
Acting
Kōjirō Kusanagi
Born — Died
1929-09-19 — 2007-11-11
Place of birth
Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
69 titles
Known for
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Furuya Ikkou's Great Detective Kindaichi Kousuke Series
1983
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
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu
1977
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Pro Hunter
1981
NRCentered around Masujiro Omura, who became a commander for the Choshu clan, and founded the modern Japanese millitary system.
Kashin
1977
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
Film credits
2000s · 2 titles
6.7A re-imagination of Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power as WWII draws to a close.
The Sun
2005
5.5Shinku is a compelling drama that focuses on the strange relationship that develops between two people who find their lives irrevocably changed as a result of a horrible multiple homicide. The first person traumatized is the lone survivor of the terrible family bloodbath, a girl who grows up to be a pretty college student. The second person affected by this heinous crime is the daughter of the murderer, a young girl who ends up becoming a tattooed bartender. A full decade after the crime, the killer is finally going to be executed, and the surviving member of the massacre decides to reach out and befriend the murderer's daughter. A tentative, odd sort of friendship blossoms between these two people, both of whom seem to have little in common personally, and every reason in the world for not wanting to meet. Yet they do, but not without reservations. And really, is this friendship quite what it seems? Or is it all part of some twisted plan for vengeance?
The Deep Red
2005
1990s · 5 titles
7.3In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by the fierce devotion of his former students, who honor him each year with a raucous “Not yet!” birthday toast. Told in warm, gently comic vignettes, Kurosawa’s farewell celebrates aging, friendship, and the sustaining ritual of teacher and pupils refusing to say goodbye.
Madadayo
1993
4.9When beautiful forensic scientist Kyoko and her colleagues fail to uncover clues to the identity of a man who brutally attacks and kills women, she agrees to become the bait to lure the killer into a police snare. But as the murderer remains frustratingly aloof, Kyoko discovers that she will have to risk everything in order to apprehend him. Naosuke Kurosawa directs this steamy thriller.
XX: Beautiful Target
1995
6.2Sukezo, a former manga comic artist, takes up the art rock business by setting up a shop in a shed by the river. He tries hard to be successful, but business does not go well and the family becomes progressively poorer.
Nowhere Man
1991
6.7After serving time for bank fraud, Kiriko now lives a quiet life as a taxi driver working night shifts... but her peace is shattered by a relentless stalker in a Land Cruiser.
Stranger
1991
8.0A serious-minded policeman plays the role of robber in a police training operation against bank robberies. He's so good his fellow policemen can't catch him. TV networks begin to broadcast the operation nationwide. TV audiences are amused and root for the runaway robber and police grows desperate to arrest him to save their face. However the robber remains at large.
Playtime Never Ends
1991
1980s · 21 titles
4.4A young virgin is captured by an abnormal couple. The girl is kept locked in a wooden box, and subjected to sexual torture and abuse. Loosely inspired by the real-life case of Colleen Stan.
Woman in a Box: Virgin Sacrifice
1985
8.0The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?
Willful Murder
1981
7.8An accidental shooting on the job and a recent divorce take a toll on the personal and professional life of a Japanese detective. Just as it seems he can't go any lower, he is suspended from the force for disregarding orders to halt his criminal investigation of a Congressman. However, even this setback won't stop the determined cop from getting to the bottom of the scandal.
Break Out
1988
5.7Travel into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager; Yusaku, the exam-addled college student; Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip; Kentaro, her bratty son; Akemi, the boozy bar hostess; and the mooching and peeping Mr. Yotsuya.
Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy
1986
6.3This story is based on the novel "Jo no mai" by Tomiko Miyao which is based on the life of painter Shōen Uemura (1875–1949), the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. The title refers to the masterpiece bijinga ("picture of a beautiful woman") that Uemura painted at the age of 61. The main character, Tsuya Shimamura, is born in Kyoto as the second daughter of a tea trader who dies before her birth. Tsuya, who loves painting more than anything and is hopeless at housework, attends art school and at age 15 receives the name Shōsui (from the characters for "pine" and "green") from her teacher. The crown prince of England purchases one of her works, propelling her to fame overnight. The novel portrays the remainder of her stormy life, during which she is impregnated by her teacher and raises a fatherless child; through it all she devotes herself to her painting, undaunted.
Appassionata
1984
4.7A beautiful day Rokurou, a student, was to masturbate when a beautiful girl knocks on his door: You need a girl? And so begins the story. Rokurou did not know what it was that this beautiful girl was from a millionaire family.
I'm All Yours
1985
8.0Anthology film. "What's Wrong with Eating?" Numayama Kazuki is always complaining about his wife's, Atsugi Shizuka, body shape. Because of that Shizuka tries her best to restrict her diet and please Kazuki. "It's So Far Away!" Karuma Sae is an office lady who works in the city center but lives with her family in a house far away from her work. Because she is always rushing to catch the last train, she can never enjoy a decent date with her boyfriend, Oishi Mamoru. Her father is also always interfering in her life, so she can't appreciate the city life and isn't happy. "Get Ready to Drive!" Masuko is a new taxi driver in Tokyo who is very stressed from dealing with the behavior of some passengers. One night he drives a very beautiful drunk hostess home. "What Is English?" Kosaka Shigeru, a businessman, was transferred to a Chicago branch factory. He tried hard to learn English, practicing day and night, but couldn't improve as much as he expected.
Bakayaro! I'm Plenty Mad
1988
6.6After a highly successful raid on Singapore Harbour, soldiers of Z Special Unit lead a new expedition in Singapore, with disastrous results.
The Highest Honour
1982
5.8A Nietzschean journalist who covered the Vietnam War, Lebanese Civil War and other conflicts becomes mentally unstable and goes on a spree of robbery and murder.
The Beast to Die
1980
4.9Yukio is an ex-farmer working as a dump-truck driver in Kashima. Haunted by the drowning of his two young sons, whose names he has had tattooed on his back in penance, and locked in a sibling rivalry with his traditional but urbane younger brother who lives in Tokyo, Yukio has become an amphetamine-addicted loner at odds with his family, friends and colleagues.
Farewell to the Land
1982
9.0Set in Japan's Tenpyou era (729-749 CE), four young monks are sent to China to study Buddhism and bring a high priest back to Japan with them. The film tells the tale of the four monks' youth and the life and times of the high priest Ganjin.
An Ocean to Cross
1980
6.8The story revolves around Ogino, who is in the last year of his medical studies. Between lectures, exams, on field training, his commitment as a pro-reformist militant and his girlfriend, Ogino is starting to wonder if he's really cut out to be a doctor.
Disciples of Hippocrates
1980
6.3In 1945, after the horrific fire-bombings of the Pacific War levels Japan to the ground, the government consults spiritual psychics to aid them in winning the war. Unfortunately, the souls' resentment and agony of the victims culminate together to revive the evil Onmyoji, Yasunori Kato. Only a young, psychically imbued priests' apprentice will dare fight the evil magician.
Tokyo: The Last War
1989
6.5Etsuko, a female college student, tries to beat the con artists at their own game after she gets scammed one after another.
The Gentlemen’s Alliance
1986
6.3The 8th All-Japan Road Race Championship. The internationally ranked A-level SUGO circuit is on the edge of its seat as the 500 cc final draws near. Akio Kitano and Keishi Ooki face off: private team versus factory team. In the final lap, Akio is overtaken by Ooki and loses by a hair. The reason for his defeat? The difference between their two machines. With their scores tied, the two wait for the next match to settle the score for good.
The Last Hero
1982
8.0A sly prep school thug uses his girlfriend to lure Hiroshi and Toru to a fight, but the scheme escalates to an all-out war between everyone involved.
Be-Bop High School: A Delinquent Student March
1987
7.7A young theatre actress fights for her uncertain career while having to confront the personal sacrifices that will arise from it.
W's Tragedy
1984
9.0A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.
Karate Cop
1982
6.0A stripper reluctantly returns to her manager and husband with her new lover in tow. The lover tries to claim her but after escaping a beating he takes to the road alone meeting several women along the way.
Woman's Trail: Wet Path
1980
9.0A heated argument between middle school thugs leads to a fierce war between two rival high schools when Toru's girlfriend, Shoko, gets involved.
Be-Bop Highschool: The Power
1988
8.0A man returns to his seaside roots to confront a yakuza boss. Along the way, he charms young men, softens a hard woman and busts a few heads.
Let Him Rest in Peace
1985
1970s · 9 titles
7.4A high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.
The Man Who Stole the Sun
1979
6.3A seemingly run-of-the-mill corporate salaryman leads a double life as a vicious criminal by night. In a delicious scheme of payback, he seeks to dominate the corporation that employs him by day.
The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf
1979
7.6The third movie in Tōru Murakawa's Game trilogy about a hitman. Narumi is set up by a mysterious woman. Abducted and tortured, Narumi is forced to take on a difficult job. The target is a veteran killer as good as him.
The Execution Game
1979
7.2Set during the declining years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Shadow Hunters details the questionably noble exploits of three ronin who act as "Shadow Hunters". These three ronin are not your normal ornery ruffians who are looking for a drink, a broad and someone to jab a sword into, but are in fact former samurai who, rather than follow their destroyed fiefs and murdered masters into death via seppuku, have dedicated their combined sword prowess to stopping the government from raping its daimyos for valuable resources.
Shadow Hunters
1972
7.2The story of the silk industry and the young girls who worked as silk spinners in the early 1900s in Japan. The silk mills were located in Okaya which lies just beyond the Nomugi Pass. The women and girls worked in a hot, humid atmosphere without rest, and endured those conditions and sexual harassment to earn money for their poor families. Across the ocean, it was the great depression in America.
Nomugi Pass
1979
7.5The story of a high school boy (Toshiyuki Nagashima) in Tokyo returning to his home town of Nagano upon the death of his father.
The Days of No Return
1978
8.5Momojiro comes to the rescue of beautiful Akiko who struggles to run a ranch on her own.
Truckster Goes to Hokkaido
1976
NRThis film focuses on the dramatic life of Waka Yamada, who rose from a prostitute in Seattle, USA to a female critic during the Taisho and Showa eras.
Ameyuki-san
1979
7.3Elite college graduates commit perfect financial crimes though loopholes in the law during the 1950s.
Dead Angle
1979
1960s · 19 titles
7.1A gang lord hires Kamimura, a hit man, to take out a rival boss who's gotten greedy.
A Colt is My Passport
1967
7.0Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography to pay off his gambling debts. Ichi makes it his mission to save the man and reunite the family, even though it brings him into conflict with a samurai he sort of befriended on his way to the town.
Zatoichi Challenged
1967
NRKohei Misugi works in a vegetable market, but his ambition is to be a photographer. He is given his first opportunity to demonstrate his talent by the Sakura Film Company which offers him an assignment to "Cover Tokyo" with a camera. But he is disillusioned when he is told he must work together with Miharu, a good looking girl in the film company's publicity department. Then the fun begins.
Wait for Tomorrow
1960
6.8A newspaper reporter's search for his girlfriend's missing father lead him into heart of the criminal underworld of Yokohama's Chinatown.
The Sleeping Beast Within
1960
7.0A celebrity, dissatisfied with his personal and professional lives, impulsively leaves fast-paced Tokyo to deliver a much-needed jeep to a remote village. When his controlling manager, the woman he loves, follows, the two must reconcile while dodging reporters.
I Hate But Love
1962
6.7Businessmen arrange the early release from prison of Togawa, serving time for taking revenge on the truck driver whose carelessness confined Togawa's sister, Rie, to a wheelchair. They want Togawa to hijack an armored truck loaded with 120 million yen; their leverage is to promise him money for surgery for Rie. Togawa consents and plans the heist with three others. The plan is solid, but it doesn't go smoothly. Togawa must improvise, there are traitors somewhere, and double-crosses mount. Can Togawa escape with enough money to help his sister and ensure a passage out of Japan?
Cruel Gun Story
1964
6.5Just after WW2, a romance between an innkeeper and a man with tuberculosis unravels near a thermal spring.
Akitsu Hot Springs
1962
7.0Joe, Okita, and Serizawa hear of the armed robbery of a truck carrying one billion eighty million yen's worth of Mint paper. Knowing that the thugs will now need a counterfeiter to make the bogus bills, they each decide to cash in on it by selling them the idea that they need Sakamoto, the best counterfeiter in Japan. A seesaw game unfolds between the three men as each tries to outdo the other two in handing over Sakamoto for one million yen to Hijikata, the big boss, who intends to make counterfeit money with the stolen paper. A little belatedly, they realize it needs their combined forces to outwit Hijikata and they raid his place together. Outnumbered, however, they are thrown into a basement room and the gas is turned on. Certain death stares them in the face, but the three men are not ones to take things lying down....
Danger Pays
1962
7.0Nakata (Keiichiro Akagi) is a nihilistic young buck who is willing to do anything to get money in his pockets. As he knocks back a couple drinks that he knows he won't be able to afford, a former marksman-turned-bad, Ishioka approaches him. Ishioka is looking for an unaffiliated hit-man who is willing to handle some business. Nakata is just the right man for the job.
A Killer Without a Grave
1961
9.0On January 26, 1948, a robbery of the Teigin bank took place in Tokyo - the criminal poisoned the bank employees and fled the scene with a large amount of money. In parallel with the investigation conducted by the Japanese police, journalists are also trying to find the culprit. Based on a true incident.
The Long Death
1964
7.2Koreyoshi Kurahara's ingeniously plotted, pocket-size noir concerns the intertwined fates of a desperate bank manager, blackmailed for book-cooking, and his resentful but timid underling, passed over for a promotion. The marvelously moody Intimidation is an elegantly stripped-down and carefully paced crime drama.
Intimidation
1960
NRA coming-of-age drama based on a novel by Kei Moriyama.
I Love The Sun
1966
6.8Two devious retainers are competing to take control of a fief when the current Lord dies, but involving Kyoshiro in the conflict against his will is the textbook example of a bad idea - especially when the collateral damage starts to tick him off.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 10: Hell Is a Woman
1968
NRNo synopsis available yet.
零戦黒雲一家
1962
5.5This film depicts the pure love between a girl raised by a strict father and a young man working in a small factory to support his family. The friendship that had blossomed between them eventually grew into love. Yet the purer it was, the more it seemed destined for a tragic conclusion...
Girl in the Glass
1960
NRA rookie newspaper journalist, Takema Sakaki, has a strong sense of justice. In the Diet Building he gets acquainted with a library worker, Reiko Nakafuji. Reiko's father was a member of the Diet who was assassinated six years ago. Through Reiko, Takema joins Tsūkai-kai, a group of young people who respect her late father's political ideas. With the assistance of Tsukai-kai, Takema eventually uncovers the political scandal related to postwar compensation which led to the murder of Reiko's father.
Facing to the Clouds
1962
7.0Kitagawa is an engineer charged with construction of a gigantic tunnel through the Japan Alps for the transportation of equipment in the building of the massive Kurobe Dam. The tunnel crosses an earthquake fault and Kitagawa is beleaguered not only by cave-ins and flooding, but by strife between management and the workers's union. Adding to Kitagawa's stress is the knowledge that as his attention is pulled inexorably toward the tunnel construction, his youngest daughter is dying from leukemia.
The Sands of Kurobe
1968
NRNot too long ago, Soichiro was considered one of the most powerful men in business. But his business had failed, his granddaughter had committed suicide. There was nothing in his life anymore that he could look forward to. Sochiro was ready to put an to it end to all. As he drives down the Usui Pass, headed toward his summer house in Karuizawa, a girl in red heels, wearing nothing else but a coat jumps in front of the car.
The Young and Bad
1962
7.1A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and immediately embarks on a rampage of untethered anger, most of it directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up.
The Warped Ones
1960
1950s · 4 titles
5.9Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.
Night Drum
1958
6.9Police beat a murder confession out of four innocent men who are then sentenced to death. Based on a true story.
Darkness at Noon
1956
6.6The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town. An adaptation of a best-selling book based on the diary of a ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) girl, it was one of the first films to deal with the subject of zainichi identity and struggles in Japan.
My Second Brother
1959
8.0While in vacation in a sea side house, a young man fall in love with a beautiful woman who pretends to live by herself in the sea. The fishermen of a nearby village think she is a monster, the female of a shark killed many years before, responsible for many disappearances.
Woman from the Sea
1959
Series credits
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Furuya Ikkou's Great Detective Kindaichi Kousuke Series
1983
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Furuya Ikkou's Great Detective Kindaichi Kousuke Series
1983
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
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu
1977
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Pro Hunter
1981
NRCentered around Masujiro Omura, who became a commander for the Choshu clan, and founded the modern Japanese millitary system.
Kashin
1977
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
NRIn the big city where loyalty is rare and justice comes hard, a stoic detective (Tetsuya Watari) and his old friend, a sharp-eyed reporter (Yujiro Ishihara), forge a quiet alliance, uncovering brutal truths in days of relentless struggle.
Big City: Days of Struggle
1976
8.2The series depicts the employees of a security company from different generations and backgrounds facing many difficult questions. It features a guard who survived a suicide mission during the war and his conflicts, rebellion, empathy and reconciliation with the younger generation born after the war.
The Roads Men Travel
1976
