Acting

Zenichiro Kito

Acting credits

Yasubei Horibe poster
NR

Pre-war jidaigeki film from 1936, produced by Uzumasa Hassei Eiga studios

Yasubei Horibe

1936

The Seven Changes of a Paper Crane (Part 1) poster
5.0

The story is based on the serial novel by Tsunoda Kikuo.

The Seven Changes of a Paper Crane (Part 1)

1941

Edo Spring poster
NR

Kinshiro takes over the family, but he thinks he is going to replace the son of his stepmother but runs into trouble when he befriends the yakuza.

Edo Spring

1936

Shanghai Landing Party poster
5.0

This 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

The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday poster
6.5

No synopsis available yet.

The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday

1941

The Sculpture of Master Choji poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Sculpture of Master Choji

1943

The Battle of Kawanakajima poster
7.0

This epic depicts the battle between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The focus of the story is the struggle by the unit leader in charge of the main supply wagons and the supply troops to transport materiel to the Uesugi army. To this are added episodes involving an itinerant woman.

The Battle of Kawanakajima

1941

Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo poster
7.4

A man gets rid of a cheap pot without knowing it contains a map to a treasure. As word spreads, many join in hunting it.

Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo

1935

The Age of Beginnings poster
NR

A newly hired daily newspaper writer covering the society beat receives an assignment to cover Tokyo at night by walking and observing it. He gets into the right frame of mind by dressing the part as a vagrant with not a penny to his name. He gets into trouble ending up at the police station slammer overnight. He has no material to write about and, with his assignment unfulfilled, faces a cross editor.

The Age of Beginnings

1947

Tatakau Otoko poster
NR

A narrative rakugo film depicting the struggles of people desperately living under wartime conditions

Tatakau Otoko

1940

Kantaro of Ina poster
NR

War-time jidaigeki by Eisuke Takizawa.

Kantaro of Ina

1943

Life Is like a Somersault poster
7.0

After learning that he has accidentally killed a man in a fight, Unokichi must look after the man's pregnant widow.

Life Is like a Somersault

1946

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo poster
5.9

Young, timid bowmaster Kazuma seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumoured, drove the previous champion—Kazuma’s father—to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is very much a coward, holing up in an inn and generally avoiding confrontation. Despite his best attempts to remain clandestine, the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He's saved by Karatsu Kanbei, a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has potentially shady ulterior motives.

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo

1945

No artwork available
NR

The sequel to the 1935 film Great Bodhisattva Pass

Great Bodhisattva Pass 2

1936

Green Earth poster
NR

Set in Qingdao, China, a Japanese company locates an office there and begins work and cooperation with a local Chinese company for business. Many Japanese engineers also move to China, with their families, for the company in order to construct a canal. There are young Chinese resisting the Japanese in this area.

Green Earth

1942

The Way of Drama poster
7.0

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

The Way of Drama

1944

Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki poster
8.0

Another adaptation of Tange Sazen.

Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki

1939

No artwork available
10.0

Japanese film.

Nangoku taiheiki

1937

Kunisada Chūji poster
NR

This film is a film adaptation of one of Shinkokugeki's popular plays, known for its famous line, "Tonight is the last night of Mount Akagi...", starring Sawada Shojiro, the original performer of the title role, and directed by Makino Shozo, the "father of Japanese cinema". It was shot in just four days, including location shooting, in between Shinkokugeki's hectic schedule. Although it is an abbreviated version, it contains almost all of the highlights from Yukitomo Rifu's original play, and conveys the charm of Sawa Masaru, a rare and popular actor, to this day.

Kunisada Chūji

The Seven Changes of a Paper Crane (Part 2) poster
6.0

The story is based on the serial novel by Tsunoda Kikuo.

The Seven Changes of a Paper Crane (Part 2)

1941

Flowers Blooming In the Storm poster
8.0

Jidaigeki from 1940

Flowers Blooming In the Storm

1940

Kuriyama Daizen poster
NR

Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi

Kuriyama Daizen

1936

A Man's Flower Road of Triumph poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Man's Flower Road of Triumph

1941

China Night poster
10.0

Wartime propaganda filmed by the Japanese in occupied China, Shirley Yamaguchi portrays an orphan rescued from the streets by a kindly Japanese merchant marine officer. Part spy thriller and part Shanghai travelogue, it was part of a popular series known as "Chinese Continental Friendship" made by the occupying Japanese in China.

China Night

1940