
Acting
Minoru Hodaka
Born 1927-07-20 · Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Acting credits
7.8A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985
6.0In this gritty tale of gamblers battling in the samurai era, Okawa Hashizo gives perhaps his greatest performance as a gambler returning to his home town. Swearing allegiance to his fiancée’s father, a decent boss, he had taken to the road after a gang fight until things cooled down. While honing his sword skills in his travels, everything in the town had changed and he descended into a virtual hell of violence. Opponents were being slaughtered by a former samurai ‘Bodyguard’ played by Tanba Tetsuro at the height of his amazing career. While these two master swordsmen are fated to meet, before that can even happen they must survive one of the longest, bloodiest swordfights in movie history!
Giant Rumble
1964
6.3Detective Kikuchi is sent to Okinawa to investigate why a girl jumped from a window after shooting heroin. There, he encounters the usual assortment of addicts, dealers, pimps and sleazy American GIs.
The Horrible Obsessions
1972
8.2A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths cross again as they both fall in love with the same woman.
Eighteen Years in Prison
1967
NRTakeshi Ijuin leaves for Chicago to be a cameraman, and a few years later returns to Japan. But he only learned the technique of homicide in Chicago. When he visits the graveyard with his father to pray at his mother's tomb, his father is shot by someone. Now he thirsts for revenge.
The Killer's Killer
1970
7.5Four ninja are hired to fight against the Shogunate’s plot to abolish the Gamo Clan, the regional barons struggling to reinstate their young heir Tanemaru as their Lord.
The Ninja Hunt
1964
7.0A bunch of young, angry and penniless misfits are full of great vitality. They aren’t quite up to joining the yakuza and execute a variety of petty scams. After being approached by a yakuza and asked to become a spy for them, they are now planning to take 10 million yen from the yakuza.
Yakuza Hooligans
1966
6.3No synopsis available yet.
The Harbor Lights
1961
6.4Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, tired of conflict, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Tatewaki Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rival clan, however, the world of swordsmen is thrown into turmoil. After Sasuke is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, he tracks Tatewaki, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. By tale’s end, no one is who they seemed to be, and the truth is far more personal than anyone suspected. Director Masahiro Shinoda’s Samurai Spy, filled with clan intrigue, ninja spies, and multiple double crosses, marks a bold stylistic departure from swordplay film convention.
Samurai Spy
1965
7.5This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history.
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
1969
7.5The lord of the Oshi fief is killed by his trespassing neighbour, the cruel and despotic Nariatsu, son of the former Shogun. After an investigation, the Oshi clan is blamed for what happened and sentenced to be disbanded. Eleven of the best samurai of the clan refuse the sentence and are willing to give their life for justice.
Eleven Samurai
1967
6.8Junai Monogatari AKA Story of Pure Love is about two poor youths, Mitsuko and Kando, rebelling against society in various ways, who are desperately trying to be together despite tortuous circumstances. The film depicts their lives as thieves, menial laborers who can get little pay, society outcasts, and of course, lovers. Junai Monogatari depicts, mostly, their struggles within the Japanese reformatory system and Mitsuko's worsening sickness.
The Story of Pure Love
1957
7.4Police detectives investigate the link between a serial killer's machinations and a teenage boy who committed suicide.
I, the Executioner
1968
6.2The most dangerous hired gun in Kyushu's underworld has managed to trigger a vicious gang war, and now, there's a contract on his life. Though nobody is more skilled in the arts of dealing death, can the tattooed hitman fend off the entire Japanese mafia as he searches for the man who wants him dead?
The Tattooed Hitman
1974
7.2While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
1974
7.1In 1863, when American warships approach Japan, an enigmatic ronin becomes an important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.
Assassination
1964
8.4In turbulent 16th-century Japan, the leaders of a minor fief have their child taken from them as a political hostage. His mother and his clan endure years of tribulations until he can return.
Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu
1965
7.0When a rebellious roughneck enlists in the Navy and goes on a rampage against his superiors, he is sent to the Yokosuka Naval Prison.
Yokosuka Navy Prison
1973
7.0Shimamura is a violent street thug who joins the yakuza & is merciless & unscrupulous on his rise, lacking any sense of either duty or chivalry. When imprisoned, he is repeatedly transferred from one prison to another, because no one can handle him.
Scoundrel
1968
7.0Itto Ogami- High Executioner to the Shogun- has been betrayed by his political enemies and sentenced to a dishonorable death. Seeking to restore the honor of his name, Ogami- The Wolf- must flee the Shogun's grasp and live long enough to prove his innocence. Taking only his sword and his son, Ogami embarks on a bloody journey of righteousness and revenge as he seeks to destroy those who would disgrace his family's name. Hunted mercilessly by the Shogun's troops, by his enemies, and by those who seek the reward put on his head, Ogami must fight his way through feudal Japan, challenging and defeating all who stand in the way of his quest for honor. Can Ogami- a true Samurai Warrior- endure the ceaseless violence which surrounds him?
The Fugitive Samurai
1984
6.7Loyal samurai Samanosuke is attacked, mutilated, and left for dead while carrying out a mission for his clan. He recovers but has lost an eye and an arm. Taking a new identity as Tange Sazen, he searches for a stolen urn which has hidden significance to his clan. But Tange Sazen has his own reasons for seeking the urn.
Sazen Tange and The Secret of the Urn
1966
6.5A story of young students trained to become Kamikaze pilots in World War II.
Classmates
1967
6.0A high-ranking yakuza rises to national notoriety.
Evil Boss vs. Henchmen
1971
6.8A headstrong young man seeks to join the Shinsengumi, but while his determination impresses his superiors, questions begin to arise as to his true identity and intentions.
Cruel Story of the Shogunate's Downfall
1964