Noboru Andō

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

Film credits

1970s · 28 titles

Graveyard of Honor poster
6.7

A 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

Violent Streets poster
6.8

With a Kansai syndicate setting their sights on Tokyo, a former yakuza boss gets dragged back into a world of violence.

Violent Streets

1974

Noboru Ando's Chronicle of Fugitive Days and Sex poster
7.0

Ando 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

Sympathy for the Underdog poster
7.1

A 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

Street Mobster poster
6.8

After 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

The Viper Brothers poster
7.7

After 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

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1 poster
5.9

Bunta 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

Father of the Kamikaze poster
NR

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.

Father of the Kamikaze

1974

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape poster
5.8

Former 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

The Viper Brothers Rage Again poster
10.0

Part 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

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die poster
7.0

The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die

1972

Third Generation Boss poster
8.0

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.

Third Generation Boss

1974

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter

1971

Down with The Big Boss poster
8.0

In 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

The Wolves poster
7.4

After 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

The Ando Gang Documentary Film poster
6.5

This 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

Quarreling with Yakuza poster
5.0

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.

Quarreling with Yakuza

1973

A True Story of the Private Ginza Police poster
5.9

Japan, 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

The Maizuru Showdown between The Yakuza Brothers poster
10.0

With 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

The Homeless poster
7.8

Two 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

The Sea of Genkai poster
5.8

Two 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

Yakuza of the Present poster
7.0

In 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

Gang Warfare poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Gang Warfare

1972

Violent Fraternity poster
8.0

Set in Shibuya in 1949, this is another film based on real life former yakuza boss Noboru Ando's memoirs.

Violent Fraternity

1974

Yakuza Skirmishes poster
10.0

In the gaudy world of 1930s Shinjuku, a violent youth known as Bakudan Match tangles explosively with prostitutes, politicians and the police.

Yakuza Skirmishes

1972

Kanto Street Peddlers: Shallow Clan Honor poster
NR

The 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

Yakuza Beasts-Blood Settlement poster
NR

Third and last movie in the Yakuza Hijoshi trilogy.

Yakuza Beasts-Blood Settlement

1970

Reformatory Buddies poster
NR

Third film in the series.

Reformatory Buddies

1974

1960s · 22 titles

Japan Organized Crime Boss poster
7.4

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.

Japan Organized Crime Boss

1969

Organized Violence II poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Organized Violence II

1967

Penitentiary Brothers poster
NR

Authentic action drama of modern gangsters.

Penitentiary Brothers

1969

By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him poster
8.0

Immigrant 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

Eighteen Years in Prison poster
8.0

A 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

Law of the Wild poster
NR

The 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

Secret Information poster
9.0

A 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

The Private Police poster
7.5

After 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

A History of the Japanese Underworld - The Bloody Resistance poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

A History of the Japanese Underworld - The Bloody Resistance

1967

Opium Plateau: Hell Squad, Charge! poster
NR

Following “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

The Gambler's Law poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Gambler's Law

1967

Blood and Law poster
NR

After 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

A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm poster
9.0

Convict son revenges innocent father's death.

A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm

1967

Flame and the Code poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Flame and the Code

1966

King of the Gang poster
9.0

The 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

Parole poster
9.0

Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.

Parole

1967

The Betrayers Out! poster
NR

Shochiku'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

A History of the Japanese Underworld poster
9.0

The hero tries to unite various gangs.

A History of the Japanese Underworld

1968

Fill the Cup with Blood poster
NR

Second 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

Debt of Honor poster
NR

A hobo exposes the misdeeds of a new yakuza.

Debt of Honor

1966

Escape and the Law poster
NR

Minami 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

Showdown at Nagasaki poster
8.0

When 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