
Acting
Sōji Kiyokawa
Born 1903-11-01 · Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Acting credits
7.1After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
Chûshingura
1962
7.2A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
1956
6.7A young man rents an apartment in Tokyo and discover it was built by his father. He falls in love with the daughter of the mistress of the house and decides to marry her. Only to discover that his father is is in debt and wants him to marry Ranko so that she may help his company by granting 1.5 million yen. Teruko decides to borrow money from a greedy bar owner who lends her money on certain conditions and photographs her without her consent. A love traingle forms between Koroku, Ranko, and Teruko. Things complicate when Koroku marries Teruko and Tsugawa threatens them for the money causing many twists and turns.
365 Nights
1948
NRNo synopsis available yet.
牢獄の花嫁
1955
6.0A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later facing vengeful karate brothers. As rival schools and public spectacle push him toward violence, he must reconcile strength with restraint and the true spirit of his art.
Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
1945
6.5A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.
Sanshiro Sugata
1943
NRPeriod drama directed by Yasushi Sasaki.
Lords of Oppression 2
1957
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Utsukushiki taka
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Mysterious House
1954
6.0Ronin Sasaki Kojiro pursues his ultimate goal of becoming a master swordsman. Along the way he encounters another great swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi.
Sasaki Kojiro
1957
6.0Upon his arrival to Dragon Island, ronin Yagi Hanzo, is propositioned by various shady individuals representing rival gangs to lend his services to them. Branded an enemy for his refusal to become involved with either side, he soon finds himself caught up in an intrigue extending beyond petty gang rivalries, involving a plot by Daimyo in Kyoto to overthrow the government.
Law in Ghost Island
1961
NRKichigoro, a firefighter from the Maeda family of the Kaga Principality, rescues Oshimo, the younger sister of Jirokichi, a city firefighter from the Ha-gumi group, from a samurai who is trying to kidnap her. Oshimo has feelings for Kichigoro. At this moment, a fire warning bell sounds in the city...
The Fighting Firemen
1939
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Abare noshi
1952
NRAdaptation of the novel by Osaragi Jirō. Again scripted by the legendary Yamanaka Sadao
Mito Komon - The Secret Letter
1935
6.5Kinnosuke of Toyama sets out on a private mission to clear his father’s name for a crime he did not commit.
Official with a Tattoo
1960
6.7A fugitive lord and his six retainers disguise themselves as monks to bluff their way through a hostile checkpoint.
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
1952
7.5Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) was a major daimyo during the Warring State period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy military governor with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582. Telling the story of his rise to prominence as he leads an army of 4,000 men against the 40,000 troops of Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto to prevent the arrogant daimyo from crushing the Oda clan and taking control of the entire nation. From a newly restored anamorpic widescreen print, this is the ultimate warlord movie.
Lucky Adventurer Nobunaga Oda
1959
NRA sentimental tale of the filial love between shogun Iemitsu (matinee idol Hasegawa) and his loyal old retainer Hikoza (comedian Roppa, playing somewhat against type).
Iemitsu and Hikoza
1941
NRThe sword of the chivalrous warrior is drawn amid the struggle for a legendary sword and a plot to assassinate a young princess.
Duel at Omagatsuji
1951
7.0Genji Kurô is a master swordsman and entrusted with protecting the ancient sword Kaen by the Otsubo family.
Tales of Young Genji Kuro
1957
7.0Thanks to a secret message hidden on the two sacred swords Kaen and Suien, the samurai Genji Kurô (Nakamura Kinnosuke) found the hidden treasure of Lord Yoshitsune. When he gives a piece of the treasure to a couple of poor but honest people so they can pay their debts, it attracts the unwanted attention of several dishonest people, such as pirates, greedy merchants and rebels. While the government is fighting a battle for power against rebels and royalists, all want the treasure by any means possible.
Tales of Young Genji Kuro 2
1958
6.0A kindhearted wandering gambler named Hajiro gets involved in a crisis of a village as he passes through and decides to lend a sword in hopes to rescue them.
Hanjiro of Kusama: Bird of Passage
1960
5.0This film attempts to reconstruct the tension of the Battle of Shanghai through an episode in an understated way, introducting its story in a documentary mode. In the film story, Japan's marine regiment protects Japanese residents and Chinese refugees-women and young children-from rampant street fighting, Shanhai Rikusentai unsparingly uses its first eight minutes for an official-mannered self-justification of the war. From the viewpoint of explaining Japan's military operation,the narration refers to the city s spatial division in sync with maps on screen.
Shanghai Landing Party
1939
9.0This adaptation of a Hideji Hojo novel, about the historical uprising of the Kuroda clan in 1633, is told through the eyes of retainer, Daizen. As his clan’s new leader, Tadayuki, becomes increasingly militant in his opposition to the Tokugawa shogunate, Daizen is forced to reconcile his loyalty to the clan with his loyalty to Tadayuki, who seems dead set on entangling the clan in destructive conflict. The Kuroda Affair’s mise-en-scène is said to have influenced future Toei director Eiichi Kudo. The film also features two of the greatest stars of Japanese period cinema, Chiezo Kataoka and Ryutaro Otomo.
The Kuroda Affair
1956