Acting

Shunji Kasuga

Born

1921-06-14 (105)

Place of birth

Niigata, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

44 titles

Known for

What's Up, Tiger Lily? poster
5.4

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

1966

The Burmese Harp poster
7.8

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

The Burmese Harp

1956

13 Assassins poster
7.5

A sadistic Daimyo (feudal lord) rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring attention to the crime, the matter is quickly hushed up. Not only will there be no punishment, but because the Daimyo is the Shogun's younger brother, he will soon be appointed to a high political position from which he could wreak even more havoc. Convinced that the fate of the Shogunate hangs in the balance, a plot is hatched to assassinate the Daimyo. The two most brilliant strategic minds of their generation find themselves pitted against each other; one is tasked to defend a man he despises, and has a small army at his disposal. The other is given a suicide mission, and has 12 brave men. They are the 13 Assassins.

13 Assassins

1963

Wolves, Pigs & Men poster
8.1

Sabu and his pals hold a pauper's funeral for Sabu's mother. His brother Jiro arrives home, fresh out of jail, and Sabu pointedly states that Jiro is not invited. Jiro meanwhile is planning a big job - steal 40 million in cash and drugs, and he invites Sabu and gang to act as decoys, for 50,000 each. The sting is a success, but the double-crossing starts almost immediately. Sabu discovers how little of the take they were promised and hides the stash. Jiro and his slimy partner pressure the kids to fess up. Meanwhile, their respectable elder brother Ichiro is being leaned on by the town's big boss, whose money it was.

Wolves, Pigs & Men

1964

Cruel Story of Youth poster
6.6

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

Cruel Story of Youth

1960

The Great Killing poster
7.3

A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.

The Great Killing

1964

Film credits

1960s · 28 titles

What's Up, Tiger Lily? poster
5.4

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

1966

13 Assassins poster
7.5

A sadistic Daimyo (feudal lord) rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring attention to the crime, the matter is quickly hushed up. Not only will there be no punishment, but because the Daimyo is the Shogun's younger brother, he will soon be appointed to a high political position from which he could wreak even more havoc. Convinced that the fate of the Shogunate hangs in the balance, a plot is hatched to assassinate the Daimyo. The two most brilliant strategic minds of their generation find themselves pitted against each other; one is tasked to defend a man he despises, and has a small army at his disposal. The other is given a suicide mission, and has 12 brave men. They are the 13 Assassins.

13 Assassins

1963

Wolves, Pigs & Men poster
8.1

Sabu and his pals hold a pauper's funeral for Sabu's mother. His brother Jiro arrives home, fresh out of jail, and Sabu pointedly states that Jiro is not invited. Jiro meanwhile is planning a big job - steal 40 million in cash and drugs, and he invites Sabu and gang to act as decoys, for 50,000 each. The sting is a success, but the double-crossing starts almost immediately. Sabu discovers how little of the take they were promised and hides the stash. Jiro and his slimy partner pressure the kids to fess up. Meanwhile, their respectable elder brother Ichiro is being leaned on by the town's big boss, whose money it was.

Wolves, Pigs & Men

1964

Cruel Story of Youth poster
6.6

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

Cruel Story of Youth

1960

The Great Killing poster
7.3

A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.

The Great Killing

1964

The Challenge poster
7.4

Journalist Kuroki is investigating clandestine arms sales to Southeast Asia. He discovers that the point man in an arms trade was also involved in the cover-up of a murder on an American base during the Allied Occupation. The film rolls along as a suspenseful thriller while offering a critique of political corruption, hypocrisy, and journalistic cowardice in postwar Japan.

The Challenge

1962

Greed in Broad Daylight poster
8.0

After a successful robbery the culprits, from very different backgrounds, at once turn on each other.

Greed in Broad Daylight

1961

Escape from Japan poster
5.7

As Japan is preparing to host the Olympics, a gang member wanting to go to America is sought after by the police after helping his friend conduct a robbery.

Escape from Japan

1964

Sasuke and His Comedians poster
6.6

Osaka in the early 1600s, aftermath of the historical Battle of Sekigahara; a group of orphan children are wandering through the battlefield scavenging for armour when they encounter a young boy named Sasuke with magical powers he says came from a meteor that crashed onto the Earth…

Sasuke and His Comedians

1963

Dissolution Rites poster
7.0

Sawaki is released from prison after serving eight years for murdering a rival gang leader in order to obtain the land rights to a landfill for the Kotaki clan and he discovers that the world has changed significantly in that time. The police have forced the disbanding of all yakuza groups in and around Tokyo and most of the former yakuza have moved on to legitimate jobs. Sawaki is disgusted that his yakuza brothers have abandoned their codes of honor and are abusing their newfound power in the legitimate business world to exploit the poor. Sawaki feels partly responsible for making them so powerful and enabling their corruption, so he decides to follow his traditional code of honor to save the residents of a small town where his former lover lives.

Dissolution Rites

1967

Duel of the Underworld poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Duel of the Underworld

1963

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws poster
NR

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws

1964

River Washes Away the Moon poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

River Washes Away the Moon

1963

Love at the Fogged Harbor poster
NR

A bittersweet love story between yakuza Hiroshi and a married woman Reiko.

Love at the Fogged Harbor

1962

Key of Keys poster
6.8

Intelligence director Suritai asks agent Kitami to steal money from anti-government guerrillas.

Key of Keys

1965

Hell's Kitchen poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Hell's Kitchen

1962

Gang vs. G-Men poster
7.5

Two rival gangs of gangsters clash for dominance of a neighborhood.

Gang vs. G-Men

1962

The Yellow Climate poster
8.0

Based on the mystery novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto.

The Yellow Climate

1961

Volunteering for Villainy poster
NR

Two outsiders start a relationship in a mining town.

Volunteering for Villainy

1960

Flame and the Code poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Flame and the Code

1966

The Desperate poster
7.0

A noir drama depicting the downfall of a veteran detective who hates evil and falls into its depths. Ace detective Sugai pursues Chiyo, the mistress of a man who was arrested for extortion, and takes advantage of her weakness. However, as his colleague Tokumochi and others regard him with suspicion, he is tormented by remorse.

The Desperate

1964

The Ambitious Youth poster
8.0

As descendent of famed fishmonger Isshin Tasuke, young feisty Ishii Tasuke uses his talent to flourish his employer’s food business.

The Ambitious Youth

1962

Operation Diamond poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Operation Diamond

1962

Fearful Witch poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Fearful Witch

1962

Tokyo's  Business District poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tokyo's Business District

1962

Sotobori Murder Case poster
NR

A taxi driver hits a woman on the streets. He takes care of her while she gets better. While realizing they're both at a brink in their lives they'll start falling for each other against their odds.

Sotobori Murder Case

1960

Zankokuna tsuki poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Zankokuna tsuki

1962

Nerai uchi buraikan poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Nerai uchi buraikan

1962

1950s · 15 titles

The Burmese Harp poster
7.8

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

The Burmese Harp

1956

Escape from Prison poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Escape from Prison

1950

The Skin of the South poster
8.0

When a group of young geologists declares a mountainside marked for residential development unstable, they are met with scorn on two fronts. On one end, they must contend with the local villagers who balk at the prospect of relocation; on the other, they face the ambitions of the headstrong lumber baron, whose actions will only further destabilize the land. Their pleas for reason ignored, the scientists can do little but observe as nature runs its inevitable course.

The Skin of the South

1952

Tower of Lilies poster
6.8

A group of Okinawan high school girls are drafted as nurses during the American invasion of the island. As the enemy army advances further, the situation for the girls becomes increasingly desperate as food and shelter run out and the number of injured climbs, leading to the film's tragic finale.

Tower of Lilies

1953

The Street Without Sun poster
7.0

Based on the novel by proletarian writer Sunao Tokunaga. The story is about a long strike by workers at a large printing house and the strikers' steadfastness, which neither hunger nor violence could break. The heroine of this story actively participates in her colleagues' struggle against layoffs, oppression, and police brutality.

The Street Without Sun

1954

Sado Island Elegy poster
NR

Medical student Makoto Tachibana took advantage of his summer break to visit Sado Island, the hometown of his best friend Tago. Tago was the son of the owner of a ryokan in Ryotsu Port on Sado, and his younger sister, the aspiring singer Chieko, had also come to the island. The day Makoto arrived on the island was the opening ceremony for the Ryōtsu River, and the entire town was buzzing with the Okesa dance. That night, Chieko introduced Makoto to Fumiyo, whom she had noticed on the ferry and had been curious about. Although Makoto and Fumiyo were attracted to each other, her grandfather and older brother vehemently opposed their relationship.

Sado Island Elegy

1952

No artwork available
NR

A brutal murder in the dead of night. While the man who left bloody fingerprints and footprints screams he is innocent, the intelligent criminal, driven by greed and lust, smirks in the shadows.

Designated Criminal

1950

No artwork available
NR

Twenty years after the father’s death and the mother and child’s separation, when they are reunited, a pistol aimed at the mother glints coldly in the child’s hand.

Kenjū no mae ni tatsu haha

1950

Today is Payday poster
9.0

Office worker comedy by Nobuo Nakagawa

Today is Payday

1952

Shinju fujin: Shojo no maki poster
NR

A story depicting the true nature of a vulnerable woman who abandons love, severs the bond between father and daughter, and challenges the very embodiment of greed and materialism.

Shinju fujin: Shojo no maki

1950

Miss Hanaogi and Santa poster
NR

A beautiful tale of teacher-student love between a pure-hearted female teacher and a group of wild boys unfolds on the banks of a river in a mountain gorge.

Miss Hanaogi and Santa

1952

Shinju fujin: Hitozuma no maki poster
NR

A prostitute? A poisonous woman? A virgin widow writhing in agony night after night, tormented by her first misstep.

Shinju fujin: Hitozuma no maki

1950

風雲児 poster
NR

Yano, a progressive individual who seeks to overcome strength with gentleness and confronts physical power with moral principles, faces off against a man protecting jujitsu in the twilight of Kikyōgahara!

風雲児

1951

The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki poster
NR

When Japan entered into the great tragedy that was unforgettable, the general general of the history of the Ming Dynasty, hokudai Yamashita, left the Malay front and occupied Singapore at once, and was praised as a "Malay tiger." However, the situation in Japan changed steadily by the failure of Sai pan from the GA Talca translation.

The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki

1953

No artwork available
NR

A thrilling and passionate drama depicting the exploits of a hot-blooded young detective who takes on a smuggling ring that infests the big city.

Street Fight at Dawn

1953