuza film history, Fuji Junko and Takakura Ken. Since the death of death of her father, Yuki who has traveled from her home in the southernmost part of Japan must fight corrupt local officials seeking to fill her late father's post. As her life is in danger a mysterious rifleman, played by Takakura Ken watches from the shadows. Can she finish the work her dear departed father started in an untamed land?
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-01-09
Popularity:
Kingdom of Samurai
Overview:
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-10-01
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.19: Landfill
Overview: In the former landfill, where construction is currently underway, the corpse of a middle-aged man with an unusual rosary in his hand was dug up. An autopsy showed that the victim was about 40 years old, 170 cm tall, had bad teeth, and had been strangled about a month ago. The police department begins an investigation, Detectives Hayashi and Kitagawa set out to investigate the origin of the rosary, and Detectives Nagata and Watanabe begin interviewing construction workers. In the end, it turns out that the rosary belongs to some new religion... The 19th work from the series "Keishicho Monogatari".
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-07-29
Popularity:
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
Overview: Young yakuza Shujiro Hanada goes to prison after losing his cool in a rigged gambling game and slashing a few other players. When he's released in 1927, the world has changed. His sister died in the Great Kanto Earthquake and his father is also gone. His brother Jukichi invites him to stay at his in-laws and works in their family pub. He lies low, helping his blind mother-in-law and slowly developing a relationship with Ikuye, the hostess who helped him before his arrest. But trouble lurks when the resident gang decides to show its strength.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-09-22
Popularity:
Code of Ruffians
Overview: Because of trickery, the Jinya Group has only seven days to complete a mountain road project or it will forfeit a major dam construction job to the scheming Ojika Group.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-04
Popularity:
Keishichō monogatari iryū-hin nashi
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-09-15
Popularity:
Keishichō monogatari 108 gōsha
Overview: 1959 Japanese movie
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-06-09
Popularity:
Keishichō monogatari gao no nai on'na
Overview: 1959 Japanese movie
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-02-18
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 21
Overview: A burnt corpse of a man was found in Okutama. As a result of the investigation, it turns out that the criminal strangled the victim with a bandage, smashed his face with an oil canister and burned the body, trying to hide the identity of the victim. But the investigation establishes that the victim is a former criminal named Hisashi Sayama. According to the daughter-in-law of the Sayama, a man named Kitamura got him a job, so he left home with a copy of the family register. Trying to find the killer, the First Investigation Department is investigating all over the country, including Akita, Yokkaichi and Okinawa.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-06-14
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 12
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-01-27
Popularity:
One Passed Through Hell
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-19
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.20: Backing Investigation
Overview: This time, the investigation division is investigating the case of a man who confessed to killing a woman in a labyrinth 2 years ago, adhering to the constitutional provision that "confessing a suspect is not a crime." The 20nd work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-02-10
Popularity:
Hikage-Mono
Overview: A Yakuza film directed by Kôsaku Yamashita
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-11-22
Popularity:
Second Generation Young Boss
Overview: Takeshi Nanjo, a junior lieutenant in the navy whose father, the head of the Nanjo-gumi yakuza family, was killed, is forced to leave the army and become the head of the Nanjo-gumi in the second generation. He brutally chivalrously avenges the death of his father by a vicious yakuza linked to extremists within the army through the courage and swordsmanship of naval training!
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-11-01
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.22: Teenage Footsteps
Overview: A 16-year-old high school student Midori Matsumoto was found dead on the banks of the Tama River. The only clue is shoe marks on rubber soles. From the interview of witnesses, it became clear that Midori was walking with a guy last night. In addition, it turned out that Midori was close to a college student Kimoto, and a high school student Miyazaki. According to his friends, Miyazaki had an alibi, but Kimoto did not. A unique work in which the problems of teenage sex are considered from the point of view of the murder of a girl. The 21nd work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-07-07
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.23: Confession
Overview: The corpse of a man is found in the Dobu River in Tokyo, the victim was a man named Genzaburo Sakai, who was engaged in debt collection. The shoe shiner Kinoshita, who was in debt to Sakai, was soon apprehended. During interrogation, Kinoshita said that he was the one who killed Sakai. However, after a while, he admitted that he lied, because he thought that in prison he could eat plenty of rice for free. The investigation established that Sakai was a repatriate from Manchuria, and after returning to Japan, he had a wife, Rie Kawai. The investigation begins the search for Rie... The 23nd work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-02-23
Popularity:
Men and War III: The Final Chapter
Overview: Final part of epic drama about war and its effects upon human beings, follows the fortunes of the Godai family through the Sino-Japanese War through the Soviet Union's sudden attack upon Japanese troops at the end of the war.
Genres: Drama War History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-08-11
Popularity:
The Gambler
Overview: A crime film released in 1965
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-07-10
Popularity:
The Outsiders
Overview: A drama about relations between Japanese immigrants and the indigenous Ainu on Hokkaido, the most northerly island of Japan. From a novel by Taijun Takeda.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-11-26
Popularity:
Police Department Story Pt.24: Missing
Overview: Two people disappeared, engineers of the company Yamato Matsui and Koyama. The two worked overtime, and it is proven that they consumed alcohol together. According to the sushi restaurant employee who delivered the order around 9 p.m., the two were arguing loudly. Traces of blood were found at the scene, and it looks like a murder occurred. The Investigative Department begins an investigation… The 24nd work from the popular series "Keishicho Monogatari", which documents the activities of the First Investigation Division of the Capital Police Department.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-12-05
Popularity:
The Second Bullet is Marked
Overview: Tsunokichi and Ken face off against a rival yakuza in Kyushu.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-01-27
Popularity:
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
Overview: Hidejiro is a wandering yakuza with a ‘karashi botan’ (Chinese lion and peony) tattoo. Owing a favor to the Soda Family, he kills the boss of the rival Sakaki Family. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-01-13
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:
Nerai uchi buraikan
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-10-06
Popularity:
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
Overview: With his penultimate film, Uchida revisited one of his popular prewar titles, 1936’s Theatre of Life, an adaptation of Shiro Ozaki’s eponymous novel. Three-time Seijun Suzuki collaborator Goro Tanada wrote a gangsterized adaptation of Ozaki’s story for Uchida at a time when the yakuza had eclipsed the samurai genre as Toei's main cash crop. Protagonist Hishakaku murders a man in a quarrel over a barmaid and goes to jail. In his temporary absence, his girlfriend Otoyo, a former geisha, falls for Hishakaku’s brother, inciting a dangerous love triangle that, in typical yakuza fashion, ends tragically.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-10-25
Popularity:
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
Overview: The fourth installment of G-men of Japan
Genres: Crime Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-07-25
Popularity:
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-12-23
Popularity:
Continental Drifter
Overview: Japanese crime film.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-06-19
Popularity:
Element of Surprise
Overview: 1963 Toei war / action film.
Genres: War Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-09-21
Popularity:
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:
The Last Kamikaze
Overview: With World War II is coming to its end and Japan nearing defeat, Japanese military leaders step up suicide attacks on Allied ships. Toei legend Koji Tsuruta stars as a Kamikaze squad leader who has second thoughts about suicide runs. He becomes torn between his own morality and his duty to his country when he must deal with a pilot under his command who refuses to complete his mission.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-10-29
Popularity:
Classmates
Overview: A story of young students trained to become Kamikaze pilots in World War II.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-06-03
Popularity:
Stray Dog
Overview: When his pistol is stolen, police detective Murakami is humiliated, especially when the gun is later implicated in a crime. Working with his superior, Chief Detective Sato, Murakami works feverishly to trace the location of his pistol, ultimately clashing with a gang of youthful Okinawans.
Genres: Crime Thriller Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-09-29
Popularity:
All Rascals
Overview: Ishihama is planning a casino robbery with his wife and mother-in-law. They meet a man named Tsuneda who is planning the same robbery and agree to work together.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-03-21
Popularity:
Foul Play
Overview: Private eye Bannai Tarao (Chiezo Kataoka) and his assistant Masako (Chizuru Kitagawa) investigate the mysterious murder of a baseball player who was killed in the middle of a game.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-01-03
Popularity:
Barefoot Gen Part 3: Battle of Hiroshima
Overview: Second live action "Barefoot Gen" sequel.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-07-05
Popularity:
Life of Hishakaku 3
Overview: Third part in Tadashi Sawashima's Theater of Life trilogy.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-03-01
Popularity:
Flower, Storm and Gangster
Overview: A gang of bank robbers plan a big robbery, but they all plot to betray each other after the heist for different reasons.
Genres: Comedy Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-06-23
Popularity:
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
Overview: 1961 Toei adaptation of Yokomizo's novel.
Genres: Mystery Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-11-15
Popularity:
Moonlight Mask
Overview: First Moonlight Mask theatrical film.
Genres: Adventure Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-07-30
Popularity:
Moonlight Mask: Duel to the Death in Dangerous Waters
Overview: Second Moonlight Mask theatrical film.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-08-06
Popularity:
A Fishwife's Tale
Overview: Hibari Misora plays Yoshiko, the popular daughter of a fish market owner. After discovering that she was adopted, she sets out to help her biological father who has fallen victim to an evil plot orchestrated by those who would take over his successful business.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-31
Popularity:
Judo Life
Overview: Sonny Chiba's first martial arts film, a partially fictionalized judo biopic based on prominent judoka Shiro Saigo (Chiba), the second student of judo founder Jigoro Kano (Naoki Sugiura). Akira Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata is based on the same character and shares some scenes, but Judo for Life focuses more on the martial arts philosophy and training, including scenes depicting how the protagonist learned his famous cat-like landing, coined the term judo, and trained with Tsunejiro Tomita (Hideo Murata). There’s also a slight yakuza film influence. The port street ambush scene is found in both films, but in Judo for Life it’s not Kano but a travelling yakuza that jumps out of the rickshaw. Entertaining and beautifully old fashioned, one does however with there were more shades of gray between good and evil, and a stronger ninkyo-like moral / honour conflict.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-04-21
Popularity:
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
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
Overview: Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-12-28
Popularity:
Patience Has An End
Overview: Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-06-25
Popularity:
Father of the Kamikaze
Overview: Vice Admiral Takajiro Ohnishi could see that Japan's defeat in WWII was inevitable. He came to realize that the only way to force a negotiated solution was to convince the Americans that invading Japan would cause massive casualties on both sides. The cold logic of suicide attacks, where one man and one plane could kill hundreds, seemed the only solution. In one of the cruel ironies of fate, Ohnishi actually succeeded; he convinced the Americans that invading Japan would be too costly in lives. But what he could not foresee was that America had another way of ending the war.
Genres: War Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-09-14
Popularity:
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
Overview: The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.
Genres: Crime Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-12-30
Popularity:
Gambler's Farewell
Overview: The story of men devoted to the yakuza lifestyle and their struggles during a time of fading yakuza power.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-02-09
Popularity:
Devil's Flute
Overview: Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the backdrop of wealth, this film is loaded with twists and turns and surprises at every corner.
Genres: Mystery Crime Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-01-20
Popularity:
Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye
Overview: Komori Chiaki is a budding tennis student. However, one day while training, her coach hits a ball into her eye on accident. At the hospital, the news that she will never regain the sight in her eye leaves her heartbroken. As a last resort, she undergoes a costly surgery from the mysterious doctor known as Black Jack, where after a successful operation, a mysterious figure starts to emerge in her vision, and only she can see it.
Genres: Science Fiction Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-11-26
Popularity:
The Return of Sister Street Fighter
Overview: When Koryu's childhood friend Shurei is abducted by gangsters, the desperate young woman recruits a female martial artist and a tough-as-nails stranger to join her for a dangerous rescue mission.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-09-30
Popularity:
Organized Violence II
Overview:
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-06-29
Popularity:
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
Overview: A gripping tale of friendship set against the backdrop of Hokkaido. Shinichi sets out to earn a few honest dollars with which to bail a friend out of jail.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-31
Popularity:
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
Overview: Convict son revenges innocent father's death.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-12-23
Popularity:
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
Overview:
Genres: Action Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-05-31
Popularity:
Parole
Overview: Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-10-21
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
Overview:
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-12-29
Popularity:
Life of Hishakaku 2
Overview: Upon his release from the prison, Hishakaku joins the Kikkyo family who is struggling to regain their turf from their rival, Domoto family. To reciprocate the kindness of the Kikkyos, Hishakaku heads to meet the leader of Domoto, Osumi, and finds himself emotionally involved with her.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-05-25
Popularity:
High-School Outcasts
Overview: Tsutomu (Kensaku Morita), an orphan who once stabbed a man, is released from a reformatory and goes to Tottori, on the Japan Sea coast, to enter a high school. On the beach, he meets a young fisherman, Yusuke (Norihiko Yamamoto) also a student of the same school. They become friends and Tsutomu is offered free board at Yusuke's home.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-12-16
Popularity:
Revenge
Overview: An innocuous comment during a weapon inspection wounds the pride of low-ranking samurai Shinpachi, leading to an argument with his superior. The situation snowballs out of control, leading to a deadly duel and political fallout which threatens the entire clan. Declared mentally unstable by the corrupt authority, Shinpachi begins his descent into true insanity…
Genres: Drama Thriller Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-11-01
Popularity:
Yakuza Skirmishes
Overview: In the gaudy world of 1930s Shinjuku, a violent youth known as Bakudan Match tangles explosively with prostitutes, politicians and the police.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-09-29
Popularity:
Quarreling with Yakuza
Overview: Set loose in a postwar world with no rules, an ex-juvenile delinquent begins building the most powerful gang in Tokyo's glittering Shibuya ward.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-03-03
Popularity:
A Kamikaze Cop
Overview: An undercover cop befriends a yakuza underling who through his contacts helps him infiltrate two rival Yakuza gangs. He pits the two rival gangs against each other in hopes that they will cross each other out.
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-05-23
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:
Third Generation Boss
Overview: Based on Kazuo Taoka's autobiography, this film follows a Kobe gangster as he builds the small Yamaguchi-gumi into Japan's largest criminal clan.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-08-10
Popularity:
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
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
Overview: Former inmate Katsuji gets involved in the horse gambling business while lending a helping hand to a ranch operator.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-08-13
Popularity:
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
Overview: Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru Uchimoto.
Genres: Action Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-09-25
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:
Modern Lady Gambler
Overview: Fujiko wanders aimlessly through the country, seeking vengence on the man she onced loved, who betrayed her, and destroying her family and her life. When she discovers that man had already died, she loses her will to live. But in a twist of fate, she meets Tatsumi, a raising star in the Horikawa Family. She quickly falls in love with him and his yakuza lifstyle. But when Tatsumi is chosen to but the next Boss of the family, his jealous sworn brother Morito kills him with the help of a mysterious man behind the scenes. Now Fujiko becomes a Bakuto, a wandering yakuza gambler, and once again, walks the bloody path of vengence...
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-05-26
Popularity:
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
Overview: The third chapter of the ‘Red Peony Gambler’ saga depicts the happiness and sadness of Red Peony Oryu’s life as she seals her femininity with a red peony tattoo and lives in world of chivalry and honor of the yakuza. This story takes place in the middle of the Meiji era in Nagoya. Oryu is wandering the country, training herself to reinstate her family name. With a written recommendation from Kumatora, she appears at the door of the Nishinomaru family. At the same time, the family is preparing for the gambling competition at the Netsuda Shrine Festival, which they have been hosting for generations. Meanwhile, the crooked Kinbara family is plotting to take over the competition. And now Oryu is forced to get involved in the struggle…
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-02-01
Popularity:
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 3: Last Days of the Boss
Overview: The eighth sequel of the series by the successful “Fukasaku and Bunta” collaboration revolves around the men of a lesser organization that are constantly bullied by the upper organization and “bleed in vain” in gang wars.
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-04-24
Popularity:
The Machine Gun Dragon
Overview: Ryu, a low life thug, along with his mother, steals a shipment of drugs. Now with his machine gun and a gang of hoodlums, he must face the yakuza and the mafia.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-02-28
Popularity:
The Great Duel
Overview: A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-06-03
Popularity:
The School of Chaos
Overview: Based on the comic by Tetsu Kariya.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-09-15
Popularity:
Bloodiest Flower
Overview: A dramatic captivating tale tells of widowed Tei (Junko Fuji), she has become a coalmine operator and is determined to be successful despite mining being a predominately male domain. Overcoming the natural hardships, a more serious threat to Tei and her mine, the menacing presence of rival mining gangs who sense her vulnerability... Nihon jokyo-den:ketto midarw-bana is an outstanding drama, highlighted by wonderful characterizations/performances. Yamashita's excellent direction maintains a rich emotional flow from the opening seconds to the last. Intense and bloody encounters punctuate throughout the engaging multi layered tale!
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-04-03
Popularity:
Wolves of the City, Money Hunters
Overview: The hoodlum group tries to help a little printing factory against gangsters.
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-04-18
Popularity:
The Man of Seven Faces
Overview: Detective Tarao investigates the deaths of police officers who were involved in solving a kidnapping case.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-26
Popularity:
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
Overview: Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-07-01
Popularity:
A Fugitive from the Past
Overview: Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-01-15
Popularity:
Winter's Flower
Overview: Kanno is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-06-17
Popularity:
The Escape
Overview: Film about the 2-26 Incident.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-03-14
Popularity:
The Biggest Gamble
Overview: When Honjo is selected as Kansai district's chairman, Iwasa of the rival gang asks Itsuki to do everything possible to have Honjo step down, which puts Itsuki between a rock and a hard place.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-04-19
Popularity:
Rub Out the Past
Overview: A lone wolf tries to eliminate a drug-smuggling operation.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-08-26
Popularity:
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
Overview: After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in Enko area.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-10-01
Popularity:
Follow the Girls
Overview: Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-05-19
Popularity:
Jeans Blues: No Future
Overview: Hijiriko makes off from the bar she works at with money and a car that isn't hers. Meanwhile, Jiro Katagiri is up to no good with his gangster friends and ends up making off with all their ill-gotten gains, much to their disapproval. The two misfits end up meeting after a car crash and soon end up on the road together in (another) stolen car. It's not long before the police take an interest in the crimes, and of course the gangsters are hot on Jiri's heels; meaning the two must scarper across Japan by any means necessary.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-03-30
Popularity:
Life of Hishakaku
Overview: After eloping with a prostitute named Otoyo, Hishakaku takes refuge in the Kogane family’s turf. Indebted to Boss Kogane for his kindness, Hishakaku swears to dedicate himself to protect the Koganes in time of crisis. Hishakaku’s humble life comes to a sudden halt when the Kogane family becomes involved in a fatal feud with their rival, and Hishakaku’s services are called upon.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-03-16
Popularity:
The Chivalrous Life
Overview: Ryoma is a former military man who gets to know the leader of a yakuza group and begins to work with them, helping them defend themselves against other yakuza gangs.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-05-30
Popularity:
Blood of Revenge
Overview: Osaka, 1907: Asajiro lives between a rock and a hard place: he has to keep his business clean and running, tame his late oyabun’s hot-blooded son and suffer the throes of his impossible love for beautiful geisha Hatsue.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-09-18
Popularity:
The Bullet and the Horse
Overview: A number of recently released prisoners become involved in a racket with a rancher who is a rival to a neighboring landowner and wants to use the convicts to seize his ranch. The rancher does not know, however, that he had years before killed the parents of one of their number.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-04-23
Popularity:
Officer Morgan and a Man of Mystery
Overview: Detective Morgan and the Japanese police cooperate to unveil the truth of the mysterious death of Morgan’s friend in Arizona.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-08-13
Popularity:
Prison Break
Overview: Set up to be the patsy by a rival gang, Furuta Makoto attacks the yakuza boss he thinks is responsible for his father’s murder. He then learns it was all a plot to take over his father’s turf and he seeks vengeance against the puppet master behind the entire conspiracy. His quest for justice leads him to prison where he must fend off the attack of a master assassin before he can make his escape and go after the true killer!
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-08-30
Popularity:
Team of Ruffians
Overview: Prisoners with special skills from all over Japan are sent to the battlefront on a mission.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-09-19
Popularity:
The Four Roughnecks
Overview: Gimme gimme gimme! Yusaku Matsuda and his gang are on the hunt for women, money and more money! Takeo Natsuki (Yusaku Matsuda) was just released from prison. He was the leader of three rascals; all they did was cause trouble. When they meet a girl whose father is resisting a forced eviction to make way for a construction site, they come up with their own plans to solve the problem.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-11-22
Popularity:
The Street Fighter
Overview: Takuma Tsurugi takes on the government, the police, the mafia and an international ring of kidnappers who aim to dispossess a beautiful young heiress of her millions.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-02-02
Popularity:
A Wad of Notes
Overview: A lone gambler tries to keep a yakuza family from taking over a festival in Kitakyushu. After away from his hometown for 13 years, Ryuji comes back and saves the town that is becoming run-down from yakuza’s ill deeds.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-09-09
Popularity:
Storm Party
Overview: Many outlaws are gathered at the front line of the Japanese Army in a shock troop.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-10-21
Popularity:
The Big Boss
Overview: A shooting incident occurs at the Asahina family gambling hall in Tokyo's Joto district. It is the work of Gaijin boss Brown and his henchman Yamaoka, whose territory is in the Jonan district, in response to Kikuya, the head of the Asahina family, refusing to join the Syndicate. Yamaoka relentlessly pursues the Asahina family and uses his brother Komatsu to kill Shibaki, Kikuya's brother, who owns Nagoya territory. When Kikuya receives information that a general meeting of the Brown and Yamaoka Syndicate is to be held in Nagoya, he is determined to root out the syndicate and rushes to Nagoya, ready to die...
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-04-12
Popularity:
The Hard Core Criminal
Overview: In the 20th century, the Japanese government exploits prisoners as expendable slave laborers in a coal mine, which results in conflict between the prisoners and the warden to escalate.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-05-12
Popularity:
Once and For All
Overview: Film concerning warring yakuza families.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-05-20
Popularity:
The Cheating Underworld
Overview: Gangsters are robbed of five hundred million yens.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-08-14
Popularity:
Seven Fugitives
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-11-19
Popularity:
League of Gangsters
Overview: A yakuza is released from prison after serving a long sentence. He immediately sets about creating a new gang and attempts to pull off a huge ransom score.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-07-31
Popularity:
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
Overview: A modern gang version of Chushingura, chronicling almost scene for scene the Brave 47 Ronin story, transposed from the Genroku Period to the Showa Era.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-10-20
Popularity:
Born Fighter
Overview: Story about a big boss who built the foundation of an industrial city.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-02-21
Popularity:
Men in a Rough Town
Overview: An action-packed, dramatic gangster film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-01-28
Popularity:
The Gambler's Counterattack
Overview: Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect him. So he becomes a consultant to another gang who are about to be clobbered by a much larger gang moving in from out of town. Aiba proves a crafty tactician, and does very well at playing gangs off against each other in order to save the smaller gang. His advice is not always taken by those he tries to help, but he is generally proved right.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-10-14
Popularity:
The Marked Man
Overview: A man from Osaka comes up to Tokyo to fight gangsterism.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-05-01
Popularity:
Seven Gamblers
Overview: Hanjiro, a one eyed vagrant arrives in Okinoshima to save the town from a violent Yakuza group with the help of six handicapped guys.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-07-09
Popularity:
Employee Full of Fight
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-03-13
Popularity:
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
Overview: A ruffian joins the ranks of the emperor’s guards.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-04-01
Popularity:
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
Overview: Hidejuro is sent to prison after killing the boss of a rival family. After being released, he discovers that his family has scattered and he is taken in by a company of quarry workers, whose boss has a strict code of non-violence. When the rival family tries to take over the company and kills their boss, Hidejuro must choose between his promise of non-violence and his yakuza code of revenge...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-03-06
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
Overview: Katsuji takes revenge on evil Tamaru who forcefully took control of the fishery business run by Katsuji’s friend.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-12-27
Popularity:
Ninja's Mark
Overview: When the Shogun Tokugawa III is in bed with a girl, she turns into a monster. The court believes she is Ninja Magic, used to frighten the lord off women so that there will be no heir. Tôma, a famous swordsman, is called in and exposes the Ninja, even discovering their leader, a beautiful young girl named Kagiroi. Guessing that she is the daughter of some ousted daimyo anxious to get back into favor, he is about to unmask her when he is taken prisoner...
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-01-27
Popularity:
Japan's Top Gangster
Overview: A boy born in a poor village in Tokushima spends his days idly until a chance meeting sets him on the road to becoming boss of Japan's largest gang.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-08-11
Popularity:
Organized Crime: Killer's Glory
Overview: A professional lone-wolf hitman comes to his blood brother's aid when his boss is brutally murdered by an unknown yakuza faction.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-05-27
Popularity:
A Lively Geisha
Overview: Young geisha Koshizu's wish of reuniting with the man, Yukichi, who helped her ten years ago comes true. When she learns of the trouble Yukichi's business is facing, she stands ready to come to his aid, and thus repay a debt that's long overdue.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-08-01
Popularity:
Kogarashi Monjiro 2: Secret of Monjiro's Birth
Overview: Monjiro, reunited with his long lost sister, is pursued by a yakuza gang because he killed their boss. He also meets a fellow gambler who idolizes Monjiro. The gambler and Monjiro's sister are pulled into a conspiracy to get to Monjiro, but do things go as planned?
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-09-14
Popularity:
Great Jailbreak
Overview: A group of prisoners attempts to break the Abashiri prison. This film can be considered a sequel to the Abashiri Bangaichi series, written and directed by Ishii Teruo. The friendship between two men on death row, a fleeting love affair with a traveling dancer and a deadly battle with the real culprit who has hunted him down filmed over a long period of time on location in Hokkaido.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-04-05
Popularity:
The Bodyguard
Overview: Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to his home in Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone who is willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lords' activities. He is soon approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be?
Genres: Action Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-06-30
Popularity:
Excursion to Treasure Isle
Overview: The story is a dramatization of the Japanese folklore legend of Momotaro, the Peach Boy, who with his trusted companions of dog, monkey and pheasant fought against evil in olden times.
Genres: Comedy Music Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-07-20
Popularity:
Moonlight Mask: The Monster Gorilla
Overview: Fourth Moonlight Mask theatrical film.
Genres: Drama Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-04-01
Popularity:
Yokosuka Navy Prison
Overview: When a rebellious roughneck enlists in the Navy and goes on a rampage against his superiors, he is sent to the Yokosuka Naval Prison.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-11-17
Popularity:
A Gambler's Certain Death
Overview: Part 7 in the Gambling Den series. This time Koji Tsuruta is a gambler who feels sympathetic towards a woman whose naive husband is driven to a debt trap by a rotten gambling den owner (Tatsuo Endo) and his dishonest card dealer (Isamu Nagato). The plot is standard stuff and features too much talk, but there's also a decent balance between melodrama and lyricism in the form and storytelling. Tsuruta was a perfect fit for these kind of roles, with the stoic and emotional sides nicely mixed in his screen persona.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-09-06
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-12-30
Popularity:
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-08-12
Popularity:
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
Overview: Prisoner Katsuji must fend for himself and his prison mates in the fierce battle involving a family feud.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-08-14
Popularity:
New Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion
Overview: Once again we focus on Nami Matsushima. This time she has a sister who goes missing and after getting too caught up in doing something about it, our innocent heroine is given a fifteen year sentence for a murder she didn't commit. She's sent to an all women prison where she's not exactly welcome. Her fellow inmates torture, humiliate and try to kill her; but the Scorpion prevails long enough to get some justice.
Genres: Thriller Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-11-17
Popularity:
Detective Duel
Overview: A friendly rivalry turns into romance for Yukiko, an elite female detective, and a handsome private eye named Mitamura while both are investigating the missing person's case from a wealthy family.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-08-06
Popularity:
The Mad Fox
Overview: A court fortune-teller loses his mind after a conspiracy leads to the death of his lover. Hope appears to be on the horizon after he becomes romantically involved with his dead lover's twin sister, but more complications arise thanks to a chance encounter with a clan of shape-shifters.
Genres: Fantasy Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-05-01
Popularity:
The Challenge
Overview: Journalist Kuroki is investigating clandestine arms sales to Southeast Asia. He discovers that the point man in an arms trade was also involved in the cover-up of a murder on an American base during the Allied Occupation. The film rolls along as a suspenseful thriller while offering a critique of political corruption, hypocrisy, and journalistic cowardice in postwar Japan.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-03-28
Popularity:
Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy
Overview: The Maccherone organization is out to get a priceless national treasure. But when they see third-generation cat-burglar Lupin as an obstacle, countless assassins are sent to kill him on sight and kidnap his girl Fujiko! Can Lupin get the loot before the Maccherone gang, rescue Fujiko, and stay alive at the same time?
Genres: Action Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-08-03
Popularity:
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
Overview: Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
Genres: Comedy Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-07-14
Popularity:
Invasion of the Neptune Men
Overview: Clumsy invaders from Neptune are thwarted by hero Space Chief and a nondescript group of microshort-wearing Japanese kids.
Genres: Science Fiction Action Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-01
Popularity:
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
Popularity:
Sugata Sanshiro
Overview: The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-10-29
Popularity:
Expelled from the Kanto Mob
Overview: In the late Taisho era. Umeshima Jinbei, the president of the Kanto Umeshima Kai, divided the area into the Kuroda family to the south and the Takeuchi family to the north in order to protect the security of Kame no Ii, which had opened up in place of the Yoshiwara brothel that had been burnt down in the earthquake, and had the Kuroda family rule their respective territories. Chichibu Yasaburo, the small head of the Kuroda family, had a good reputation as the mainstay of the family and was trusted by his boss Mankichi, but Furuno, who was in love with Mankichi's daughter Mie, who was in love with Yasaburo, informally informed the Takeuchi clan and took out Mankichi's seal and borrowed money from Takeuchi in the name of Yasaburo to line his pockets.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-07-03
Popularity:
Japan's Violent Gangs: Degenerate Boss
Overview: Terajima, an ex-yakuza and current nightclub owner, is brought back into the world of crime when his former brother attempts a hostile take over.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-06-20
Popularity:
Prison Gambler
Overview: A film about the confrontation between two yakuza groups in the brutal Miike prison, which contained 1,500 inmates. The second film in the series Gambler / Bakuto directed by Shigehiro Ozawa.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-10-21
Popularity:
The Rugby Star
Overview: The success of Truck Yaro (1975-1979) initiated a whole load of movies that put "Yaro" in their title, including this semi-bonkers sports comedy/drama. Sonny Chiba's brother Jiro Chiba stars as a Rugby player whose team must find a way to beat the opponent. It's a standard storyline without any major surprises, but works surprisingly well. Training scenes are relatively nuts; much better than the actual matches actually, which tend to go on forever. There is no sex, nudity or graphic violence, making this a family friendly affair. Sonny Chiba appears for about 7 minutes during the last third as a truck driver who comes to Jiro's rescue.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-05-15
Popularity:
Murder on The Last Train
Overview: One of the earliest Japanese cop films following a mysterious killing on the last train to Mitaka, Tokyo.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-06-21
Popularity:
The Killer
Overview: A former gang leader and lone wolf who has left the organization works behind the scenes in a new city to take revenge on a giant alliance of organizations. This film is amongst the last "straight" yakuza films made at Nikkatsu before the studio's switch-over to pinku eiga.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-05-05
Popularity:
The Eleventh Hour
Overview: Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama with a contemporary backdrop, Dotanba focuses on the attempts to rescue a group of trapped miners. The title is a figure of speech — (essentially “last minute” or “eleventh hour”) — that refers to a situation of peril. The film boasts a script co-written by Uchida and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-11-24
Popularity:
Police Precinct: The Left-Handed Killer
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-12-11
Popularity:
Dagger
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-04-28
Popularity:
Police Precinct
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-02-18
Popularity:
Police Precinct Part 2
Overview:
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-03-08
Popularity:
Police Precinct: Crime at High Noon
Overview:
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-02-19
Popularity:
Tale of Japanese Burglars
Overview: Gisuke Hayashida is an illegal dentist during the day and a burglar by night. One night during a burglary he witnesses a train derailment. Some communists are found guilty of causing the incident, but he knows it wasn't them. He can save innocent people but for that he must confess his own crime.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-05-01
Popularity:
Three-Headed Tower
Overview: Newly graduated Miyamoto Otone is to inherit a fortune from a distant relative on the condition that she marries Takato Shunsaku, a man she has never heard of. The lawyers haven't located Shunsaku yet, allowing Otone to think about whether she accepts the conditions of the will. One month later after, Takato Shunsaku is found. Murdered. At the birthday party of Otone's uncle. With Shunsaku dead and thus making it impossible for Otone to marry him, the inheritence is to split amongst all (living) family members. And yes, as always, that means that the potential successors get killed off one by one. But Kosuke Kindaichi is on the trail...
Genres: Horror Mystery Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-04-25
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The Tattooed Hitman
Overview: The most dangerous hired gun in Kyushu's underworld has managed to trigger a vicious gang war, and now, there's a contract on his life. Though nobody is more skilled in the arts of dealing death, can the tattooed hitman fend off the entire Japanese mafia as he searches for the man who wants him dead?
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-04-27
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Hell's Juggler
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-15
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Revenge for His Lover
Overview: Kamio a mistreated samurai clerk of Edo Castle and ronin (“Sir Quarrel”) Ibara, take up a vendetta against 17 wicked castle men.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-11-11
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Police Precinct Part 5
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-08-28
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Police Precinct: The Pickpocket Killer
Overview: After discovering a slaughtered corpse, the investigating team of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department began canvassing the area around the crime scene. As a result, they found a wallet with bloodstains that seemed to belong to the victim, a woman's wallet that did not fit the field, earrings, and other valuable materials, which led them on a foot search. The woman's purse had been picked up by a male prostitute on the subway, and from the prostitute's testimony, they were able to identify the pickpocket's face, but the next day, the man was found dead in a road accident, apparently murdered.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-12-22
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The Bandits
Overview: Action drama about a Japanese gangster in Manchuria circa 1932, who finally joins some Chinese mountain bandits.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-05-21
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Police Precinct Part 7
Overview:
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-06-10
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Police Precinct Part 8
Overview:
Genres: Crime Mystery Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-06-22
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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 Paper Crane
Overview: A wandering vagrant, Hantaro, risks his life to save a beautiful blind girl and her father from con artists.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-12-01
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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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Empire of Passion
Overview: In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver's wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.
Genres: Drama Romance Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-09-06
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A Man's Dark Finger
Overview: A touching action film about a young yakuza who becomes infected with evil because he has the ability to easily decipher the mechanism of a safe. After being released from prison, he hopes to be rehabilitated thanks to the love of his family and risks his life to fight the evil that stands in his way.
Genres: Crime Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-02-10
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The Great Road
Overview: The story of a certain engineer from his youth until he retired from the Japanese National Railways after the war .
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-03-08
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Tenka no Kaidanji Senpū Tarō
Overview:
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-14
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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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