Acting

Akira Hisamatsu

Born

1909-02-22 (117)

Place of birth

Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Known for

Youth of the Beast poster
6.9

When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.

Youth of the Beast

1963

Story of a Prostitute poster
6.6

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Story of a Prostitute

1965

Branded to Kill poster
7.2

After botching his latest assignment, a third-ranked Japanese hit man becomes the target of another assassin.

Branded to Kill

1967

Gate of Flesh poster
6.6

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

Gate of Flesh

1964

A Woman Called Sada Abe poster
5.5

A true-life tale of a broken woman whose hedonistic tryst with a high-class restaurateur resulted in a horrific crime of passion that littered Tokyo headlines in 1936.

A Woman Called Sada Abe

1975

Tokyo Drifter poster
7.1

After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

Tokyo Drifter

1966

Film credits

1970s · 9 titles

A Woman Called Sada Abe poster
5.5

A true-life tale of a broken woman whose hedonistic tryst with a high-class restaurateur resulted in a horrific crime of passion that littered Tokyo headlines in 1936.

A Woman Called Sada Abe

1975

Nagasaki Butterfly poster
5.7

Oman travels from Shanghai to Japan in search of her mother, only to be betrayed by her companion and sold to a brothel, where she becomes a geisha and gambler.

Nagasaki Butterfly

1972

Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland poster
4.4

A group of corrupt police detectives go on a manhunt for an ex-collogue who they believe could blow their whole rotten operation wide open.

Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland

1973

Hellish Love poster
4.8

Based on a traditional Japanese ghost story, the movie follows a man who falls deeply in love with a mysterious woman, only to find she belongs to the world of the dead.

Hellish Love

1972

Apartment Wife: Secret Rendezvous poster
7.0

Shuichi and Nobuko are an ordinary, young couple, a promising company employee and his pretty wife. They think nothing can mar their peaceful life but nothing is permanent in this world and Shuichi's company goes bankrupt. Shuichi feels lost. He misses the good times he had at bars and cabarets, especially Hiromi, a hostess. Nobuko offers to work while he hunts for a job and finds an opening at an advertising company. But as Nobuko makes the rounds of restaurants and cabarets, she finds she cannot get ads just by dint of hard work alone. All the shop owners and managers expect her to sleep with them for each big ad they buy. At first, Nobuko is shocked but, to eat, she must meet their demands.

Apartment Wife: Secret Rendezvous

1972

The Last Laugh poster
3.0

Roman Porno film depicting the great uproar that the children cause in the division of their property, even before their parents are dead, as they claw at their greed.

The Last Laugh

1972

Silent Tears poster
10.0

Roman Porno from 1972.

Silent Tears

1972

Shinjuku Midnight Story: Man and Woman poster
NR

Kiyomi, a popular hostess at a bar in Shinjuku, has a traumatic childhood that makes her only sensitive to sexual intercourse with women. One day, the girl she loved as a junior hostess betrayed her and slept with her man. Uncomfortable with men, Kiyomi "swaps places" during sex with her new girlfriend, a trans woman Kaoru.

Shinjuku Midnight Story: Man and Woman

1972

Time of First Love poster
NR

3 senior highschool girls help make a hot air balloon for a boy during their summer holidays and took up all sort of part-time jobs in the course.

Time of First Love

1975

1960s · 41 titles

Youth of the Beast poster
6.9

When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.

Youth of the Beast

1963

Story of a Prostitute poster
6.6

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Story of a Prostitute

1965

Branded to Kill poster
7.2

After botching his latest assignment, a third-ranked Japanese hit man becomes the target of another assassin.

Branded to Kill

1967

Gate of Flesh poster
6.6

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

Gate of Flesh

1964

Tokyo Drifter poster
7.1

After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

Tokyo Drifter

1966

Tokyo Knights poster
6.9

A college student takes over the family business in the field of organised crime.

Tokyo Knights

1961

Sun and Stars poster
NR

It's a thrilling, action-packed entertainer with sparks of men versus villains in an up-and-down tale of brothers burning with masculine will and passion.

Sun and Stars

1962

Smashing the 0-Line poster
6.3

Katiri is a reporter so ambitiously amoral that he’ll sell out anyone—including his partner and the drug dealer he’s sleeping with—to get a scoop. But what happens when an even more ruthless female gang boss kidnaps his sister?

Smashing the 0-Line

1960

The Sleeping Beast Within poster
6.8

A newspaper reporter's search for his girlfriend's missing father lead him into heart of the criminal underworld of Yokohama's Chinatown.

The Sleeping Beast Within

1960

Tattooed Life poster
7.2

After his own gang sets him up to kill a rival mobster, a hit man is forced to flee with his younger brother.

Tattooed Life

1965

Kill or Be Killed poster
NR

When Yakuza decides to take avenge his brother, the war shall begin.

Kill or Be Killed

1966

The Gambling Monk poster
NR

One summer day, the chief monk of the Hojuin Temple dies. Harumichi rushes back to town hearing about his brother's death and requests for a grand funeral. He had been unwilling to take over the family business and had chosen a life as a middle school teacher far away from home, but considering the circumstances, he changes his mind. As the new chief of Hojuin, Harumichi scrambles around day after day for donations. He has kept strictly to the straight and narrow, until he passes a bicycle race track where the sounds of cheering fans induce him into a new way of life...

The Gambling Monk

1963

The Incorrigible poster
7.2

Based on the loosely autobiographical novel of the same name by Toko Kon. Ken Yamanouchi stars as Togo Konno, the titular bastard.

The Incorrigible

1963

Fighting Elegy poster
7.0

Kiroku boards with a Roman Catholic family and falls for the daughter Michiko. He ignores his feelings, joins a gang, gets in fights and, eventually, becomes involved with the radical Kita Ikki group.

Fighting Elegy

1966

Take Aim at the Police Van poster
6.2

A sniper kills two prisoners in a police van, and the driver sets out to find the killer.

Take Aim at the Police Van

1960

The Man with a Shotgun poster
6.5

Ryoji, a wanderer, arrives in a remote mountain town, carrying a shotgun and claiming to be a hunter. He quickly becomes embroiled in a web of trouble surrounding the town's mill.

The Man with a Shotgun

1961

Kanto Wanderer poster
6.6

Handsome young Katsuta tries to follow the yakuza code, but even his boss doesn't believe in it. Diamond Fuyu is less ethical, and allows the idiotic Tetsu to trick a schoolgirl he fancies, Hanako, into a type of bonded prostitution. Because of gang conflict, the Izu family (to whom Katsuta belongs) has their last gambling den taken over, and he seeks revenge. This brings him back into contact with a former lover who is also a card trickster - she is also Diamond Fuyu's sister, and is now married to Okaru-Hachi, who has mastered a clever card cheating trick called Okaru, which involves the deft use of mirrors.

Kanto Wanderer

1963

The Flame of Devotion poster
6.8

The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.

The Flame of Devotion

1964

The Hill is Full of Flowers poster
NR

A youth drama directed by Kiyoshi Horiike, who was adapted from "Young Tokyo no Yane" by Akira Saiga from "Oka wa Hanazakari" based on Yojiro Ishizaka. Miwako Kazuki left the English literature department and joined Toyo Critics. She was attracted by Noro, the editor-in-chief, whose wife died a few years ago and was now living with her two orphans and her old mother....

The Hill is Full of Flowers

1963

The Call of Blood poster
5.8

Two brothers seek revenge on the yakuza responsible for the death of their father.

The Call of Blood

1964

Fight of the Gamblers poster
6.0

Ryuji Oshima, a gambler, kills Saiga in self-defense, and considering himself unfit to lead men, secludes himself in a temple to atone for his misdeeds. At home, when his mother, the boss of a construction gang, bids for and gets the job of building the Town Hall, other gangs set out to disrupt her business and try to kill her.

Fight of the Gamblers

1963

Teenage Yakuza poster
6.9

A high-school vigilante protects his community from the extortions of mobsters from a neighbouring city.

Teenage Yakuza

1962

Penitentiary Brothers poster
NR

Authentic action drama of modern gangsters.

Penitentiary Brothers

1969

Jūdai no kawa poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Jūdai no kawa

1962

Seishun zenki: Aoi kajitsu poster
NR

1965 Nikkatsu youth film.

Seishun zenki: Aoi kajitsu

1965

Wakai futari poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Wakai futari

1962

The Wild, Unruly Drifter poster
NR

Fourth installment of Nikkatsu's "Drifter" series, with Kobayashi Akira.

The Wild, Unruly Drifter

1960

The White Peaks of Mt. Fuji poster
NR

Azusa has just been discharged from the hospital and is frolicking on the beach in Jushi, finally getting her freedom. Her older sister, Kozue, looks after her. Her father Shuhei moved from Tokyo to Jushi to provide a peaceful environment for his sick daughter. One day Azusa meets Tomita, a high school student, and falls in love with him at first sight. This is a masterpiece of literary lyrics, about two sisters living with bright and pure love, looking at the approaching shadow of death and giving all their feelings to limited youth.

The White Peaks of Mt. Fuji

1963

Million Dollar Smash-and-Grab poster
10.0

A boxing melodrama. Two friends become boxers and begin training for the championship. These two boys eventually face each other in the ring.

Million Dollar Smash-and-Grab

1961

Satsujin-sha o oe poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Satsujin-sha o oe

1962

The Storm over Arabia poster
8.0

A young man travels to Egypt and becomes embroiled in an independence movement by chance. Produced entirely on location overseas, which was groundbreaking at the time.

The Storm over Arabia

1961

Dahil Sa Iyo – The Song of Sad Love poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Dahil Sa Iyo – The Song of Sad Love

1962

Fighting Delinquents poster
6.5

This rarely seen gem from master Suzuki casts teenage heartthrob Koji Wada as a young misfit who suddenly finds himself the unwitting pawn in an escalating family feud that ultimately leads to tragedy. Lean, mean, and stylish as always, this tale of youth-gone-wild is both vibrant and touching. Suzuki contrasts tranquil glimpses of traditional regional life with the emergence of the new rock 'n' roll youth culture and the greed and seething cynicism of encroaching Westernism. Also released under the title "Go To Hell, Hoodlums!", this is a melodrama as colorful, shocking, and exhilarating as one would come to expect from Japan's master filmmaker.

Fighting Delinquents

1960

Hitotsu no inochi poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Hitotsu no inochi

1962

No artwork available
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Wakai tsume ato

1962

Cat Changed Into Tiger poster
NR

A life insurance agent has a drinking problem causing him to lose his company a fortune. He heads to another town to sell insurance, but to his surprise, the elderly are all healthy thanks to a special local sake. Along the way, he meets an eye-patch-wearing killer, which only confounds his misadventures.

Cat Changed Into Tiger

1962

Me o tsubutte tsuppashire poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Me o tsubutte tsuppashire

1962

Hana to musume to shiroi michi poster
NR

One of Sayuri Yoshinaga's first leading roles.

Hana to musume to shiroi michi

1961

Kidō sōsahan Minato no ryakudatsu-sha poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Kidō sōsahan Minato no ryakudatsu-sha

1962

Jiken kisha: Kenjû kashimasu poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Jiken kisha: Kenjû kashimasu

1962

The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass poster
6.6

On summer vacation, university student Shintaro gets involved with a magic troupe as they travel from festival to festival.

The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass

1961

1950s · 10 titles

Lovers poster
NR

Eisuke Narita, a painter, visits a hot spring town in Tohoku, and for some reason, he is reminded of the events of ten years ago.

Lovers

1956

Eight Hours of Terror poster
7.5

A bus making its precarious way across a winding mountain road picks up some unwelcome passengers.

Eight Hours of Terror

1957

The Heart poster
7.0

In the dying months of the Meiji era, a sympathetic student befriends a married couple, but soon realizes they share a curiously strained relationship stemming from an unknown incident in their past.

The Heart

1955

Voice Without a Shadow poster
6.2

Asako, a former telephone operator once heard the voice of a murder suspect which has continued to haunt her. Years later her husband invites his boss, Hamazaki, over for dinner and she realises his voice is suspiciously like that of the killer. Before she can investigate further, Hamazaki is found dead and her husband becomes the prime suspect.

Voice Without a Shadow

1958

JA750 Gōki Yukuefumei poster
NR

1958 Newspaper Association Sweepstakes Winning Broadcast Drama Movie. A heartwarming and moving story that bloomed behind the competition between two newspaper reporters, one young and the other old, who followed the whereabouts of the distressed aircraft. It is an adaptation of the prize-winning broadcast drama recruited by the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Week in 1958. The original author was Tsuneyuki Mori.

JA750 Gōki Yukuefumei

1959

Break Down that Wall poster
7.5

A man is wrongfully accused of murder.

Break Down that Wall

1959

Satan's Town poster
10.0

A yakuza boss and his right-hand, Hawasaki, escape from prison. the film concentrates on their relationship, emphasizing loyalty and thier eventual betrayal, enroute they get involved in money trafficking, a cop killing and horse racing scams before the inevitable tragic ending. A patch-work production.

Satan's Town

1956

Pure Emotions of the Sea poster
9.0

A romantic adventure tale about a young guy working on a whale-hunting vessel and his love for a childhood sweetheart.

Pure Emotions of the Sea

1956

Age of Nudity poster
7.3

The story deals with a juvenile delinquent gang surviving through petty thievery. However, everything gets screwed up when they accidentally steal big bucks from the Yakuza.

Age of Nudity

1959

The Boy Who Came Back poster
7.6

Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past.

The Boy Who Came Back

1958