
Acting
Taisaku Akino
Born
1943-02-14 (83)
Place of birth
Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
59 titles
Known for
7.5Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.
AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo
2002
7.5In the tradition of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Gelsey Kirkland's "Dancing on my Grave" comes an insider’s look into the secret world of classical musicians. From her debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall to the Broadway pits of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music for twenty-five years. Now in "Mozart in the Jungle," Tindall exposes the scandalous rock and roll lifestyles of the musicians, conductors, and administrators who inhabit the insular world of classical music.
Mozart in the Jungle
2014
8.0A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Professional Killers
1972
5.0Kintaro Yajima comes to Tokyo and is hired by Yamato Construction Company when he saves the life of the company's CEO. A former leader of a motorcycle gang, Kintaro is known for his highly principled and forthright way of dealing with matters and is never afraid to tell his superiors exactly what he thinks. This has a tendency of irritating some; but when corruption from within the company begins to surface, he may be the only one who can stand up to it.
Salaryman Kintaro
1999
9.0The Tsuru family is a family of nine, headed by Kamejiro. Kamejiro is the president of a construction company that has made a fortune in its first generation, but he is a one-man family. His wife, Aiko, is a typical good wife and wise mother type. Kamejiro gets angry and thunders down every week, and the children are afraid of him, calling him "Oyaji Daiko", but he also takes advantage of this.
Oyaji Daiko
1968
NRThe original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.
It's Tough Being a Man
1968
Film credits
2020s · 4 titles
6.0Detective Ushio is called in to the murder of an elite heart surgeon, who was stabbed twice at a cluster of vending machines in a parking lot.
Tulips in October
2022
NRDuring a fierce battle in Japan's Warring States era, a young swordswoman named Yui is suddenly transported 500 years into the future by the mysterious blade Muramasa. Lost in modern-day Japan, Yui finds refuge at a traditional brewery in Usuki, Oita. While struggling to understand this unfamiliar world, she discovers something she has never seen before: KENDO, the modern martial art descended from the swordsmanship she devoted her life to mastering. The brewery's KENDO club, once proud and successful, is on the verge of collapse. Determined to protect what she believes is worth preserving, Yui helps revive the team alongside Masato Fujii, the brewery's young president and a former national champion who abandoned KENDO after inheriting the family business. As the team prepares for an impossible challenge against their long-time rivals, Yui and Masato grow closer. Yet the possibility that Yui may someday return to her own time threatens the future they are beginning to imagine together.
Top Swords Couple
2024
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Seiichi Morimura Mystery Special Shuchuchueki Series 37 No Retirement Age
2021
NRNo synopsis available yet.
五十年目の俺たちの旅
2026
2010s · 7 titles
The body of Kou Fujisaki, who fell to her death, is discovered in front of an old building in West Shinjuku. Chief Sakamoto notifies Ushio, who arrives at the scene. Ushio thinks that this must be a murder, but according to Yamaji, who was at the scene before him, an eyewitness testified that Kou had jumped off the roof of the building, killing herself. Kou is someone who has lingered in Ushio's memory - as a suspect...
Detective Ushio vs. Case Writer Saeko: Last Family
2017
The body of Kazuyoshi Kawagishi, a construction company worker, is discovered stabbed to death in Shinjuku Central Park in Tokyo. Detective Masanao Ushio of Shinjuku West PD begins an investigation and finds that the murdered Kawagishi was an honest person who didn't have any troubles. Kawagishi worked for a company in Kofu City in Yamanashi, leaving behind his wife and daughter on Awaji Island in Hyogo. He seems to have started working as a laborer 3 years ago, having fallen on hard times when the company went bankrupt. Saeko Kawamura, Ushio's reporter friend, calls him wanting to talk about the case. According to Saeko, Kawagishi was one of the survivors of the "bus hijack arson case" that happened three years ago. In the bus hijack arson case, a man who was hallucinating under the influence of dangerous drugs set fire to an intercity bus going to Shinjuku and departing from Kofu Station...
Detective Ushio vs. Case Writer Saeko: Survivors
2016
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Murder Credit - Final Destination Series
2016
NRIn Osaka, Shiromiya will soon turn 40 years old and he is unemployed. He lives with his daughter Yoyoko who is 5-years-old. Yoyoko has a secret. One day, Shiromiya's childhood friend Machi appears in front of them. Machi is a police officer. She looks at Yoyoko with suspicion...
Pretenders
2018
1.0Goro is an archeologist, fascinated with the national treasure Gassho clay figure and remains from the Jomon period. He meets a woman, Momoko who is timid with love. Momoko often has memories from ancient times and landscapes of the heart in her dreams. She tells Goro about her dream and their relationship deepens.
Raia Prays For…
2015
1.0Masanao Ushio and other detectives from Shinjuku West PD discover the strangled dead body of a woman in an empty building in West Shinjuku in Tokyo. According to her husband Takeshi, the murdered Chieko Akiba was a top salesperson at the insurance company where she worked, but quit her job three months ago and planned to open a beauty salon after buying the building which happens to be the crime scene. The call history on her mobile phone reveals the victim answered a call at 8:16 PM and is presumed to have been murdered immediately afterwards. However, Ushio is surprised to hear who was on the other side of the call: Kyoko Yamano, a woman who accompanied Ushio under an umbrella on a rainy night one year ago and whose husband was killed by someone that very night...
Terminal Station Series - Umbrella of Goodwill
2015
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Koya no Shomei
2019
2000s · 6 titles
6.0Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Izo
2004
6.4When a young yakuza torments the customers in a rival crime family's nightclub, it is not long before his dead body is found. Soon, inter-family retaliation follows, resulting in the death for a prominent crime boss. Devastated by this turn of events, the temperamental Kenzaki vows to avenge his boss's death and, as bloody violence ensues, the body count reaches excessive proportions.
Agitator
2001
7.3When the head of the touring magician's group "Magical Fantasy" is murdered on a train while on his way to Hokkaido, young Kindaichi, who also just happens to be on board, is fast on the case to find the culprit. But just as quickly as the case unfolds, the body disappears only to be rediscovered again, along with other new bodies.
The Files of Young Kindaichi: Murder on the Magic Express
2001
NRThrough a twist of fate, nursing student Asumi and Junichi end up going together on a sentimental journey to the sea. Soon, she notices something odd about the way he walks and talks, eventually coming to the realization that the young man is autistic. Asumi’s trip will change her outlook on life in the most unexpected ways.
Drive Me to the Sea
2009
No synopsis available yet.
Detective Ushio VS Case Reporter Saeko at the Terminal Station
2008
NRNakazo is forced by his foster mother, Shun, to practice dance intensively. He is bullied in the Kabuki world, and worries about his future as an actor.
Chūshingura Urabanashi: Nakazō Kyōran
2000
1990s · 6 titles
7.0The female ninja butterfly was the daughter of a large store five years ago. The butterfly is in love with the Ronin Kurokawa Gennoshin, and one night he abandons everything and leaves the house to be with him, but he…
Manji Mai 3: I will let you go Paradise Jodo
1996
6.5A dying pianist composes one final song for his childhood friend.
Bloom in the Moonlight “The Story of Rentaro Taki”
1993
NRA college graduate, a gutless office worker and a crunchy yakuza live together from a slight misunderstanding.
Chinpira Jingi: Gokuraku Tonbo
1994
NRAn assignment is issued to a lady sniper to destroy the mafia. The second-in-command of the Akita-kai, a yakuza group based in the Kanto region, is stabbed to death by a hitman from the Kansai-based San'yu-kai, which is aiming to expand into Kanto. Around the same time, Komoro Hisashi, the Akita-kai's action squad leader, is warmly welcomed back by the Akita-kai chairman, who has just returned to freedom after 14 years. However, concerned about the San'yu-kai's movements, he advises him to lie low for a while. Meanwhile, Shinjo, who was a young member 14 years ago, has risen through the ranks to the point of having his own gang. Amidst all this, Komoro meets and falls in love with a nurse named Akie...
Mary's Game
1996
6.5A popular movie star named Hiroshi Nanjo faces a huge problem in filming his new action flick when they find out he hasn't got a license to drive. He is sent to a driving school and...
I Don't Have a License!
1994
NRThe romance between a young girl and a much older salaryman.
New Joyful Embarrassing Story
1992
1980s · 4 titles
7.0Toru Hayashi is an unremarkable bachelor who lives with his mother, until one day a young woman named Rumi moves in in the apartment upstairs. Rumi is a self-proclaimed master thief, but she needs socially awkward Toru's help to actually kickstart her so-called career.
Kaito Ruby
1988
5.2Despite his efforts of living a normal life as a banker, the life of Toru, the only son of the Yubari Family, becomes disrupted by trouble brought on by his father. When his father’s battle against his rival group the Miike Family ignites, Toru becomes more involved in the turf war than he wished for.
Love and Action in Osaka
1988
NRAfter the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, there was a series of battles fought while the former supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate retreated to the north where they actually started a sovereign nation that was recognized by more than one European country. Survivors of the Shinsengumi were among the followers of Enomoto Takeaki who took them to the northernmost island of Ezo where they fought their final battle at the star shaped fort, Goryokaku. The Japanese Civil Wars fought in the name of the emperor signaled the complete end of the feudal system and Japan’s entry into the modern world as those brave samurai tried to halt progress and learned that the age of modern warfare and weaponry had passed them by. Swords were no match for rifles and cannons, nor was any man a match for the power of the imperial flag. Japanese loyalty to the emperor has long defined the nation and culture despite the changing times.
Goryokaku
1988
8.0In Shibamata, Tokyo, Tora-san's family prepares for a wedding. Meanwhile, the traveling Tora-san meets an old acqaintance in Iwate Province. Tora-san refuses to drink with him, afraid that the acquaintance, now settled and married, will again become attracted to Tora-san's wandering existence. Tora-san becomes attracted to a female barber, but must break off their relationship so that she too can live a secure life. She instead gets into an abusive relationship with a motorcyclist.
Marriage Counselor Tora-san
1984
1970s · 11 titles
8.0After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to change his vagrant lifestyle and become an honest worker with a steady job.
Tora-san's Runaway
1970
8.3When Tora-san returns to visit his family, he is surprised to find an arrogant professor occupying his room. The professor and Tora-san become rivals for the affection of Chiyo.
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
1972
8.3While Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.
Tora-san's Dear Old Home
1972
7.7After winning big at the races, Torajiro Kuruma wants to take his aunt and uncle on a trip to Hawaii to partly pay the great filial debt he feels he owes them, but the plan hits a snag. Also, a pretty kindergarten teacher rents a room at Toraya.
Tora-san's Grand Scheme
1970
6.4Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the backdrop of wealth, this film is loaded with twists and turns and surprises at every corner.
Devil's Flute
1979
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Japan Beauty Story: A Woman Among Women
1975
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Beauty Wandering Story
1977
6.8The Japanese pop music duo Pink Lady are circus performers who show kindness toward a captured "monster," a sad, furry being (played by a man in a bulky, over-sized pink acrylic costume) who suffers acts of unusual cruelty by the keeper and ringmaster before the girls escape with the creature in a circus trailer.
Pink Lady's Motion Picture
1978
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Japan Beauty Story
1974
8.0Two assassins are hired to carry out a hit on the second wife of a candle merchant, but someone is watching...
Professional Killers
1973
NRThis film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Hisashi Inoue, which tells the story of a comedian who teams up with a strange man he meets while traveling, and the two become very popular in Asakusa while performing their unusual acts.
Comedy actors: Cooper and Gable
1978
1960s · 4 titles
6.4Young Horus lives in a mythical Scandinavia of the Iron Age. Recovering the stolen Sword of the Sun from a rock giant, he learns he must travel to the lands of his ancestors, encountering the beautiful but enigmatic Hilda as his journey leads to a series of adventures.
Horus: Prince of the Sun
1968
7.8Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp
1969
6.8Kuruma Torajiro is discovered looking around Kyoto for someone special to him.
Tora-san's Cherished Mother
1969
NRThis is the DVD version of the TV show, which consists of a single video that plays the first and last episodes of the tv show bridged by an edit recapping the major events of the lost middle episodes.
It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)
1968
Series credits
7.5Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.
AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo
2002
7.5In the tradition of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Gelsey Kirkland's "Dancing on my Grave" comes an insider’s look into the secret world of classical musicians. From her debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall to the Broadway pits of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music for twenty-five years. Now in "Mozart in the Jungle," Tindall exposes the scandalous rock and roll lifestyles of the musicians, conductors, and administrators who inhabit the insular world of classical music.
Mozart in the Jungle
2014
8.0A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Professional Killers
1972
5.0Kintaro Yajima comes to Tokyo and is hired by Yamato Construction Company when he saves the life of the company's CEO. A former leader of a motorcycle gang, Kintaro is known for his highly principled and forthright way of dealing with matters and is never afraid to tell his superiors exactly what he thinks. This has a tendency of irritating some; but when corruption from within the company begins to surface, he may be the only one who can stand up to it.
Salaryman Kintaro
1999
9.0The Tsuru family is a family of nine, headed by Kamejiro. Kamejiro is the president of a construction company that has made a fortune in its first generation, but he is a one-man family. His wife, Aiko, is a typical good wife and wise mother type. Kamejiro gets angry and thunders down every week, and the children are afraid of him, calling him "Oyaji Daiko", but he also takes advantage of this.
Oyaji Daiko
1968
NRThe original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.
It's Tough Being a Man
1968
NRThis light-hearted comedy tells the story of a young man who chooses to become a teacher and struggles to live and grow in the field of education.
Netchū Jidai
1978
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Tasukenin Hashiru
1973
6.0Sharply revealing the issue of Japanese construction industry where bid-rigging was a common practice among the giants. After working diligently for three years at a construction site, Heita unwillingly transfers to a sales department where he becomes a part of the illegal collusion -- to limit open competition and obtain high-price public works within the colluding parties. He is torn from conducting unlawful action to save his company, yet deep inside wishing to abide by the law to follow his justice. What will his answer be?
Steel Frame
2010
NRThe drama depicts the lives and loves of people living in three different environments: a family consisting of two brothers and their parents; a family with a father and a daughter who are not well organized; and a girl who has moved from the countryside to Tokyo to live alone in the whirlwind of the big city, desperately trying to survive.
Brother
1969
NRShinobu, who works in the advertising department of the female underwear maker Princess Underwear, has a dream of becoming a fairy tale writer. He has a colleague and fiancé Taeko, but he promised that he won't get married until he saves up 3 million yen, so until then he continues living in a second-hand bookstore. One Sunday, Shinobu, who was just walking around the city, helps an old woman who has fallen over. The old woman, Ijuuin Ayano, was born in a noble family and had run away from Kyoto due to a disagreement with her daughter-in-law.
Kimagure Honkakuha
1977
NRA milestone in Japanese teen drama, representing the 1970s. It questions the meaning of life, worries, and joys.
Oretachi no Tabi
1975
10.0An action comedy in which five people from the Aso detective agency aim to make a lot of money quickly through various commisions.
We are angels!
1979
NRMystery drama starring Akira Onodera, based on the novel by Seishi Yokomizo about Kosuke Kindaichi.
Meitantei Kindaichi Kōsuke
1983
7.0The seventh entry in the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series. Hiroshi, Satoru, Susumu, Takeo, and Yasuko are five unique children who have different talents, such as being skilled at computers, being an expert at throwing stars, and excelling in studies and sports. The leader of this group, Hiroshi, creates a fictional character, the phantom Matenrou on his computer. When the five children shoot a video about this phantom and play it in their school, a small problem emerges. That evening, when Hiroshi finds that his precious computer is gone, Matenro, who is real appears before him and his friends said “If you want your computer back, accept my challenge,” Accepting the challenge, the children decides to form their own detective squad, “Hard Gumi" to catch Matenro.
Omoikkiri Detective Team Hardgumi
1987
NRThis cheerful romantic comedy hints at conflicts in a changing society through the friendship between two underachieving teenage boys and the accidental bringing together of their respective siblings.
Kotoshi no Koi
1967
NRNo synopsis available yet.
もういちど春
1981
