
Acting
Bunta Sugawara
Born — Died
1933-08-16 — 2014-11-28
Place of birth
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
70 titles
Bunta Sugawara was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 Japanese feature films, most prevalently in Yakuza films. On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Sugawara had died from liver cancer in a Tokyo hospital on November 28, 2014 at the age of 81. (Wikipedia)
Known for
8.5A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Spirited Away
2001
8.8Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
Furuhata Ninzaburo
1994
8.2After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.
Wolf Children
2012
8.3The 41st NHK Taiga Drama is Toshiie to Matsu. During the turbulent Warring States Era, one man's life and career intertwined with the three great generals of Japanese history-Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. With political savvy and the support of his fiercely loyal wife, Maeda Toshiie rose to second in power in the shogunate and built up a fiefdom that encompassed Echizen, Noto and Kaga.
Toshiie and Matsu
2002
6.5As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.
Tales from Earthsea
2006
6.2The life of Tatsuya, a young man of proper yet mysterious descent, whose outward respectability hides his urges for rape and torture.
Star of David: Beauty Hunting
1979
Film credits
2000s · 5 titles
8.5A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Spirited Away
2001
6.5As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.
Tales from Earthsea
2006
6.3A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression.
The Great Yokai War
2005
7.0Teenage stepsisters Yui and Ai form a close bond as a result of the neglect and abuse from their respective parents. Fearing separation from each other when their parents plan to divorce, they run away together to Tokyo and, in order to survive steal a briefcase which they later discover belongs to the yakuza. This puts them in great danger. Tanida, a kind-hearted yakuza member, comes to their rescue and becomes the protective and loving parent figure they never had. But for how long will he be able to save them from harm?
Sisterhood
2008
10.0View this Japanese television special to get an insider's peek into Studio Ghibli during the creation of Spirted Away.
The Nippon Television Special of Spirited Away
2001
1980s · 4 titles
7.2The story of Shinsuke, a young man who lives through a stormy life as a poverty-stricken coal miner. Ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of his life. Shinsuke's father a group leader at the mine, dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a friendly Harley-riding yakuza boss. This movie has it all, drama, romance, sex, yakuza and violence! It is based on a story by Hiroyuki Itsuki that was originally serialized in the magazine Shukan Gendai in 1969-70.
Gate of Youth
1981
6.0During the Showa era, a young yakuza survives war and injury and rises to become a clan boss with the help and respect of his sworn brothers.
The Story of a Man Among Men
1984
7.7Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi.
Actress
1987
7.7Hideyuki Mitamura, a student at a private school near Osaka, is kidnapped on his way home from school.
To Trap a Kidnapper
1982
1970s · 39 titles
6.2The life of Tatsuya, a young man of proper yet mysterious descent, whose outward respectability hides his urges for rape and torture.
Star of David: Beauty Hunting
1979
7.3Kogarashi 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.
Withered Tree, the Adventures of Monjiro
1972
7.4A high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.
The Man Who Stole the Sun
1979
7.3Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
1973
7.0As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic Games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
1974
7.2While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
1974
7.0A 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.
Great Jailbreak
1975
7.2The three-film saga comes to a conclusion as three leaders of the underworld battle it out to determine who will become Don of Japan.
Japanese Godfather: Conclusion
1978
10.0The fourth film of the “Truck Yaro” series. A comical road movie of two long-distance truckers, “Momojiro” and “Kinzo,” who travel around Japan in highly decorated trucks. Momojiro goes to Shikoku this time, and he falls in love with a beautiful designer named Wakako, who is on a pilgrimage.
Truck Rascals in Fever Heat
1976
6.8After serving time, a defiant street thug is incensed to find his town overrun by two yakuza factions. He gathers his crew and takes them on.
Street Mobster
1972
7.4The seventh in the shocking "Jingi Naki Tatakai" movie series, which exposes the true lives of the yakuza that is hidden by a mask of "jingi". The next stage of this continuing drama is the Kanmon Channel where the Owada and the Kyoei groups are battling for territorial rights and drug smuggling. The Owada sends their man, Tetsu, and his friend Shuji to kill the Kyoei boss. With the promise of fame and riches, Shuji takes the fall and goes to jail for 7 years. But when he's released, he discovers that he and Tetsu have been all but forgotten by the Owada. Feeling betrayed, Shuji takes matters into his own hands and becomes an unsuspecting pawn in an internal conflict and an assassination attempt on the Owada boss. And now angered, Shuji seeks revenge...
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 2: Head of the Boss
1975
5.9Bunta Sugawara is Miyoshi, a low-level assassin of the Yamamori gang who is sent to jail after a bungled hit. While in stir, family member Aoki attempts to seize power from the boss, and Miyoshi finds himself stuck between the two factions with no honorable way out.
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1
1974
7.3In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
1973
7.2A yakuza leader must balance his violent tactics necessary for the rough streets of 1960s Tokyo with the domestic needs of his daughters.
Japan's Don
1977
7.0Shozo 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.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
1973
10.0A crossover between Wakayama's Gokudo and Sugawara Mamushi series. Gokudo runs a restaurant and makes Takuzo Kawatani his kitchen bitch. He tries to do the same for the Mamushi bros. but the boys don't play along, which pisses Gokudo off. Things get worse when he starts helping a young teacher and Bunta has a crush on a pretty girl... and unbeknownst to them it's the same woman! Yes, the film has not one but two romantic subplots! Of course it all ends in bloodshed.
The Scoundler vs. The Viper Brothers
1974
7.5In gangster-infested 1920s Yokohama, gambler Ishiguro gets in with the local gang -- but his view of life changes after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Code of Wolves
1974
7.2In the midst of a match, Hayato, a successful boxer, has had enough of the sport. He lets himself get knocked out, and quits boxing, leaving his wife and living alone with his mangy dog. One day a young mediocre boxer knocks at the door and wants to be Hayato's apprentice.
The Boxer
1977
NRVice 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.
Father of the Kamikaze
1974
6.8With a Kansai syndicate setting their sights on Tokyo, a former yakuza boss gets dragged back into a world of violence.
Violent Streets
1974
8.0The fifth movie of the “Truck Yaro” series, which is comical road movies of two long-distance truckers. This time Momojiro falls in love with beautiful Minako in Sado, Niigata.
Truckster of Guts
1977
7.1The 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.
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 3: Last Days of the Boss
1976
9.0When a large crime syndicate seeks to invade Gifu's underworld, three brothers and their yakuza family are the only ones that stand in their way.
A Modern Yakuza: Three Decoy Blood Brothers
1971
7.7An ambitious Kansai yakuza don moves in on Tokyo using financial and political tactics, sparking conflict with a local criminal association.
Japanese Godfather: Ambition
1977
7.4The story takes place in the sunset days of the yakuza in 1965. The postwar turmoil that created the black market and lubricated illegal business opportunities was giving way to Japan Inc. A young Bunta Sugawara takes over as the oyabun of a crime syndicate in Yokohama, where he is struggling to keep operations at the port there alive. As his syndicate is eroding quickly, a major heavy industries company offers his gang the chance to chase some vagrants out of a shantytown where they are squatting on land where a factory is to be built. The job would secure steady profits for Bunta's crime ring for years to come. However, Bunta and other members of his outfit grew up in the shanty, and they would be muscling their friends and neighbors. This sets the stage for an internal struggle that complicates the violent struggle with a rival mafia organization in Tokyo.
Bloodstained Clan of Honor
1970
10.0Three men, all named Masa, join forces to capitalize on each of their unique yet questionable talents against a hyper-competitive Tokyo underworld.
The Three Ginza Rascals
1976
8.0In pre-war Japan, two members of a large yakuza syndicate instigate a turf war that embroils the highest echelons of Tokyo's underworld.
Down with The Big Boss
1979
9.0Eighth movie in the Torakku Yarō series
The Truck Rascals Go to The North
1978
9.0Fresh out of jail, a smart-mouth wise guy Goro takes the name “Big Brother Katsumata.” Not fitting in well with established gangs, he forms a rag-tag gang called “the Shinjuku Brothers.” The members of their gang are thugs who only wish they were traditional yakuza. When they turn up at the funeral for a gangster, they are not welcomed, but a senior boss intervenes to keep things calm. The boss of bosses invites them to join a respected local council of warlords. Katsumata is suspicious of why such powerful men would extend an invitation to lowlife like himself.
Thugs of Shinjuku
1970
6.4A boss from a trucking company has run-ins with evil yakuza during the American occupation of Okinawa. Her hometown is threatened by usurers, gangsters and indirectly by American GI influences. She must battle a yakuza organization with her employees to help settle things.
Trials of an Okinawa Village
1971
7.8Yakuza Gang War is at the height in North Kyūshū Area in the summer of 1950, particularly between the Okagen Group and the rising Hashiden Gang. Now with the mediation/interference of the Americans, they decide to settle it in a peaceful, *democratic* way, that is, to settle it with a baseball game. Now, with its money and power, The Hashiden group soon recruits a group of gamblers known to be good at baseball from the whole country. So, what is the Okagen Gumi gonna do?
Dynamite Don-Don
1978
6.8The 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?
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
1972
8.0Ninth movie in the Torakku Yarō series. Momojiro travels to Nagano to take Jonathan's place driving logging freight through the mountains. There he meets the wild and beautiful Natsu.
A 5,000 Kilometer Run under The Scorching Sun
1979
10.0Part 2 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves.
The Viper Brothers Rage Again
1971
7.0After serving 10 years in prison for murdering a rival boss, Tetsu is appalled to see his yakuza family overgrown and dysfunctional upon his release.
Shinjuku's Number One Drunk-Killer Tetsu
1977
6.8The great Bunta stars as a gangster who is sent to jail for the sake of his gang, but when he’s released he finds everything completely changed and his gang has swept him aside for being too violent. He tries to start a new life with his two ”brothers” but can’t seem to escape old affiliations
Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers
1972
6.1When a lucrative waterfront development becomes available, the Kawade gang quickly use their political connections to secure the land. However, the acting boss of the Ohara gang also has his eyes on the property and recruits crooked detective Tokumatsu Kuno to help him hijack the deal. With relations between the rival gangs at breaking point, it's not long before all-out war breaks out as the gangsters, police and local politicians battle for control of the city.
Cops vs. Thugs
1975
6.2Young 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.
A Lively Geisha
1970
5.7From Hokkaido to Tokyo, hunting dog Goro embarks on a long and grueling journey to reach home. With the loss of his master who held a secret to a weapons smuggling case and the corruptions of those who are involved, Goro's adventure unfolds.
Dog of Fortune
1979
1960s · 10 titles
7.0Coal miner Isamu Oba is forced to quit his village and leave his mother and siblings behind. Mining buddy Ichiro accompanies him to Tokyo, and the pair enjoy several "fish-out-of-water" sequences before finding employment at a boxing gym with trainer Sawada and his spunky sister Tomoko. The boys also find part time night jobs as roving minstrels in the club district courtesy of benevolent gang boss Asakawa. Of course, they run afoul of boss Karasawa's cruel gang. Karasawa also has it in for Asakawa, and this indirectly throws a spanner into the works as far as Isamu's burgeoning success as a kickboxer. When Asakawa's HQ is burned to the ground by Karasawa's men, Asakawa tries to kill Karasawa - which, of course, leads to his own gruesome death. Isamu goes on the rampage with his sword, wiping out Karasawa and men.
Rogue
1968
7.4Coming 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.
Japan Organized Crime Boss
1969
7.5Epic saga of an idealistic land-owning family dealing with militarism, war, social change and economic reform.
The Kii River
1966
6.1A story of yakuza lynching during the Edo, Meiji, and Showa periods.
Yakuza Law
1969
6.2Shinkai, a Buddhist monk with a penchant for drinking and gambling, sets sinners straight with judo throws rather than sermons. After fighting off a gang of street thugs, Shinkai is placed on probation but manages to escape his superiors’ watchful eyes to covertly indulge in life’s pleasures. But when he hears of rogue priests in his order consorting with yakuza, Shinkai must make them see the error of their ways and reach enlightenment, one punch at a time.
Wicked Priest
1968
6.8Yoshie Nogami, a factory worker by day, works as a bar hostess at night. She begins a passionate affair with one of her regulars, but his changing demeanor and constant demands for money lead Yoshie down a dark path.
The Shape of Night
1964
7.5This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history.
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
1969
7.5An Osaka gangster Shimamura just got married. His new bride, Mineko is also involved in drug trafficking. When she goes to China to make a deal, things get botched pretty badly. Shimamura must travel to save her and recoup his employers’ losses.
Yakuza on Foot
1969
NRSumi Muraoka, nicknamed "Sumi Banten", due to the fact that her back is decorated with a tattoo of the goddess Banten, the woman who heads the Banten Yakuza family. She comes into confrontation with a powerful of Yakuza group Mutsumi-kai, seeking to capture all power in their hands.
Woman Boss: Chivalrous Fight
1969
8.0Immigrant gangs terrorize a Japanese town with their threats, loud jazz, and tasteless fashion sense, and only the tough but suave Dr. Amamiya (Ando) can stop them, as long as he gets rid of his silly peace-loving ideals.
By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him
1966
Series credits
8.8Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
Furuhata Ninzaburo
1994
8.3The 41st NHK Taiga Drama is Toshiie to Matsu. During the turbulent Warring States Era, one man's life and career intertwined with the three great generals of Japanese history-Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. With political savvy and the support of his fiercely loyal wife, Maeda Toshiie rose to second in power in the shogunate and built up a fiefdom that encompassed Echizen, Noto and Kaga.
Toshiie and Matsu
2002
10.0The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
1998
NRIt depicts how the winner, the Satsuma Clan, and the loser, the Aizu Clan, survive through the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration in their respective ways of life.
The Lion Era
1980
NR"Tuesday Suspense Theater" was broadcast every Tuesday from 21:00 to 22:54 ( JST ) on the Nippon Television network for 24 years from September 29 , 1981 to September 27, 2005. It was a two-hour drama slot. As a general rule, suspense dramas with one complete episode (very rarely, two parts) were broadcast every week from 21:00 to 22:54 ( JST ). It is a broadcast frame. Some episodes also aired horror, historical dramas, and special effects dramas.
Tuesday Suspense Theater
1981
8.5A Japanese bank is being targeted by Horizon, an American financial group that takes advantage of weak and struggling firms. Horizon sends the Japanese financier Masahiko Washizu to do the job with only one instruction: buy them cheap and sell them high.
Hagetaka: Road to Rebirth
2007
NRAn entertaining historical drama depicting Sanada Yukimura, a hero who has gone through the era from the incident at Honnōji Temple to the summer siege of Osaka Castle, as "a man of men".
Sanada Yukimura: The Man Shogun Ieyasu Feared Most
1998
NRAfter being carried in his mother’s womb for three years, Benkei is born with long hair and teeth and the body of a small child. It is said that he immediately laughed and commented on the brightness of the outside world, leading local people in his native Kii (modern Wakayama) to proclaim that he is a devil. Abandoned on a mountainside, he is adopted by Dainagon, a Kyoto resident who rears him until age seven when he leaves to become a monk. Thrown out of the monastery for his violent behavior, Benkei wanders Japan in search of enlightenment, though only trouble seems to find him. After accidentally causing a temple to burn down, he decides to begin a quest to defeat 1,000 of the hated Heike samurai in battle and donate their swords to a temple. Obtaining the first 999 swords proves relatively easy but the final weapon belongs to Yoshitsune, a young boy whose appearance belies his great skill as a warrior.
Musashibo Benkei
1986
NRWhen an eager young man gets an elementary school teaching position as his first job, he finds a school staff and student body stricken with apathy. He vows to find a way to invigorate his students and co-workers, but his tendency to burn a straight path toward his goals, while failing to consider any obstacles in his way, may be his biggest fault. Or it may turn out to be his greatest asset.
You Don't Know That, Teacher?
1998
NRNo synopsis available yet.
警視庁殺人課
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