Isamu Nagato

Acting

Isamu Nagato

Born — Died

1932-01-01 — 2013-06-04

Place of birth

Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

65 titles

Known for

Haru yo koi poster
9.0

A successful screenwriter looks back on her life when she learns her husband has cancer. A year-long series, starring Narumi Yasuda.

Haru yo koi

1994

Life of a Flower poster
7.0

The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.

Life of a Flower

1963

Yokomizo Seishi Series poster
7.0

TV series starring Ikko Furuya, based on the Kosuke Kindaichi mystery novel series by Seishi Yokomizo.

Yokomizo Seishi Series

1977

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura poster
NR

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura

1970

The Water Margin poster
7.9

The Water Margin is a Japanese television series based on Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the Song Dynasty. This adaptation follows Lin Chung and his clashes with the local government official Kao Chiu. The Water Margin is famous for its, sometimes obscure, but memorable philosophical quotes, such as "Do not despise the snake for having no horns,for who is to say it will not become a dragon?""

The Water Margin

1973

Yumechiyo Nikki poster
NR

Yumechiyo is the madam of a geisha house in a remote hot spring in the San'in region. When Yumechiyo learns that she is dying of leukemia caused by the atomic bomb, she writes about her life in the form of a diary, which is a collection of human dramas and the joys and sorrows of her life.

Yumechiyo Nikki

1981

Film credits

1990s · 3 titles

1980s · 8 titles

Praying Mantis poster
5.0

A man and a woman drift ashore after a typhoon. The man, dead, is an escaped perpetrator, and the woman, alive, is a hairdresser Masako. A detective in charge of an embezzlement case is tracking the whereabouts of disappeared money and suspects Masako. One year later, a real estate company president dies a suspicious death in front of Masako at her beauty salon. Was it an accidents or murder?

Praying Mantis

1983

The Night of Martial Law poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Night of Martial Law

1980

Tora-san Goes Religious? poster
7.7

Tora-san visits brother-in-law Hiroshi's hometown to attend a memorial service for his late father. When the local temple priest becomes intoxicated, Tora-san wearing the priest's robe delivers the memorial speech, much to his family's surprise. Thinking he's found his true calling, Tora-san decides to join the order, and falls for the priest's divorced daughter.

Tora-san Goes Religious?

1983

"Guys Who Never Learn" Part 2 poster
7.5

Sequel to "Guys Who Never Learn".

"Guys Who Never Learn" Part 2

1987

Big Magnum Kuroiwa poster
NR

Kuroiwa, a high school teacher who carries a “Big Magnum 44” gun is sent to a school that is full of violence. Can Kuroiwa reform the students with the gun?

Big Magnum Kuroiwa

1985

Kanei Command Performance poster
NR

During the reign of Shogun Iemitsu, a great martial arts tournament was held to determine whether or not Iemitsu was to remain in power or cede it to his uncle, Yornobu, the 10th son of Ieyasu. Among the contestants were many expert swordsmen who have become well-known to this day. Warriors such as Yagyu Jubei (Kaga Takeshi), and Miyamoto Musashi (Matsukata Hiroki) headed up the slate. This was to be the all-star samurai match of the century. An amazing TV movie with non-stop action as Yagyu Jubei must save an emissary of the Ming and reach Edo in time to fight the crucial match.

Kanei Command Performance

1983

Our Teacher poster
8.0

Japanese film.

Our Teacher

1983

The Claws of the Divine Beast poster
6.0

Based on a mystery by Taiwanese-Japanese author Chin Shun-shin. After two elderly men in Yokohama quarrel over a Tang dynasty artifact, one of the men turns up dead with mysterious claw marks across his face. A detective takes up the case, and uncovers secrets dating back to war crimes committed during Japan’s invasion of China in WWII.

The Claws of the Divine Beast

1980

1970s · 9 titles

I Am A Man of Honor poster
9.0

The sixth film of the “Truck Yaro” series. Two long-distance truckers, Momojiro and Kinzo, travel around Japan in highly decorated trucks. In Kyushu, Momojiro falls in love again... this time with a beautiful college student Masako.

I Am A Man of Honor

1977

Bloodstained Clan of Honor poster
7.4

The story takes place in the sunset days of the yakuza in 1965. The postwar turmoil that created the black market and lubricated illegal business opportunities was giving way to Japan Inc. A young Bunta Sugawara takes over as the oyabun of a crime syndicate in Yokohama, where he is struggling to keep operations at the port there alive. As his syndicate is eroding quickly, a major heavy industries company offers his gang the chance to chase some vagrants out of a shantytown where they are squatting on land where a factory is to be built. The job would secure steady profits for Bunta's crime ring for years to come. However, Bunta and other members of his outfit grew up in the shanty, and they would be muscling their friends and neighbors. This sets the stage for an internal struggle that complicates the violent struggle with a rival mafia organization in Tokyo.

Bloodstained Clan of Honor

1970

Dead Angle poster
7.3

Elite college graduates commit perfect financial crimes though loopholes in the law during the 1950s.

Dead Angle

1979

Kanto Street Peddlers:  Clan Violent Loyalty poster
NR

The second film in the Kanto Street Peddlers Clan series starring Bunta Sugawara.

Kanto Street Peddlers: Clan Violent Loyalty

1970

Yoake no hata matsumoto jiichirō Den poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Yoake no hata matsumoto jiichirō Den

1976

My Life As Music poster
NR

Story about a singer.

My Life As Music

1971

Bôkenshatachi poster
NR

A group of young men go treasure hunting in the sea.

Bôkenshatachi

1975

Hanzaki Daimyojin, Gorosuke no uta poster
NR

1972 Japanese film directed by Tengo Yamada.

Hanzaki Daimyojin, Gorosuke no uta

1972

与太郎戦記 女は幾万ありとても poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

与太郎戦記 女は幾万ありとても

1970

1960s · 35 titles

Thirteen Times a Loser poster
NR

Mineoka Group executive Okitsu Seiji is imprisoned for the 13th time for attacking rival Kuronuma. While in prison, he learns that the Kuronuma Group has retaliated by killing its leader and seizing territory. Upon his release, he embarks on a revenge campaign.

Thirteen Times a Loser

1969

Three Outlaw Samurai poster
7.5

Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.

Three Outlaw Samurai

1964

Samurai from Nowhere poster
7.1

Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!

Samurai from Nowhere

1964

Samurai from Somewhere poster
6.5

Young Lord Takenaka stands to succeed his father until a series of violent actions lead his retainers to think that he has gone mad with blood-lust. Never offering any explanation, he continues his seemingly unprovoked attacks until he is sent away from his domain.

Samurai from Somewhere

1964

The Woman Gambler's Supplication poster
10.0

Eleventh film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin.

The Woman Gambler's Supplication

1968

Lefty Fencer poster
4.3

As a child, Okin the one-armed one-eyed swordswoman was disfigured by Lord Daizen-dayu, who was after her family's most treasured possession, the famed Drenched Swallow sword. As an adult, she has become a skilled swordswoman and lives a carefree life with her adopted family. One day, Okin saves a girl from a group of yakuza, and in doing so, gets involved in a grand conspiracy involving religious leaders, government officials, the yakuza and Lord Daizen-dayu, the man who killed her father and mutilated her body...

Lefty Fencer

1969

Masseur War Story poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Masseur War Story

1965

The Cheating Underworld poster
4.8

Gangsters are robbed of five hundred million yen.

The Cheating Underworld

1968

Kojiro poster
8.0

Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the genius who staked his love, glory, and life on a duel with the supreme master of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi (Tatsuya Nakadai). Oscar winning Hiroshi Inagaki directs this epic motion picture based on Genzo Murakami’s fascinating story. Despite his humble birth, the orphan Sasaki Kojiro (Onoe Kikunosuke) is determined to become the foremost swordsman in all Japan, a title that traditionally belongs to a nobleman. At fencing school, young Kojiro receives the contempt of his classmates because of his superior swordsmanship. When rumors of the upcoming civil war between Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans spread, Kojiro leaves the school and sets out, seizing every opportunity to realize his dream.

Kojiro

1967

Crimson Bat, the Blind Swordswoman poster
6.8

A young girl named Oichi is abandoned by her mother and blinded by a lightning strike. When her guardian is killed, she learns to wield a sword from a traveling ronin. As she develops into a master swordsman, her profession becomes that of a bounty hunter. Many test her sword and many die by her skills. She travels throughout the countryside to seek her mother and her revenge.

Crimson Bat, the Blind Swordswoman

1969

Lone Wolf Isazo poster
6.8

Isazo is a traveling gambler and living legend in the world of yakuza, known for his swordsmanship and bravery, his impeccable manners, and his brilliant talent in gambling. One late fall at an inn in Kiso Fukushima, Isazo befriends a young boy whose mother turns out to be his old love Yoshino, with whom he was not unable to consummate a marriage due to the class differences between them.

Lone Wolf Isazo

1968

A Gambler's Certain Death poster
NR

Part 7 in the Gambling Den series. This time Koji Tsuruta is a gambler who feels sympathetic towards a woman whose naive husband is driven to a debt trap by a rotten gambling den owner (Tatsuo Endo) and his dishonest card dealer (Isamu Nagato). The plot is standard stuff and features too much talk, but there's also a decent balance between melodrama and lyricism in the form and storytelling. Tsuruta was a perfect fit for these kind of roles, with the stoic and emotional sides nicely mixed in his screen persona.

A Gambler's Certain Death

1969

The Shy Deceiver poster
7.0

A young thug wanna-be yakuza falls in love with a country girl.

The Shy Deceiver

1968

Destroyer Yukikaze poster
NR

Yutaro Kida, a worker at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, volunteers for the navy but finds himself a cook's mate in the galley of a gunboat. But his dream is eventually realized when he is transferred to the new and powerful destroyer Yukikaze which he helped to build. When the Pacific War breaks out Yukikaze performs valiantly in the South Pacific, and while on shore leave, Kida meets and falls in love with Yukiko, younger sister of his commander.

Destroyer Yukikaze

1964

My Destiny poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

My Destiny

1968

Monrō no yōna onna poster
NR

1964 Japanese movie

Monrō no yōna onna

1964

Standing Towards the Great Forest poster
NR

Strife between competing lumber mills.

Standing Towards the Great Forest

1961

Otoko to otoko no ikiru machi poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Otoko to otoko no ikiru machi

1962

The Two Bodyguards poster
8.0

Film directed by Kenji Misumi

The Two Bodyguards

1968

The Honest Fool poster
8.0

Yasugoro, goes to live in a quiet town where he falls in love with the priest's daughter-in-law. His does not declare his love because she is married, but he goes on a mission to please her, and is blinded. Then her husband dies and she remarries before Yasugoro can confess his love.

The Honest Fool

1964

Tange Sazen poster
9.0

In 1730, the Tokugawa Shogunate orders the Yagyu Clan to repair a huge shrine. Since it cannot refuse the Shogunate's request, the impoverished Yagyu Clan tries to raise funds by obtaining a sword which holds the key to a wondrous, hidden treasure. After learning the sword's secret, Tange Sazen sides with the Yagyu Clan, but his motive seems to be more than just pure interest in the treasure...

Tange Sazen

1963

Women's Doctor poster
NR

Life of a bachelor gynecologist in a hospital for women.

Women's Doctor

1964

No artwork available
10.0

Japanese comedy film.

How to Make a Big Hit

1968

My Wife poster
NR

Japanese comedy film.

My Wife

1965

Sword: Flower-Strewn Path of Courage poster
5.0

After serving his sentence, Yakuza family member Toshin-gumi Umebayashi is released from prison. Toshin-gumi was already headed by the boss in the second generation of Shotaro, but Shotaro fell into a trap, he is manipulated by his sworn enemy Kanzaki-gumi. Kanzaki-gumi captures the Toshin-gumi oil fields mined by the first boss. Umebayashi explodes in anger and attacks Kanzaki-gumi, but...

Sword: Flower-Strewn Path of Courage

1966

Ano hito wa ima poster
NR

1963 Japanese movie

Ano hito wa ima

1963

Bad Reputation: The Notorious Man of Legend poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Bad Reputation: The Notorious Man of Legend

1967

King of the Highway poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

King of the Highway

1965

Imo samurai: Kani uemon poster
NR

In this entertaining period drama, Kanemon appears at a post town in Katsuyama where a group of seven homeless ronin make a living by raiding dojos. When he visits the dojo where his cousin serves as assistant instructor, his connection to the group is revealed, and he gets drawn into a showdown.

Imo samurai: Kani uemon

1964

Song Festival poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Song Festival

1963

Daigaku kazoe uta senpai kōhai poster
NR

1962 Japanese movie

Daigaku kazoe uta senpai kōhai

1962

Ninja Killers poster
NR

Drunken samurai Saito Magobei lives a reckless and irresponsible life. He’s not the man to volunteer for thrilling adventures. But when Magobei and Kurita Heishichiro meet two frightened women escorting Kotaro, child heir to the perishing Azama Clan, they feel honor bound to protect them from clan traitors and their ninja henchmen. With ruthless ninja dogging every step, Magobei will have to find his courage, restore his pride, and wager his life on his lightning sword and his karate skills in a bloody battle to save the young lord. Immerse yourself in this exhilarating adventure of samurai versus ninja, brought to life by an extraordinary cast. Seize the moment and don't miss it!

Ninja Killers

1964

Sucharaka Shain poster
NR

Maeda Yoichi's film adaptation of the long-running TV comedy series of the same name (1961-1967; TBS) written by Kagawa Toshio and produced by Sawada Takaharu (Tenamonda Sandogasa). The humorous story of a group of likeable loser ("sucharaka") employees at an Osaka branch who learn that unless they band together and actually work(!), their company will go into bankruptcy. Miyako Chocho appears as the Company President.

Sucharaka Shain

1966

No artwork available
NR

A television drama based on "Shirano Benjuro", a translation of the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand .

Cyrano de Bergerac

1964

Sokkuri dai gyakuten poster
NR

1966 Japanese movie

Sokkuri dai gyakuten

1966

Series credits

Haru yo koi poster
9.0

A successful screenwriter looks back on her life when she learns her husband has cancer. A year-long series, starring Narumi Yasuda.

Haru yo koi

1994

Life of a Flower poster
7.0

The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.

Life of a Flower

1963

Yokomizo Seishi Series poster
7.0

TV series starring Ikko Furuya, based on the Kosuke Kindaichi mystery novel series by Seishi Yokomizo.

Yokomizo Seishi Series

1977

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura poster
NR

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura

1970

The Water Margin poster
7.9

The Water Margin is a Japanese television series based on Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the Song Dynasty. This adaptation follows Lin Chung and his clashes with the local government official Kao Chiu. The Water Margin is famous for its, sometimes obscure, but memorable philosophical quotes, such as "Do not despise the snake for having no horns,for who is to say it will not become a dragon?""

The Water Margin

1973

Yumechiyo Nikki poster
NR

Yumechiyo is the madam of a geisha house in a remote hot spring in the San'in region. When Yumechiyo learns that she is dying of leukemia caused by the atomic bomb, she writes about her life in the form of a diary, which is a collection of human dramas and the joys and sorrows of her life.

Yumechiyo Nikki

1981

License to Kill poster
NR

We're in Shamisen-bori of the bustling city of Edo. The officers of Guardhouse 36 monopolize the popularity in Edo. They're strong against evil, soft in compassion. Even the shogun depends on them. They're called the “Kirisute Bansho”... with a right to kill.

License to Kill

1980

Ranzan: The Wild Physician poster
NR

A doctor whose mission is to save lives stands up for the weak in the midst of suffering and cuts down the evil that is the disease of the human world. Teruhiko Saigo plays the main character Arashiyama, who was born into the family of the Shogun's official doctor, but joined the Hayashi family as a son-in-law to save more people, and Azusa Watanabe plays his wife Misa, who is also a doctor.

Ranzan: The Wild Physician

1995