Nobuo Nakagawa

Directing

Nobuo Nakagawa

Born — Died

1905-04-18 — 1984-06-17

Place of birth

Kyōto, Kyōto Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

Nobuo Nakagawa (中川 信夫, Nakagawa Nobuo, April 18, 1905 – June 17, 1984) was a Japanese film director, most famous for the stylized, folk tale-influenced horror films he made in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature and wrote amateur film reviews for the Kinema Junpō film magazine. He joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932, he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries during the war…

Known for

Jigoku poster
6.3

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

Jigoku

1960

Ghost Story of Yotsuya poster
6.5

This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend about a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.

Ghost Story of Yotsuya

1959

Snake Woman's Curse poster
6.0

An old man dies of heartbreak when a cruel landlord is about to repossess his land. The old man haunts the landlord from the grave. Since the man died in debt, his wife and daughter are indentured servants and are forced to work in the landlord's factory.

Snake Woman's Curse

1968

Sunset Over Mount Fuji poster
NR

Jidai-geki starring Kanjuro Arashi

Sunset Over Mount Fuji

1952

Quick-draw Okatsu poster
6.2

This film focuses on Okatsu; the adopted daughter of a master swordsman. She is a master with a sword herself and her talents far overshadow that of her brother, and real child of the man who adopted her. Her brother unfortunately has a gambling habit, and it plunges the family into trouble when he loses a lot of money in a crooked dice game. After releasing he is unable to pay the debt he owes; the blame is shouldered by the father, who is killed, leading Okatsu on a path of revenge.

Quick-draw Okatsu

1969

The Ghost of Kasane poster
7.3

A blind masseur visits a samurai to request the return of a loan. The samurai kills him in anger, then has his servant dump the body in the Kasane swamp. However, the ghost of the masseur returns to haunt the samurai, who kills his wife by mistake and then goes to the swamp and drowns himself. 20 years later, the masseur's daughter unknowingly falls in love with the samurai's son who has been brought up to be a servant. After she is horribly disfigured in an accident, he plots to run away with another woman, but the path of their escape lies by the Kasane swamp...

The Ghost of Kasane

1957

Behind the camera

Jigoku poster
6.3

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

Jigoku

1960

Jigoku poster
6.3

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

Jigoku

1960

Ghost Story of Yotsuya poster
6.5

This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend about a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.

Ghost Story of Yotsuya

1959

Snake Woman's Curse poster
6.0

An old man dies of heartbreak when a cruel landlord is about to repossess his land. The old man haunts the landlord from the grave. Since the man died in debt, his wife and daughter are indentured servants and are forced to work in the landlord's factory.

Snake Woman's Curse

1968

Snake Woman's Curse poster
6.0

An old man dies of heartbreak when a cruel landlord is about to repossess his land. The old man haunts the landlord from the grave. Since the man died in debt, his wife and daughter are indentured servants and are forced to work in the landlord's factory.

Snake Woman's Curse

1968

Sunset Over Mount Fuji poster
NR

Jidai-geki starring Kanjuro Arashi

Sunset Over Mount Fuji

1952

Quick-draw Okatsu poster
6.2

This film focuses on Okatsu; the adopted daughter of a master swordsman. She is a master with a sword herself and her talents far overshadow that of her brother, and real child of the man who adopted her. Her brother unfortunately has a gambling habit, and it plunges the family into trouble when he loses a lot of money in a crooked dice game. After releasing he is unable to pay the debt he owes; the blame is shouldered by the father, who is killed, leading Okatsu on a path of revenge.

Quick-draw Okatsu

1969

The Ghost of Kasane poster
7.3

A blind masseur visits a samurai to request the return of a loan. The samurai kills him in anger, then has his servant dump the body in the Kasane swamp. However, the ghost of the masseur returns to haunt the samurai, who kills his wife by mistake and then goes to the swamp and drowns himself. 20 years later, the masseur's daughter unknowingly falls in love with the samurai's son who has been brought up to be a servant. After she is horribly disfigured in an accident, he plots to run away with another woman, but the path of their escape lies by the Kasane swamp...

The Ghost of Kasane

1957

Vampire Moth poster
4.7

After a successful fashion designer receives a disturbing package, a series of bizarre murders begins to claim the models around her. As rumours of a grotesque, fanged killer spread, detective Kōsuke Kindaichi investigates the secrets connecting the victims, their employer and a mysterious figure from the past.

Vampire Moth

1956

Okatsu the Fugitive poster
6.4

Okatsu the Fugitive is the third film in the "Ohyaku/Okatsu" series. Okatsu; a "tomboy" who is good with a sword. Her father has found her a man to marry and actually she doesn't seem too upset about the situation. At the same time, a bunch of farmers are being slaughtered by a corrupt group running a tobacco smuggling ring. They're being investigated by a man who is documenting their crimes and when they find out about it, they torture him for information but get none. It's not long before he and Okatsu's mother wind up dead and she sets out for revenge.

Okatsu the Fugitive

1969

An Edoite Judge poster
NR

Period film about a feudal era judge living in Edo

An Edoite Judge

1953

The Lady Vampire poster
5.4

Tamio takes Itsuko to an art gallery and the two find one painting is a nude portrait of Itsuko's mother, who disappeared twenty years ago when she was just a baby. No one knows the first thing about the artist who painted it, but he goes by the name Shiro Sofue, and he's always wearing shades in the daytime...

The Lady Vampire

1959

Showdown at Lightning Pass poster
10.0

A story about a spear master’s spiritual and martial discipline.

Showdown at Lightning Pass

1962

Showdown at Lightning Pass poster
10.0

A story about a spear master’s spiritual and martial discipline.

Showdown at Lightning Pass

1962

Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain poster
NR

Jidai-geki by Nobuo Nakagawa. Most likely a star vehicle for Kanjuro Arashi

Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain

1951

Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain poster
NR

Jidai-geki by Nobuo Nakagawa. Most likely a star vehicle for Kanjuro Arashi

Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain

1951

Black Cat Mansion poster
6.5

The descendant of the servant of a cruel and vicious samurai returns to the town where she was born, only to find that a cat who is possessed by the spirits of those murdered by the samurai is trying to kill her.

Black Cat Mansion

1958

Today is Payday poster
9.0

Office worker comedy by Nobuo Nakagawa

Today is Payday

1952

Umon's Detective Stories: The One-Eyed Wolf poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Umon's Detective Stories: The One-Eyed Wolf

1951

The Ceiling at Utsunomiya poster
6.2

Ryutaro is a spy employed by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who is the target of assassination attempts that aim to hand power over to his younger brother Tadanaga.

The Ceiling at Utsunomiya

1956

No artwork available
NR

1941 Toho adaptation of Natsume's novel.

The Poppy

1941

No artwork available
7.0

1955 Toho adaptation of Natsume's novel.

Stray Sheep

1955

Bored Hatamoto: The Mysterious Coral Mansion poster
NR

Bored Hatamoto movie #29

Bored Hatamoto: The Mysterious Coral Mansion

1962

Kagebôshi: The Shadow Avenger poster
10.0

For the poor, Edo is Hell on Earth, starving under the rule of Tanuma Okitsugi, corrupt councilor to the shogun. But the courageous vagabond called “Kageboshi” (Shadow Avenger), will fight for the common folk, robbing the rich so the people will have rice. Tanuma’s henchmen will hire an evil swordsman to pose as Kageboshi, starting a wave of murder, kidnapping and robbery, searching for two antique sword-guards that will reveal the hiding place of a fortune in buried gold. But who will claim the gold? The poor of Edo, or the conniving Tanuma? Only Kageboshi’s flashing sword, tearing through Tanuma’s bloodthirsty minions, can forestall his wicked schemes.

Kagebôshi: The Shadow Avenger

1959

A Wicked Woman poster
7.7

In 1870's Tokyo, Den steals to support the daughter of her first marriage and her consumptive second husband. She falls in love with a young policeman, but is coerced into becoming the mistress of and procurer for a vice boss.

A Wicked Woman

1958

The Phantom Goblin poster
6.0

An injured Edo official is rescued by a vassal whose appearance is exactly like himself, and swears to sweep out the criminals from the town on his behalf.

The Phantom Goblin

1962

Chutaro of Banba poster
5.0

Based on the play ”Mabuta no haha” by famed author Shin Hasegawa, this is the first major starring role for Tomisaburo Wakayama. This heartfelt story concerns a wandering gambler from Banba by the name of Chutaro. Set during the Tenpo Period, Chutaro runs afoul of Boss Sukegoro of Iioka. Pursued by vengeance seeking swordsmen, Chutaro displays his phenomenal martial art skills. Abandoned as a child, he seeks to find his long lost mother, while at the same time fighting off numerous attacks by Iioka’s men.

Chutaro of Banba

1955

Nihon Kaidan Gekijō: The Peony Lantern — Onibi no Maki / Hotarubi no Maki poster
NR

Nobuo Nakagawa’s two-part adaptation of San’yūtei Enchō’s classic ghost tale follows the doomed romance between Shinzaburō and Otsuyu, whose death does not end their relationship. As Otsuyu’s spirit returns night after night, the greed of their neighbour Banzō sets in motion a widening chain of betrayal, murder and supernatural revenge. In 2007, the two parts were screened together theatrically as a single 95-minute work during a repertory run at Cinema Vera Shibuya in Tokyo.

Nihon Kaidan Gekijō: The Peony Lantern — Onibi no Maki / Hotarubi no Maki

1970

Ghost in the Regiment poster
8.0

Desiring another officer’s new wife, a military police lieutenant fabricates evidence of treason that consigns the innocent man to torture and a firing squad. The lieutenant rapes the wife, but is haunted by bad dreams which after he is assigned to a battalion with the victim’s brother.

Ghost in the Regiment

1958

No artwork available
9.0

Japanese movie

Itahachi shima

1938

No artwork available
9.0

Japanese movie

Itahachi shima

1938

The Three Swordsmen of Ashura poster
NR

Nobuo Nakagawa's Shintoho period drama adapted by Kikuo Kitagawa from the original story by Kazutora Fujishima, which borrowed the structure of Dumas's "The Three Musketeers".

The Three Swordsmen of Ashura

1956

No artwork available
NR

Kotaro Shimoyama, once a government official, loses his job and separates from his wife, Sachie. He now resides with his daughter, Haruko. By chance, he apprehends a criminal and reconnects with his former colleague, Sakamoto, leading him to become a security guard at a film studio. Haruko, secretly a singer, rises to stardom within the same studio. Unbeknownst to each other, they both work there. As the studio faces turmoil, their hidden identities are unveiled...

Amakara chindōchū

1950

The Man Who Challenged 8,000,000-Koku poster
NR

A story of an orphan boy who wanted the love of parents so badly, another orphan sincerely pitied him to the point he gives his secret birthright as an illegitimate son to a Shogun as a "gift of hope" to the sad boy. As the orphan boy grew up, his loving heart became bitter and he saw the opportunity to take advantage of this birthright with the help of a man who wanted to use this orphan's desire to be loved, for seizing power in the shogunate by using the imposter. Many obstacles to hurdle along the way of deception, however, will they succeed or will he be exposed?

The Man Who Challenged 8,000,000-Koku

1961

The Warrior from Kishu poster
NR

This is a story of a young heir to a powerful house, sent away to be raised by his nanny, so the young lord Genrokuro grew up bitter about his parents, hating his legacy and embracing everyone else from simple background. Only love can help him mature, hopefully in time to be a great lord for the people. A story of young Yoshimune, the future Shogun.

The Warrior from Kishu

1962

The Warrior from Kishu poster
NR

This is a story of a young heir to a powerful house, sent away to be raised by his nanny, so the young lord Genrokuro grew up bitter about his parents, hating his legacy and embracing everyone else from simple background. Only love can help him mature, hopefully in time to be a great lord for the people. A story of young Yoshimune, the future Shogun.

The Warrior from Kishu

1962

Kisan Detective Story: The Mysterious Doll-Maker poster
10.0

1953 jidaigeki directed by Nobuo Nakagawa of Jigoku and Ghost of Yotsuya fame.

Kisan Detective Story: The Mysterious Doll-Maker

1953

Death Row Woman poster
6.0

Arrested for the murder of her wealthy businessman father, convicted on false evidence and sentenced to death, Kyoko is determined to prove her innocence.

Death Row Woman

1960

Enoken's Bow-Wow General poster
NR

Enoken no wanwan taishô AKA Wanwan Taisho AKA Bowwow General directed by Nobuo Nakagawa

Enoken's Bow-Wow General

1940

Rinchi poster
NR

Japanese noir.

Rinchi

1949