
Acting
Gajirō Satō
Born — Died
1944-08-09 — 2022-12-09
Place of birth
Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
70 titles
Known for
8.9Centered around typical Japanese food, a solitary salesman travelling through the country for business purposes, eats at its various establishments and experiences the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.
Solitary Gourmet
2012
6.9Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.
99.9 Criminal Lawyer
2016
7.8Five agents stand against the evil organization Egos. They fight incorporating dance moves from all around the world! This was the first time giant robots appeared on the Sentai series.
Battle Fever J
1979
9.3After participating to a previous show where they have to bet or be challenged to any kind of competitions, the losing members of the Gaki no Tsukai are selected to spend 24 hours in a setting which they have no knowledge of the theme nor the course of the events. They are exposed to various absurd and crazy situations nonstop for 24 hours and must refrain from laughing. If they do so, hang-men appear and hit the rule breakers with a weapon (the weapon varies every year).
Gaki no Tsukai No Laughing Batsu Game
2003
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Pro Hunter
1981
7.7Saka no Ue no Kumo is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in series two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa. The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundo Koyama and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.
Clouds Over the Hill
2009
Film credits
2010s · 4 titles
NRA socially conscious film that exposes the little-known realities of elderly care. Set in a special nursing home, the film depicts a female nurse who, upon learning of staff members' abuse of residents, confronts the facility's attempts to cover up the truth, while simultaneously falling passionately in love with a young, new caregiver. This film marks the first leading role for female professional wrestler Aja Kong (Erika Shishido; 宍戸江利花), who plays the protagonist nurse.
Old Prison
2012
6.4Ginko's younger brother Tetsuro, a failed comedian, is the oddball of the family. Embarrassing, loud and plain inappropriate at times causes Ginko to disown him. The two reunite when she discovers Tetsuro is terminally ill. Tetsuro’s impending death marks the beginning of love and toleration.
About Her Brother
2010
8.0The 50th film in Tora-san series, using the old footages and newly shot scenes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series. The adult Mitsuo, Tora-san’s nephew, who runs into Izumi, his first love, whom he had once promised to marry. The familiar faces of Kurumaya Cafe, which Tora-san’s family ran in Shibamata, also return. Catching up with old friends, it is always their dearest memories of Tora-san which everyone shares on such occasions…
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here
2019
3.8Young man, Yusuke Mamiana, fed up with his life meats a unattractive ugly girl, Kyoko, at his hometown. Out of his impulsive desire, he had a relationship by nearly raping her. They started to live together and gradually feel 'Family' attachment in each other. As time passes, Yusuke starts to think more about 'Happiness' of his family and himself.
Disregarded People
2013
1990s · 6 titles
5.5A young girl befriends an infant T-rex after her paleontologist father nurtures a lair of lost dinosaur eggs.
Rex: A Dinosaur's Story
1993
NRBased on the comic by Yoshikazu Ebisu, starring Riki Takeuchi, Dan-chan, who plays the role of Takeuchi, challenges the great game of the century, betting on the existence of a certain pachinko parlor
The Pachinko Game Drifter
1995
6.7A struggling Japanese neighborhood supermarket manager chances upon an old classmate, who has plenty of ideas for revitalizing his business.
Supermarket Woman
1996
9.0After failing to find a job, Mitsuo becomes a fisherman on a small island, and develops a crush on a young nurse there. Tora-san, dispatched to bring Mitsuo back home, himself falls in love with an attractive but troubled woman visiting her father.
Tora-san's Matchmaker
1993
8.5Carrying a bag full of samples, Mitsuo makes rounds to shoe stores in remote cities. While staying at budget hotels, his thoughts turn to Tora-san.
Tora-san's Tropical Fever Special Version
1997
NRHe can sort out any financial trouble! The legendary hero from the Weekly Manga Sunday series is now available on DVD! The client this time for Goro Inui—commonly known as Goro the Fixer—is his former secondary school classmate, Yamanaka. Having squandered his money at a secret casino and racked up a massive debt, Yamanaka has, unbelievably, handed over a blank promissory note from his parents’ company as collateral. A few days later, his father receives a fax of the promissory note, bearing a face value of 100 million yen. Sensing the hand of a professional forger, Goro finally steps up to the plate as a master of the underworld!
Goro the Fixer
1995
1980s · 16 titles
5.6A fortuneteller prophesizes that whoever marries the beautiful Ukio will become the ruler of the world. Naturally, this makes her very popular with those vying for power, particularly the insatiably greedy Lord Donjo. Only the ninja Jotaro can stop Donjo's plan, but to do so, he must first battle the deadly team of "Devil Monks" serving the lord. Will Jotaro succeed in his mission? And if so, will Ukio marry him, thus making him the ruler of the world?
Ninja Wars
1982
8.3A playboy-gambler friend of Tora-san’s dies and, abandoned by his mother, his little boy suddenly turns up in Shibamata. Searching for the boy’s mother, Tora-san meets a cosmetics saleslady and the three become a surrogate family, with Tora-san as “daddy”.
Tora-san Plays Daddy
1987
6.6Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
1986
9.0When his travels bring him to Osaka, Tora-san falls in love with a local geisha. He helps her to track down her estranged brother, and informs his family that he plans to marry her. His plans are foiled when the geisha informs Tora-san that she is engaged.
Tora-san's Love in Osaka
1981
8.3Tora-san returns to his family home to learn that his brother-in-law cannot go to Mitsuo's (Tora-san's nephew) athletic event. Tora-san volunteers to take his place, but gets into an argument with his brother-in-law's boss and returns to the road. He meets a young woman in Niigata who, unbeknownst to him, is a popular enka singer.
Tora-san's Song of Love
1983
7.7Tora-san visits brother-in-law Hiroshi's hometown to attend a memorial service for his late father. When the local temple priest becomes intoxicated, Tora-san wearing the priest's robe delivers the memorial speech, much to his family's surprise. Thinking he's found his true calling, Tora-san decides to join the order, and falls for the priest's divorced daughter.
Tora-san Goes Religious?
1983
8.3In his travels through Japan, Tora-san meets and falls in love with a female doctor, however he is afraid of committing to a relationship.
Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial
1988
9.0When his travels take him to rural Hokkaido, Tora-san helps a cantankerous old veterinarian (Mifune) in his relationships with his estranged daughter, and a woman in whom he is secretly interested.
Tora-san Goes North
1987
8.0Tora-san spends several days at the home of a hard-working salaryman ("salaried worker"), who abruptly disappears. When the man's wife asks Tora-san to help find him, he falls in love with her, and secretly hopes the husband will not be found.
Tora-san's Forbidden Love
1984
8.7Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.
Tora-san, the Expert
1982
8.2Tora-san's nephew Mitsuo is exchanging letters with Izumi, a former classmate whose parents divorced and took her out of Tokyo.
Tora-san, My Uncle
1989
8.7Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.
Tora-san's Promise
1981
7.0A comedy directed by Mitsumasa Saito about a pair of clumsy detectives who solve a case they become involved in by chance. Shosuke Ikashima and Ryuji Kabaya, who repeatedly screw things up, encounter a real robbery during a bank robbery simulation training...
The Detective Journey
1980
8.3Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san (1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima, and attempts to bring her back to her home. In doing so he encounters a school-reunion group who are traveling to meet their elementary school teacher, which is a reference to the film Twenty-Four Eyes by Keisuke Kinoshita. Tora-san joins them and falls in love with the teacher.
Tora-san's Island Encounter
1985
8.0During his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully comprehends his importance, the old man is a Living National Treasure ceramist. At his home, Tora-san makes a good impression on the old man's maid, who apparently falls in love with Tora-san.
Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san
1982
8.0In Shibamata, Tokyo, Tora-san's family prepares for a wedding. Meanwhile, the traveling Tora-san meets an old acqaintance in Iwate Province. Tora-san refuses to drink with him, afraid that the acquaintance, now settled and married, will again become attracted to Tora-san's wandering existence. Tora-san becomes attracted to a female barber, but must break off their relationship so that she too can live a secure life. She instead gets into an abusive relationship with a motorcyclist.
Marriage Counselor Tora-san
1984
1970s · 26 titles
7.7Torajiro becomes homesick during his travels after watching a television report about his hometown and meeting a young woman that reminds him of his sister Sakura. Meanwhile, a new tenant moves into Toraya restaurant.
Tora-san's Shattered Romance
1971
8.4On the road again, Torajiro meets a kindred spirit in Lily, a lounge singer.
Tora-san's Forget Me Not
1973
5.8A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era, when rival samurai clans were battling to become the supreme Shogun.
G.I. Samurai
1979
8.2Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.
Tora-san's Dream of Spring
1979
8.0After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.
Talk of the Town Tora-san
1978
7.4Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.
Tora-san, His Tender Love
1970
7.8When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.
Proof of the Man
1977
8.0After a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.
Tora-san, the Good Samaritan
1971
8.8Tora-san befriends the descendant of a feudal lord. The man asks Tora to locate his deceased son's wife who resides somewhere in Tokyo.
Tora-san Meets His Lordship
1977
5.9A woman on the run is raped, rescued, then raped again. Escaping, she heads for the hills and finds safe haven at a convent. After becoming a postulant (trainee nun), she catches her fellow sisters engaging in lesbianism, fighting over nothing, hurling snakes at each other, and engaging in mild flesh eating.
Nuns That Bite
1977
8.7Tora-san helps out a runaway bride.
Tora-san, the Matchmaker
1979
6.4Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
1979
8.0After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to change his vagrant lifestyle and become an honest worker with a steady job.
Tora-san's Runaway
1970
6.0Based on the comic by Housei Hasegawa
Hakatakko Pure Heart
1978
8.3When Tora-san returns to visit his family, he is surprised to find an arrogant professor occupying his room. The professor and Tora-san become rivals for the affection of Chiyo.
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
1972
8.0After Torajiro's latest attempt to find a bride goes awry, he starts traveling again and runs into Utako (last seen in Tora-san's Dear Old Home), now a widow.
Tora-san's Lovesick
1974
8.3While Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.
Tora-san's Dear Old Home
1972
8.2Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an inn where he meets Tomekichi, a young man who looks up to Tora-san.
Stage-Struck Tora-san
1978
8.0Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers.
Follow the Girls
1971
9.0The last in the series. Sugawara runs into two mahjong cheaters (Ichiro Araki and Mako Midori + sidekick Takuzo Kawatani) whom he takes for friends in need as his naivety prevents him from seeing their true nature.
The Viper Brothers and the Young General
1975
8.8Tora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset
1976
7.4After winning big at the races, Torajiro Kuruma wants to take his aunt and uncle on a trip to Hawaii to partly pay the great filial debt he feels he owes them, but the plan hits a snag. Also, a pretty kindergarten teacher rents a room at Toraya.
Tora-san's Grand Scheme
1970
5.3A bad cop is engaged in a violent chase to catch a yakuza boss. In his absence his wife runs away with another man, who turns out to be the very same man that her husband is hunting. Once he discovers this, he loses his nerve and turns in his badge. But the chase turns into a personal vendetta where the ex-cop plans to wipe out the entire gang.
Outlaw Cop
1976
8.2Tora-san visits Hokkaido and is reunited with Lily. Now divorced, she plans to resume her singing career and renews her unusual relationship with Tora-san.
Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again
1975
5.0Set loose in a postwar world with no rules, an ex-juvenile delinquent begins building the most powerful gang in Tokyo's glittering Shibuya ward.
Quarreling with Yakuza
1973
7.5The second movie of Tôru Murakawa's "Game" trilogy. After making a sensational hit, a hitman has gone into hiding for five years. When he comes back he bumps into two women that he has spared five years ago. Two rival yakuza bosses hire Narumi to kill the other. Will Narumi's sense of chivalry entrap him again?
The Killing Game
1978
1960s · 6 titles
7.8Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp
1969
7.3A former Buddhist monk turned erotic filmmaker, Subuyan lives with hairdresser Haru and her two teenage children. Shooting two skin flicks per day, he somehow manages to stay out of the clutches of the yakuza, but real trouble starts when Haru discovers him lusting after her daughter.
The Pornographers
1966
7.0A young thug wanna-be yakuza falls in love with a country girl.
The Shy Deceiver
1968
6.9A young female samurai comes upon a dying messenger and agrees to deliver the scroll he was carrying to its destination. However, unbeknownst to her, the scroll is actually a formula for a new kind of gunpowder. An evil clan that is planning to overthrow the Emperor is also after the scroll, and they try to take it from her.
Watch Out, Crimson Bat!
1969
6.8Kuruma Torajiro is discovered looking around Kyoto for someone special to him.
Tora-san's Cherished Mother
1969
NRThis is the DVD version of the TV show, which consists of a single video that plays the first and last episodes of the tv show bridged by an edit recapping the major events of the lost middle episodes.
It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)
1968
Series credits
8.9Centered around typical Japanese food, a solitary salesman travelling through the country for business purposes, eats at its various establishments and experiences the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.
Solitary Gourmet
2012
6.9Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.
99.9 Criminal Lawyer
2016
7.8Five agents stand against the evil organization Egos. They fight incorporating dance moves from all around the world! This was the first time giant robots appeared on the Sentai series.
Battle Fever J
1979
9.3After participating to a previous show where they have to bet or be challenged to any kind of competitions, the losing members of the Gaki no Tsukai are selected to spend 24 hours in a setting which they have no knowledge of the theme nor the course of the events. They are exposed to various absurd and crazy situations nonstop for 24 hours and must refrain from laughing. If they do so, hang-men appear and hit the rule breakers with a weapon (the weapon varies every year).
Gaki no Tsukai No Laughing Batsu Game
2003
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Pro Hunter
1981
7.7Saka no Ue no Kumo is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in series two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa. The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundo Koyama and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.
Clouds Over the Hill
2009
NRThe original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.
It's Tough Being a Man
1968
8.2The series follows the adventures of Go, a superhero leading a patrol who travel in time to defeat the Godmess Empire, an alien armada who, after landing on Earth 70 million years ago, has altered the course of time. Go's enemies include dinosaurs which are telepathically controlled by the aliens. He has the ability to stop time for 30 seconds.
Dinosaur Corps Koseidon
1978
7.0No synopsis available yet.
好好!キョンシーガール 東京電視台戦記
2012
1.0Nagi Springfield is a mage in training from England. After graduation at age ten, he was sent to Japan as an apprentice teacher in an all girls school. On his first day, he meets Asuna, who has a crush on one of her teacher. Totally hilarity ensues as the class begins to bond with the help of their cute little magical teacher.
Magical Teacher Negima!
2007


