
Acting
Zenji Yamada
Born 1914-07-17 · Hokkaido, Japan
Acting credits
NRYoung female teacher Kyoko Miyake relocates to a small seaside town with her runaway little sister, but their new life is complicated by hoodlum-like Jiro Yamazaki.
The Black Sheep
1967
NRA musical film based on the original work of Saigo Teruhiko. After leaving the juvenile detention center and returning to his hometown of Ibusuki, Hachiro begins to investigate the cause of his older sister Sumiko's suicide. While Hachiro was in juvenile detention, Sumiko committed suicide, but there are too many mysteries surrounding this suicide...
The Scarred Angel
1966
7.0In the thriving Tokyo neighborhood of Ginza, a woman in the process of selling her estranged husband’s art collection attempts to identify the man who painted her own portrait fifteen years prior.
Tales of Ginza
1955
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
NRA 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
7.6Fumiko, mother of two and wife to an unfaithful man, shares her family life with her budding vocation as a poet. The beginning of her successful literary career coincides with her divorce and her breast cancer diagnosis. In her final stages, Fumiko meets a young journalist from Tokyo who wants to write a story on her experiences.
Forever a Woman
1955
NRIn this downbeat, emotionally gripping drama, a lone guardian of some small huts on one of the northernmost, small islands off Japan remembers his once happier past and the events that destroyed everyone he held dear.
To the Ends of the Earth
1953
6.4Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date.
The Champion
1957
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Asakusa monogatari
1953
NRIn 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
5.6An expedition in the South Pacific lands on a tropical island where the natives worship the mysterious deity Gappa. An earthquake opens up an underground cavern and a baby reptile is discovered inside. The natives warn the foreigners to leave the hatching alone, but they don't listen and take it back to a zoo in Japan. Soon after, moma and papa Gappa start smashing Tokyo looking for their kidnapped child.
Gappa, the Triphibian Monster
1967
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Ai to shi no katami
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
NRDue to obligation, they parted ways, but mother and child meet again in front of the father's grave.
Haha chidori
1951
7.0A jobless young couple, Yoshigi and Tsutue, wind up at the outskirts of the Suzaki red-light district in Tokyo. Tsutue talks her way into a job pouring sake for male customers at a small bar run by a sympathetic older woman, while Yoshigi is shunted off into a nearby noodle shop, where he gets a job delivering noodles. Tsutue charms and runs off with one of her clients. Yoshigi, ignoring the attentions of a sweet co-worker, pursues Tsutue.
Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District
1956
8.3In order to pay back Mrs. Kajiki for her good deed in the past, Hatsu moves from her village in Akita to Tokyo to start working as a maid for her family. She grows close to their youngest son Katsumi, experiencing things that will change her view on life.
The Maid's Kid
1955
7.0When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.
Youth of the Beast
1963
5.0Ruriko's father is a well known scientist who's involved in secret research that even his family doesn't know about. Ever since he moved up to the research laboratory in Hokkaido, Ruriko hasn't heard from him. The only thing that reminded her of his warmth was the green music box that he’d left behind for her. She longed to reunite with her father. The little box played music that lifted her spirits, to a place where everything was perfect.
The Green Music Box
1955
NRA young engineer and a pure-hearted mountain girl take on the challenges of the Akan primeval forest, where lawlessness and violence run rampant.
Outlaw
1953
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Yobiko hoshi
1952
NRWith his mother’s wishes and a young woman’s prayers in his heart, a spirited young man fights to uphold the honor of college judo.
Daigaku no kotengu
1952
7.0Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.
A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
1957
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
NRA sequel to Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards!
Detective Bureau 2-3: A Man Weak to Money and Women
1963