Masumi Harukawa

Acting

Masumi Harukawa

Born

1935-11-16 (90)

Place of birth

Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

68 titles

Born Machie Takigawa, she was active as a dancer at the Asakusa Rock Theater under the stage name Mary Rose in the early 1950s. Due to her appearance, she was affectionately nicknamed Daruma-chan and Jumbo-chan. Soon after moving to the Nichigeki Music Hall, she was scouted by the film industry and made her acting debut in "Gurama-to no yuwaku/The Temptation of Grama Island." Memorable in Japan for her regular role in eight of the ten Toei film series " Trucker Rascals," playing the wife of the series co-star Aikawa Kinya, among appearances in other popular cinematic serials such as Zatoichi and Tora-san. International audiences would be more familiar with her work with avant-garde director…

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 10 titles

Hachiko poster
7.8

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.

Hachiko

1987

Tokyo Pop poster
6.9

A young rock singer is not appreciated by her band, and gets a postcard from Japan saying "wish you were here". She takes what little money she has including ex-boyfriend's rent money and goes to Tokyo. She has numerous cross-cultural adventures and ends up singing with a Japanese rock group looking for a gaijin gimmick.

Tokyo Pop

1988

Shogun's Ninja poster
6.2

In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.

Shogun's Ninja

1980

Hole in the Pants poster
6.0

A boy transfers into a new high school in the big city. He gets bullied, but meets a pretty girl. He tries to win her heart, but rivals abound. Debut video release from Pantsu no ana, a subsection of "BOMB" magazine.

Hole in the Pants

1984

Shiro and Marilyn poster
7.0

Based on a true story. Shiro, a dog who lives in an inn on Akajima in Okinawa, swims to the opposite shore on Zamami to see his love, a dog named Marilyn. Shiro is portrayed by the real-life Shiro.

Shiro and Marilyn

1988

Sotsugyou -GRADUATION- poster
NR

Momoko Watanabe—a student who, upon visiting a shrine in order to wish good luck on a friend of hers, witnesses a murder in the forest...and she knows the culprit! Unfortunately, she doesn't have it in her to tell anybody about it, and to make matters worse, said aforementioned friend gets accused of the murder.

Sotsugyou -GRADUATION-

1985

Play it, Boogie-Woogie poster
8.0

A runaway cat-loving girl begins a love triangle with a reckless older man and a young biker in high school. The film follows their subsequent chaotic relationships.

Play it, Boogie-Woogie

1981

Makeup poster
NR

1987film

Makeup

1987

Abarenbo Shogun II – New Year’s Special poster
NR

When the seventh shogun, Ietsugu died, shogunate officials chose Yoshimune, Lord of Kishu, to succeed him. Since then Yoshimune has led a double life.In court he remains a dedicated leader, but outside he travels incognito as a wandering swordsman, seeking out crime and corruption. With his trusted friends and his ninja, he’ll expose anyone who perverts the shogun’s justice and oppresses his people and he’ll ruthlessly put them down with his lightning-fast sword. But since he became shogun, many high-placed officials look on with jealousy, and long to destroy him. One such man, Lord Owari, tries to unseat Yoshimune by exposing his mother as a practitioner of an outlaw religion, Christianity, an offense punishable by crucifixion!

Abarenbo Shogun II – New Year’s Special

1985

Tetsuro Tamba's Great Spirit World: What Happens When You Die poster
7.0

Visualization based on Tetsuro Tamba's best-selling "Great Reikai". A story about a physicist who dies in an accident and experiences the afterlife as a spirit. The leading role is Tamba Tetsuro's biological son, Tamba Yoshitaka.

Tetsuro Tamba's Great Spirit World: What Happens When You Die

1989

1970s · 22 titles

The Castle of Sand poster
7.3

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

The Castle of Sand

1974

Zatoichi in Desperation poster
6.7

After accidentally causing the death of an old lady, Zatoichi tries to do right by buying the lady’s daughter’s freedom from a brothel - but this causes more problems than solves them.

Zatoichi in Desperation

1972

Truck Rascals in Fever Heat poster
10.0

The 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

Pastoral: To Die in the Country poster
7.5

A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.

Pastoral: To Die in the Country

1974

Tora-san, His Tender Love poster
7.4

Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.

Tora-san, His Tender Love

1970

The Truck Rascals Go to The North poster
9.0

Eighth movie in the Torakku Yarō series

The Truck Rascals Go to The North

1978

The Boxer poster
7.2

In 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

The Gate of Youth poster
8.3

Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father 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 kind Korean and a Harley-riding yakuza.

The Gate of Youth

1975

Where Spring Comes Late poster
7.7

The story is set in 1970 during the time of the first EXPO in Japan. The film’s main figure is a miner who suddenly becomes unemployed because the mine he worked in was shut down. He decides to resettle with his whole family to Hokkaido in northern Japan and start a new life as a farmer.

Where Spring Comes Late

1970

A 5,000 Kilometer Run under The Scorching Sun poster
8.0

Ninth 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

I Am A Man of Honor poster
9.0

The sixth film of the “Truck Yaro” series. Two long-distance truckers, Momojiro and Kinzo, travel around Japan in highly decorated trucks. In Kyushu, Momojiro falls in love again... this time with a beautiful college student Masako.

I Am A Man of Honor

1977

I Am a Cat poster
4.5

Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat!

I Am a Cat

1975

Truck Rascals: No One Can Stop Me poster
6.6

The first of many movies featuring the lighthearted adventures of two truck drivers. Momojiro and his best friend Kinzo take to the road on their cargo trucks impressing each other with their skills in driving fast and evading the police while transporting commodities throughout the country. Chance encounters with people along the way help them to come to terms with events clouding their past and offer them a shot at redemption.

Truck Rascals: No One Can Stop Me

1975

Run Truck Rascal, Run! poster
10.0

Momojiro and Jonathan go to Kochi on a ferry. On the ferry a singer called Yuka dropped her sheet music into the ocean. Momojiro helps her by diving in to collect the sheets for her and ends up falling in love.

Run Truck Rascal, Run!

1979

Truckster Goes to Hokkaido poster
8.5

Momojiro comes to the rescue of beautiful Akiko who struggles to run a ranch on her own.

Truckster Goes to Hokkaido

1976

Crocodile, Parrot and Fur Seal poster
8.0

A comedy farce depicting the noise that occurs when two unemployed circus participants discover a debt bond in a basket with parrots, which they received instead of pension money. At that time, Hiromi Go and Kirin Kiki, who were gaining popularity, play the main roles, demonstrating an exquisite combination.

Crocodile, Parrot and Fur Seal

1977

Hobo General poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Hobo General

1976

Tora-san's Lullaby poster
7.8

After Hiroshi is injured in a workplace accident, Torajiro gives Sakura the money he has saved and leaves to work as a traveling salesman once again. During his travels, Torajiro meets a father who shares a drink with him. In the morning, Torajiro is shocked to learn that the man has left his baby behind and a note asking Tora to take care of the child.

Tora-san's Lullaby

1974

Silk Hat Boss poster
9.0

In a strange outfit and full of youthful energy, the explosive Boss Kumatora raises hell like there's no tomorrow. The first movie of a new series starring Wakayama Tomisaburo as everybody's favorite character Boss Kumatora from the Red Peony Gambler series. Having made a fortune in the Russo-Japanese War, the Kumatora Family migrates to Kyushu to take on a military-related job. There they encounter the evil and malicious interference of the Chindai family of Kumamoto, and Boss Kumatora boldly fights back with the help of O'Ryu the Red Peony. A super entertaining film with non-stop comedy and action directed by Suzuki Norifumi.

Silk Hat Boss

1970

Silk Hat Boss poster
9.0

In a strange outfit and full of youthful energy, the explosive Boss Kumatora raises hell like there's no tomorrow. The first movie of a new series starring Wakayama Tomisaburo as everybody's favorite character Boss Kumatora from the Red Peony Gambler series. Having made a fortune in the Russo-Japanese War, the Kumatora Family migrates to Kyushu to take on a military-related job. There they encounter the evil and malicious interference of the Chindai family of Kumamoto, and Boss Kumatora boldly fights back with the help of O'Ryu the Red Peony. A super entertaining film with non-stop comedy and action directed by Suzuki Norifumi.

Silk Hat Boss

1970

Hakatakko Pure Heart poster
6.0

Based on the comic by Housei Hasegawa

Hakatakko Pure Heart

1978

Truck Rascals: Another Odyssey of Momojiro poster
9.0

Hoping to romance an alien, Momojiro meets beautiful animal trainer Eriko instead. Then he and Jonathan get drawn into her old friend's fraud.

Truck Rascals: Another Odyssey of Momojiro

1978

1960s · 25 titles

The Insect Woman poster
7.2

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

The Insect Woman

1963

Girls of the Night poster
6.5

In the wake of the 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law, a young woman recently released from one of Japan's new rehabilitation centers struggles to build a new life.

Girls of the Night

1961

The Human Bullet poster
6.0

A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.

The Human Bullet

1968

Code of Ruffians poster
7.5

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.

Code of Ruffians

1965

Just Barely poster
NR

Sawakichi carried on his late father’s legacy, devoting himself to training in the art of seduction while searching for the secret scroll, but he fell just short of success. What is this secret scroll?

Just Barely

1960

House of Terrors poster
5.3

A hunchbacked caretaker presides over a forlorn mansion inhabited by the ghosts of his previous masters. An unbelieving trio (a doctor, his assistant and his niece) fail to heed the caretaker's warnings and are slaughtered horribly by the jealous occupants.

House of Terrors

1965

Curse of the Blood poster
6.7

A samurai kills a blind man who tells him to repay his debts. Because of the samurai's actions his entire family is to bear a terrible curse.

Curse of the Blood

1968

Samurai Banners poster
7.4

Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big?

Samurai Banners

1969

Intentions of Murder poster
7.0

The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.

Intentions of Murder

1964

Shinjuku Plaza poster
NR

Comedy about residents of Shinjuku.

Shinjuku Plaza

1969

The Threat poster
7.3

Two escaped criminals who kidnapped a baby break into the house of Misawa, a man who works in an advertising agency and lives quietly with his family. They will force him to collect the child's ransom for them.

The Threat

1966

Yanagase Blues poster
NR

Jiro, a smooth-talking, womanizing bartender, flees from a Yakuza boss to Yanagase.

Yanagase Blues

1967

To Your Majesty, The Emperor 2 poster
NR

Based on Muneta Hiroshi's military novel. The main character, Yamaguchi Zensuke, is a military dog soldier. He joins the army and winds up sent overseas to China as a part of the military dog unit. He's ridiculed by others due to his inability to advance.

To Your Majesty, The Emperor 2

1964

The Marked Man poster
10.0

A man from Osaka comes up to Tokyo to fight gangsterism.

The Marked Man

1968

Zatoichi's Cane Sword poster
7.3

Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.

Zatoichi's Cane Sword

1967

Life of Hishakaku 3 poster
NR

Third part in Tadashi Sawashima's Theater of Life trilogy.

Life of Hishakaku 3

1964

Great Incidents poster
NR

Comedy starring the manzai team of Chick and Tack, and set in the world of salarymen.

Great Incidents

1967

Sodachi zakari poster
10.0

Japanese movie released on September 30 , 1967 . Produced and distributed by Toho . Color , Toho scope . Running time is 88 minutes.

Sodachi zakari

1967

Our Marriage poster
7.1

Poverty-stricken sisters reach the age when they start attracting marriage proposals. They must decide between marrying for love or money, but their ambitions clash when they both fall for the same man.

Our Marriage

1962

The Glamorous Ghost poster
7.0

Based on the novel by Naoki Prize-nominated author Taro Takeshita, a thriller full of black humor. A jealous husband murders his adulterous wife, then embarks on a crusade to extort all the wealthy men whom she had affairs with.

The Glamorous Ghost

1964

Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder poster
6.7

The long awaited second film in the Wicked Priest series is a masterpiece of sword swinging fury as Shinkai is asked by a man on the run to bring his young son to live with his grandfather, the master of a ju-jitsu dojo during the Taisho period of the early 20th century. Shinkai then runs afoul of a gangster group using strong-arm tactics to take over the profits from local gambling. When he proves to be more than they can handle, they hire the one man who has the ability to kill Shinkai and exact revenge, Ryotatsu, the karate priest whom Shinkai blinded in the first film. This ultra-violent entry has long been considered the best movie in the series and never made its way to home video before. See a spectacular display of Wakayama Tomisaburo’s martial art expertise in this action packed film. The Holy Grail of sword movies has arrived at last! /Winterheart of CG

Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder

1968

The Young Eagles of the Kamikaze poster
7.7

The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in World War II. Young boys dream about becoming pilots and apply to flight schools. However, the flight schools have extremely demanding, harsh training, and once they finally become pilots, they must become suicide bombers and give their lives for their homeland.

The Young Eagles of the Kamikaze

1968

Women Can't Be Beaten poster
7.5

An uptight young man comes to suspect that his factory worker girlfriend has a secret involving his boorish older brother.

Women Can't Be Beaten

1969

Women Doing Time poster
NR

Part 2 of the 'Onna bangaichi' series

Women Doing Time

1966

Madcap Mixup poster
7.0

Five fellows are taken by the police for bank hold-ups.

Madcap Mixup

1969

Series credits