Meiko Kaji

Acting

Meiko Kaji

Born 1947-03-24 · Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

Masako Ōta, known as Meiko Kaji, is a Japanese actress and enka singer born on 24 March 1947 in Chiyoda, Tokyo Prefecture. After graduating from Yakumo Academy in Meguro in 1965, she made her debut at Nikkatsu Studios under her real name, playing supporting roles in the late 1960s. Her first notable role came in 1969 in *Nihon Zankyoden*. She gained visibility with the 1970-1971 series *Stray Cat Rock* (Noraneko Rokku), playing young rebels in five films. In the 1970s, she excelled in roles as outlaws, notably in the *Joshuu Sasori* (Prisonnière Scorpion) series at Toei, with four films, the first of which was released in 1972. She became an icon with *Lady Snowblood* (1973), which greatly inspired Quentin Tarantino in *Kill Bill*. Her other notable films include *Double Suicide at Sonezaki* (1978). She also sang for her films and released several albums and singles. She has appeared in over 100 films and series since the 1960s.

Acting credits

Under the Open Sky poster
7.5

Mikami, an ex-yakuza of middle age with most of his life in prison, gets released after serving 13 years of sentence for murder. Hoping to find his long lost mother, from whom he was separated as a child, he applies for a TV show and meets a young TV director Tsunoda. Meanwhile, he struggles to get a proper job and fit into society. His impulsive, adamant nature and ingrained beliefs cause friction in his relationship with Tsunoda and those who want to help him.

Under the Open Sky

2021

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion poster
7.1

After being cruelly set up and deceived by Sugimi, a detective in cahoots with the mob with whom she was whole-heartedly in love, Matsushima’s desire for revenge knows no bounds.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion

1972

The Wicked poster
6.7

A selfish playboy uses rich women to pay off his debts. Divorcing his wife and marrying the woman he loves throws him into a spiral of destruction.

The Wicked

1980

Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song poster
6.2

Nami is once again on the run from the law but is saved by an old classmate who works at a strip club. Through a subsequent conversation they discover they both have a score to settle with a particular crooked cop. However, Nami has doubts about ever trusting a man.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song

1973

Lady Snowblood poster
7.5

A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.

Lady Snowblood

1973

My Sweetheart poster
NR

It had been a year and four months since Mitsuo was last on a movie set. Welcomed back by director Ishizaki and his film crew, Mitsuo is excited to star as the lead in "My Sweetheart". One day, half way through production, he meets his friends from a popular rock group, "The Spiders". Through their discussion regarding the climax scene, they criticize that the script is too grim. In a notion to protect their friend's career, they decide to pay the scriptwriter a little visit.

My Sweetheart

1967

Secret Zone of Tokyo poster
NR

The third installment of the "Night front line" series. An erotic entertainment action in which two young men come to Tokyo and meet face-to-face with a nocturnal organization that controls women with sex and violence.

Secret Zone of Tokyo

1971

Greatest Boss of Japan poster
NR

A man who became the third boss faces off against delinquent foreigners and villains vying to rule the underworld in order to develop the port city.

Greatest Boss of Japan

1970

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable poster
6.8

Following her successful prison break, Scorpion begins this third episode in the series hiding out in a brothel. Her prostitute friend tries to keep her identity secret, but the brothel's madam discovers that Scorpion is the ex-girlfriend of the vice officer who killed her lover.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable

1973

Lone Wolf & Child: Assassin on the Road to Hell poster
6.8

The tale of Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro has come full circle with the greatest sword actor of all time, Wakayama Tomisaburo now playing Lone Wolf's mortal enemy, the evil Lord Yagyu Retsudo, who masterminded Ogami's fall from grace. Brilliant sword actor Takahashi Hideki takes over as the former shogunate decapitator, and his stunning swordsmanship is second to none! The story of Lone Wolf and Child has been told many times, but never before like this. With the magnificent sword skills of Takahashi Hideki as Ogami Itto, the Shogun's Decapitator and Wakayama Tomisaburo as the power hungry Lord Yagyu Retsudo the story has come full circle.

Lone Wolf & Child: Assassin on the Road to Hell

1989

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance poster
6.4

Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

1974

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 poster
7.1

After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41

1972

Blood for Blood poster
7.0

The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets of “K City”. With the construction of new buildings and new factories underway, the city has sprouted into a boomtown and business is good. Two of the most infamous mobs of Tokyo want a piece of the pie. As out-of-town yakuza flood the city overnight, the crime boss of the Akiba family, Tezuka (Joe Shishido), is released from prison after a five year sentence. He does not like the "change" he sees.

Blood for Blood

1971

The Voice of Sin poster
7.3

Eiji Akutsu is a newspaper reporter. He is working on unsolved case that took place 30 years ago. The case involved a group of people extorting several companies for money. The group sent cassette tapes to the companies. Eiji Akutsu comes across a mysterious cassette tape. Meanwhile, Toshiya Sone lives in Kyoto and runs a tailor shop. He discovers a cassette tape among his late father's possessions. He plays the cassette tape and hears his voice from his childhood days.

The Voice of Sin

2020

No Greater Love poster
NR

In 1943, Japan is amidst the Pacific War. Sobei Sonoda is one of the wealthiest landowners of the San'in region. His land spread for miles, as far as the eye can see. People treated him with respect. But even the richest must think about the future. One day, he decides to arrange a marriage between his only son, Junkichi and the daughter of an even more powerful family. Sobei, hoping to benefit from this union, soon discovers that his son was in love with a lower class girl.

No Greater Love

1966

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima poster
7.3

Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

1973

Yakuza Graveyard poster
6.6

A police investigator cracks down on yakuza business, but once he realizes the police are in negotiations with certain factions, he sides with his own syndicate of choice.

Yakuza Graveyard

1976

Jeans Blues: No Future poster
7.6

Hijiriko makes off from the bar she works at with money and a car that isn't hers. Meanwhile, Jiro Katagiri is up to no good with his gangster friends and ends up making off with all their ill-gotten gains, much to their disapproval. The two misfits end up meeting after a car crash and soon end up on the road together in (another) stolen car. It's not long before the police take an interest in the crimes, and of course the gangsters are hot on Jiri's heels; meaning the two must scarper across Japan by any means necessary.

Jeans Blues: No Future

1974

Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal poster
6.3

Two Japanese men help a Vietnam war deserter escape from Japan for Sweden. They plan to fund the escape by selling LSD pills. After word of the drug deal gets spread around they find themselves fending off rival gangs.

Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal

1970

Monument to the Girl's Corps poster
10.0

In 1943, critical developments in the Pacific War have placed Japan at a disadvantage, although the fiery breaths of war hadn't yet reached Okinawa Normal School for women. Nothing seemed the least bit out of the ordinary, as Kazuko and her friends enjoyed a day of sports. A year later the war takes a devastating turn, as US forces plan an amphibious attack known as "Operation Iceberg" on the Ryukyu island.

Monument to the Girl's Corps

1968

No artwork available
NR

A daughter from an island in the Seto Inland Sea takes a job as a nanny in Tokyo. She thrills the hearts of fishmongers and milkmen.

Inu to Asachan

1969

The Homeless poster
7.8

Two inmates are simultaneously released from jail, but go their separate ways, only to cross paths again in the nearest brothel. There they make the acquaintance of a would-be prostitute. They help her escape and decide to guide her on her quest for sunken contraband somewhere off the coast.

The Homeless

1974

What Did You Eat Yesterday? poster
6.1

Kenji is overjoyed when his usually thrifty boyfriend takes him on a trip to Kyoto for his birthday, but the trip ends up uncovering a painful topic.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

2021

Onihei Crime Files: The Final Kohen - Unryu Ken poster
8.3

No synopsis available yet.

Onihei Crime Files: The Final Kohen - Unryu Ken

2016