Makoto Ashikawa

Acting

Makoto Ashikawa

Born

1960-04-19 (66)

Place of birth

Osaka, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

30 titles

Makoto Ashikawa (芦川誠, born 19 April 1960) is a Japanese actor.

Known for

Midnight Diner poster
8.2

Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper.

Midnight Diner

2009

Wakako Zake poster
6.7

Murasaki Wakako, who is 26 years old, loves going out alone to enjoy eating and drinking, especially when something unpleasant happens at work. Thie show follows Wakako through many solitary outings, where she enjoys different combinations of food and drink!

Wakako Zake

2015

Zatoichi poster
7.2

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Zatoichi

2003

Fireworks poster
7.7

Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With those close to him suffering their own tribulations, Nishi's methods become increasingly extreme.

Fireworks

1997

Violent Cop poster
7.2

A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.

Violent Cop

1989

Kids Return poster
6.9

Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.

Kids Return

1996

Film credits

2020s · 5 titles

Kubi poster
6.9

Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears.

Kubi

2023

Underdog: Part One poster
7.2

Tells the story of three bottom-dog boxers who gets used as punching bags. Pro boxer Suenaga Akira fell off the path to greatness but still tries to crawl his way to the top. Omura Ryuta is a youngster who grew up in foster care. Miyagi Shun, a TV celebrity with famous parents, takes a shot at boxing as part of a TV show. Three underdogs with very different back stories put their pride on the line as they exchange blows.

Underdog: Part One

2020

Around The Table poster
6.8

Haruko is a single mother. She has an unusual living arrangement. She lives with her son Riku, her friend Aiko and Aiko's boyfriend Sorao. One day, Yuko stays at Haruko's house to attend an art institute for the summer. Yuko is the daughter of Haruko's old friend Tomoyo. They haven't spoken for many years prior to Tomoyo reaching out to Haruko to ask if her daughter could stay with her for the summer. Haruko and Tomoyo have an uncomfortable past.

Around The Table

2021

Lives at Right Angles poster
NR

Daiki has autism spectrum disorder. He works as a janitor and lives independently with some support. His younger sister Nozomi is a counselor and has supported him since their mother passed away. When Nozomi's marriage plans come up, they are forced to face their own futures.

Lives at Right Angles

2026

Underdog: Part Two poster
7.0

Suenaga finds his life on the verge of collapsing as violence consumes those around him. However, he finds a worthy opponent in Omura, an up-and-coming wunderkind who is trying to escape his violent past. The men's fight for redemption culminates in a climatic match brimming with raw, testosterone-fueled emotions. Upholding the Rocky Balboa spirit of learning to get hit and keep moving forward, Underdog is a tough, uncompromising epic that deserves a spot in the pantheon of great boxing films.

Underdog: Part Two

2020

2010s · 8 titles

Cold Fish poster
6.9

When fish shop owner Shamoto's teenage daughter Mitsuko is caught stealing, a generous middle-aged man named Murata helps resolve the situation. The man and his wife offer to have Mitsuko work at their opposing fish store. Shamoto soon discovers that something far more sinister lives behind Murata's friendly demeanor.

Cold Fish

2011

The Inerasable poster
6.8

A novelist receives a letter from a female university student named Kubo about strange sounds that emanate from a room in her apartment. They begin to investigate incidents involving former residents, and eventually discover the shocking truths lurking inside the building.

The Inerasable

2016

Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen poster
6.2

Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.

Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen

2015

Golden Slumber poster
7.1

When easy-going Aoyagi meets an old friend for a fishing trip, he ends up drugged, framed for the Prime Minister's assassination, and on the run from corrupt cops. It's only the beginning of what quickly becomes the worst, weirdest day of his life. But he'll get by with a little help from his friends, who include a famous pop diva, a rockabilly deliveryman, a crippled old gangster, and the world's most cheerful serial killer.

Golden Slumber

2010

Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel poster
5.8

In 1959, a body of a flight attendant of an international airline is found, strangled. Detective Rokuro Fujisawa takes charge of the investigation with a young detective Ichimura and his investigations lead him to Father Tolbeck as a suspect. But the police are forced to move very discreetly as the time was right after the Second World War, when a sensitive situation that involves Western people and religion is likely to become an international issue. The investigation leads to an unexpected discloser of a shadowy business behind the church that reflects the uncertainty of the time.

Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel

2014

Love Circumstances for Adults poster
5.0

Sensual love story about a single woman struggling with romance. Director Morikawa Kei won the Grand Prix at the 2015 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival for Makeup Room. Yamagishi Shiori (Maru Junko) is a single 38-year-old woman working in the editorial department of a women's magazine. Workaholic Shiori's only diversion is watching erotic videos for women and indulging in fantasies of romance with her favorite male porn star Shunsuke (Arima Yoshihiko). Then, one day she covers a porn shoot for a feature story about popular male porn stars…

Love Circumstances for Adults

2016

Odayaka poster
5.7

Saeko and Yukako live together in a small apartment complex in Tokyo. After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, both live in a state of unease. Saeko, who is in a divorce, is worried that her daughter is exposed to radiation. Yukako is also afraid of radiation and tries to convince her husband to move. The two become friends after Yukako tries to save Saeko after a suicide attempt.

Odayaka

2012

The Dork, The Girl, and The Douchebag poster
NR

A man with a wife and child attempts to run off with a hostess, but he doesn’t show up at the place they agreed to meet. The hostess continues to wait fully aware he won’t come. Then a man calls out to her…. “The Dork, The Girl, and The Douchebag,” the latest film in three years by OKUDA Yosuke who made his commercial film debut with “Tokyo Playboy Club” (11), is a powerful ensemble drama intertwining a drug dealer, a yakuza, an ex-convict youth, and others. It can be said the film inherits the setting of his previous work, but the intense realism exhibited in the raw chaos far exceeds the previous film and amply points to OKUDA’s future potential. Portraying the complex male character who only lives for violence, OKUDA’s talents as an actor should also not be overlooked.

The Dork, The Girl, and The Douchebag

2015

2000s · 7 titles

Zatoichi poster
7.2

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Zatoichi

2003

Takeshis' poster
6.2

Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.

Takeshis'

2005

Ju-on: The Curse 2 poster
6.2

On his request, the sensitive sister of a real estate agent visits a house he intends to put up for sale, only to cross paths with its resident curse.

Ju-on: The Curse 2

2000

Ju-on: The Curse poster
6.8

When elementary school teacher Kobayashi investigates the absence of one of his young pupils from the classroom, he finds himself at the doorstep of an anonymous suburban house that harbours a horrible secret, and into which all who enter are doomed.

Ju-on: The Curse

2000

Fish Story poster
7.2

A rock band writes a song called "Fish Story" that is foretold to save the world. The song exceeds the boundaries of space and time and ties people and their stories together.

Fish Story

2009

The King of Minami: Fraud Methods poster
NR

#45 in the series, following "The Men's Past"

The King of Minami: Fraud Methods

2003

The Booth poster
6.7

Shogo, the arrogant and condescending star of a popular call-in radio-show must temporarily broadcast out of Studio 6, a creepy and dilapidated booth abandoned since its last DJ committed suicide several years ago. Suddenly, Shogo begins receiving disturbing calls, the voice on the line whispers "Liar" over and over. Is the joke on him, has someone discovered the truth about his sinister past, or has the curse of Studio 6 been unleashed again? In this Booth, all sins will be atoned for.

The Booth

2005

1990s · 4 titles

Series credits