
Acting
Noboru Andō
Born — Died
1926-05-24 — 2015-12-16
Place of birth
Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
65 titles
Noboru Ando (Japanese: 安藤 昇, Hepburn: Andō Noboru, 24 May 1926 – 16 December 2015) was a Japanese actor, writer and former yakuza. He is known for utilizing his experiences as a criminal in his many roles in yakuza films. He had a large knife scar on his left cheek, the result of a brawl with a Korean gangster as a young man.
Known for
6.7A self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the yakuza but quickly loses his self-control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.
Graveyard of Honor
1975
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
7.0Ando on the run, stopping in to service all the women in his life, with a bit of the old ultra-violence.
Noboru Ando's Chronicle of Fugitive Days and Sex
1976
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
7.1A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Sympathy for the Underdog
1971
8.0Ryo, a young former banker, gets beaten up over a debt from gambling. A yakuza boss saves him, and Ryo decides to train to become a yakuza under him.
Those Swell Yakuza
1988
Film credits
2000s · 4 titles
9.0Biopic of yakuza Noboru Ando, based on his autobiography.
Shibuya Story
2005
NRThe final 'Kizu Blood Apocalypse' film.
Kizu Blood Apocalypse 5
2000
10.0Former yakuza gang boss Noboru Ando reminisces about old partner in crime Kei Hanagata.
True Record of an Ando Gang Side-Story: Starving Wolf's Rules
2002
6.5The history of the Yakuza Eiga at the TOEI studio is roughly outlined. Real Yakuza and also their connections to the movie business are discussed, and many important actors and directors of the genres are interviewed. Former real yakuza boss turned actor Noboru Ando, Takashi Miike, Sonny Chiba and many more get a chance to speak.
Yakuza Eiga, une histoire du cinéma yakuza
2009
1990s · 5 titles
NRThe first 'Kizu Blood Apocalypse' film.
Kizu Blood Apocalypse
1998
NRThe second 'Kizu Blood Apocalypse' film.
Kizu Blood Apocalypse 2
1998
NRDirect to video crime film.
KIZU
1998
NRThe third 'Kizu Blood Apocalypse' film.
Kizu Blood Apocalypse 3
1998
NRThe fourth 'Kizu Blood Apocalypse' film.
Kizu Blood Apocalypse 4
1998
1970s · 28 titles
6.7A self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the yakuza but quickly loses his self-control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.
Graveyard of Honor
1975
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
7.0Ando on the run, stopping in to service all the women in his life, with a bit of the old ultra-violence.
Noboru Ando's Chronicle of Fugitive Days and Sex
1976
7.1A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Sympathy for the Underdog
1971
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
7.7After spending several years in prison, yakuza punk Masa (Bunta Sugawara) and his underling, Katsuji (Tamio Kawachi) are back out in the mean streets of Kobe to make a name for themselves amongst the local yakuza organization.
The Viper Brothers
1971
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
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
5.8Former inmate Katsuji gets involved in the horse gambling business while lending a helping hand to a ranch operator.
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
1971
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
7.0The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
1972
8.0Based on Kazuo Taoka's autobiography, this film follows a Kobe gangster as he builds the small Yamaguchi-gumi into Japan's largest criminal clan.
Third Generation Boss
1974
8.0No synopsis available yet.
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
1971
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
7.4After going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, Seji Iwahashi gets released early -- only to find that his former gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, how long will it be before the bloodshed begins anew?
The Wolves
1971
6.5This biopic of notorious yakuza-turned-actor Noboru Ando focuses on the days leading to his arrest after the shooting of businessman Hideki Yokoi.
The Ando Gang Documentary Film
1973
5.0Set loose in a postwar world with no rules, an ex-juvenile delinquent begins building the most powerful gang in Tokyo's glittering Shibuya ward.
Quarreling with Yakuza
1973
5.9Japan, 1946, just after the end of World War II. As the US occupation army patrols the dilapidated streets of Tokyo, a desperate and ambitious group of war veterans and gamblers struggle to take control of the Ginza district's underworld with the help of a deranged soldier.
A True Story of the Private Ginza Police
1973
10.0With a Kansai syndicate vying for Tokyo, one man reunites with his roguish half-brother in the midst of negotiations, when all hell breaks loose.
The Maizuru Showdown between The Yakuza Brothers
1974
7.8Two inmates are simultaneously released from jail, but go their separate ways, only to cross paths again in the nearest brothel. There they make the acquaintance of a would-be prostitute. They help her escape and decide to guide her on her quest for sunken contraband somewhere off the coast.
The Homeless
1974
5.8Two yakuza, one of whom frequently reflects on an uncomfortable past taking advantage of Korean women, meet a stowaway on Japanese soil from across the Genkai Sea.
The Sea of Genkai
1976
7.0In the roaring 1970s, a man who has left the world of the yakuza to become the owner of a sushi restaurant decides to rise up again when he sees his former family being overrun by a modern yakuza group from the Kansai region.
Yakuza of the Present
1973
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Gang Warfare
1972
8.0Set in Shibuya in 1949, this is another film based on real life former yakuza boss Noboru Ando's memoirs.
Violent Fraternity
1974
10.0In the gaudy world of 1930s Shinjuku, a violent youth known as Bakudan Match tangles explosively with prostitutes, politicians and the police.
Yakuza Skirmishes
1972
NRThe fifth and final chapter of the Kanto Street Peddlers series! Will the battle in Asakusa be enough for a complete victory?
Kanto Street Peddlers: Shallow Clan Honor
1971
NRThird and last movie in the Yakuza Hijoshi trilogy.
Yakuza Beasts-Blood Settlement
1970
NRThird film in the series.
Reformatory Buddies
1974
1960s · 22 titles
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
7.5No synopsis available yet.
Organized Violence II
1967
NRAuthentic action drama of modern gangsters.
Penitentiary Brothers
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
8.0A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths cross again as they both fall in love with the same woman.
Eighteen Years in Prison
1967
NRThe story centers on a young yakuza, played by Keiji Takamiya, who teams up with a group of delinquent girls to commit crimes and make money. The second film in Shochiku's series the Law / Okite.
Law of the Wild
1965
9.0A gangster named Sagara killed a broker at the request of a friend named Oba, was arrested and spent eight years in prison. Now released, he wants to find out who squealed on him.
Secret Information
1968
7.5After the war, Kijima (Bunta Sugawara) returns to Tokyo where he meets Ôba (Noboru Andô), an Ex-Kamikaze pilot, and the two ruffians gather hooligans to join their group. In Ginza, the Togawa gang have taken over Sakurada's territory. After several fights Kijima and Ôba gain control of the territory by chasing out the notorious Togawa Group in the name of Sakurada. But Kijima is arrested for assaulting an American soldier. A few years pass. Kijima has served his prison term and the sears of war have been erased from Ginza. Ôba is now president of a company specializing in collection of bad debts, cheque frauds and everything that means money. People call their organization the “Private Police,” and Kijima begins to work for Ôba. Now the Takegami gang waits a chance to seize the Ginza territory.
The Private Police
1969
NRNo synopsis available yet.
A History of the Japanese Underworld - The Bloody Resistance
1967
NRFollowing “A Man's Face Shows His Personal History”, this movie is the second of the “Trilogy of the Wartime Generation”. It is a war drama set in China and depicts battles over opium.
Opium Plateau: Hell Squad, Charge!
1966
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Gambler's Law
1967
NRAfter the war, Noboru Ando, a former kamikaze soldier, returns to a devastated Tokyo. Enraged by the violence prevalent in society, he immerses himself in the yakuza world, believing that "violence must be met with violence." Gaining notoriety for his natural bravery and fighting skills, he becomes known as the "intellectual yakuza" and creates the Ando-gumi, a gang that controls the Shibuya district. Ando's first series of yakuza films is based on his autobiography. He labored at his first studio, Shochiku, to only minor success before leaving and going onto true stardom at Toei Studios. These films were awfully early in Ando’s career - a novice actor and former yakuza given immense notoriety by his newspaper-serialized bio upon his release from prison. 1 of 5 films.
Blood and Law
1965
9.0Convict son revenges innocent father's death.
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
1967
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Flame and the Code
1966
9.0The 11th and final film in the Gang series. Most of the films had different directors and cast, and were only connected by the title and Toei's marketing department. Unlike the early entries, which were jazzy capers, this final entry is a prototype jitsuroku yakuza film. Just back from the war, Noboru Ando leads a gang of war vets turned gangster in the US occupied streets of Tokyo. They get into a conflict with a Chinese gang as well as the military police. Tetsuro Tamba appears as a police chief trying to bring peace to the streets; 1st wave pinky violence star Masumi Tachibana is a girl grieving his dead gangster father.
King of the Gang
1967
9.0Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.
Parole
1967
NRShochiku's popular series of gang films, this one has the hero returning from prison bent on revenge. He runs into Chinese hoodlums, blackmailers and gold-smugglers. But he also aids and abets young lovers yet, despite his help, their love ends in tragedy and he tracks down his prey in Kobe.
The Betrayers Out!
1966
9.0The hero tries to unite various gangs.
A History of the Japanese Underworld
1968
NRSecond delivery in the "Yakuza Hijoshi" series. The protagonist, played by Ando Noboru, is torn between the organization and his old friends.
Fill the Cup with Blood
1969
NRA hobo exposes the misdeeds of a new yakuza.
Debt of Honor
1966
NRMinami Yoichiro is a gang member who has killed the boss of opponent clan. Before leaving Japan forever, he visits his sister's grave and becomes involved with a rival gang. He then discovers that his sister was murdered; also it becomes apparent that the pursuing detective has a personal reason for trying to capture him. In the end both he and the girl who was escaping with him are killed. The third film in Shochiku's series Law / Okite.
Escape and the Law
1965
8.0When Keiji Takama returns to Nagasaki, he finds many changes. The rights of the entertainment field that had been held by his family have been taken over by the Matsui Group, a new gangster setup. So he becomes head of the Takama Group to regain lost territory. With the cooperation of all the Bosses from Tokyo to Nagasaki, who had known his father, Keiji recovers the rights to put on shows at the City Hall. As he had feared, however, Matsui begins to interfere with his plans. Keiji's men are furious, but he knows better than to take up the cudgels with Matsui at this important time. Whatever Matsui does, Keiji goes one better. Frustrated and bitter, Matsui calls in the help of Koiwa, a killer. Now, having tried his best to oust Keiji but finding that he is made of sterner stuff than he had counted on, he decides to have Koiwa do away with him for good.
Showdown at Nagasaki
1969
Behind the camera
10.0Once again, director Shunichi Kajima and star Takanori Jinnai are teaming up to create a new type of yakuza film that stylishly depicts the short but vibrant life of legendary urban yakuza Takashi Hanagata.
Kizu
1988
1.0The lives of a young yakuza and his girlfriend.
Love on a Daily Basis
1988
8.0Set in Shibuya in 1949, this is another film based on real life former yakuza boss Noboru Ando's memoirs.
Violent Fraternity
1974
10.0Former yakuza gang boss Noboru Ando reminisces about old partner in crime Kei Hanagata.
True Record of an Ando Gang Side-Story: Starving Wolf's Rules
2002
7.0A documentary about the other side of yakuza society from Noboru Ando, the former leader of the group. Directed by Noboru Ando and Akira Shiizuka.
Yakuza Cruel Secret Amputation Of An Arm
1976
