Manabu Morita

Acting

Manabu Morita

Born

1924-04-25 (102)

Known for

Acting

Credits

62 titles

He was one of the regular actors who appeared in Daiei films from the 1950s to the 1970s. He appeared in over 100 films, including uncredited ones, and left a lasting impression playing many strong supporting and minor roles.

Known for

Professional Killers poster
8.0

A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...

Professional Killers

1972

Tokai no kiba poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tokai no kiba

1959

Otoko jū kyū no wataridori poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Otoko jū kyū no wataridori

1958

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura poster
NR

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura

1970

Kesareta keiji poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kesareta keiji

1958

Kaachan wa hannin janai poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kaachan wa hannin janai

1958

Film credits

1980s · 2 titles

1970s · 8 titles

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons poster
7.2

Ogami Itto is challenged by a quintet of warriors, each armed with one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assignment.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons

1973

The Street Fighter's Last Revenge poster
5.5

Terry Sugury is hired to recover one of two tapes containing a formula for making heroin for a price of 200 dollars a pound. But he gets double crossed. So he wants the tape back.

The Street Fighter's Last Revenge

1974

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell poster
7.1

With most of his family already dead at Ogami Itto's hands, Retsudo launches one final plot to destroy him, and when that fails, unleashes the fury of every remaining member of the Yagyu clan.

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell

1974

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance poster
7.4

Official Shogunate executioner Ogami Itto has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

1972

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril poster
7.3

Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril

1972

The Silk Hat Boss 2 poster
6.5

The Silk Hat Boss becomes involved in a car imports business during his trip to Atami.

The Silk Hat Boss 2

1970

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1 poster
5.9

Bunta Sugawara is Miyoshi, a low-level assassin of the Yamamori gang who is sent to jail after a bungled hit. While in stir, family member Aoki attempts to seize power from the boss, and Miyoshi finds himself stuck between the two factions with no honorable way out.

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1

1974

Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back poster
9.0

In Meiji Period Japan, the carrying of swords had been outlawed, so Shikai, the Killer Priest carries his sword disguised as a Priest?s staff. One of the strongest entries in the series, Shinkai is badly injured, and must face his worst enemy in what could be their final showdown.

Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back

1970

1960s · 14 titles

Zatoichi's Pilgrimage poster
7.1

Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into a village terrorized by a violent yakuza boss.

Zatoichi's Pilgrimage

1966

Wrath of Daimajin poster
6.3

In a mountainous region of Japan, Lord Arakawa kidnaps the men of nearby villages to use as slave labor, producing gunpowder from his sulfur pits. A band of young boys decide to rescue their enslaved fathers on their own.

Wrath of Daimajin

1966

The Tale of Zatoichi poster
7.3

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.

The Tale of Zatoichi

1962

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man poster
6.8

Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man

1965

Zatoichi the Outlaw poster
6.7

When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free.

Zatoichi the Outlaw

1967

Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege poster
6.2

[Period covered: 1614-1615] Tokugawa Ieyasu is now the ruler of all Japan. But one last loose thread must be tied up before his domination is complete -- the destruction of the Toyotomi clan, now beseiged in Osaka castle. Ieyasu's ninja are the only ones who can penetrate the fortress, but unfortunately for Ieyasu, Kirigakure Saizo and the other Toyotomi ninja can just as easily get out. As armies of samurai maneuver for battle, the fate of the nation will be decided by a desperate struggle in the dark!

Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege

1964

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo poster
6.5

[Period covered: 1616] On May 8th, 1615 the summer campaign of Osaka has reached the climax. This film takes place immediately following 'Ninja 4: Mist Saizo, Last of The Ninja'. Staying one step ahead of the Shogun’s forces, “Mist” Saizo tries to save the Sanada Clan, and avenge the death of his lord by assassinating the first Tokugawa Shogun. Following the first four films in this remarkable series, more previously unknown Ninja skills are shown to the world for the first time. The action heats up as Saizo single-handedly attacks the Shogun’s Palace!

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo

1964

Sleepy Eyes of Death 5: Sword of Fire poster
6.3

Fifth film in the series. When Kyoshiro, in a moment of weakness, saves the life of a woman being attacked on the road, he quickly finds himself entangled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt chamberlain, a wily merchant, the survivors of a pirate gang, and a missing treasure trove.

Sleepy Eyes of Death 5: Sword of Fire

1965

A Samurai Never Tells a Lie poster
9.5

The shogun's vassal Harima Aoyama and a chamber maid are in love with each other, but they cannot be together due to a difference of their status. Soon, an offer of marriage is brought to Harima. Trying to test his love, Okiku breaks one of the plates of the family treasure of the Aoyama family, but Harima doesn't notice. However, someone surrounding her witnesses the moment Okiku breaks the plate on purpose.

A Samurai Never Tells a Lie

1963

The Wandering Princess poster
6.5

Pu Zhe, younger brother of the Emperor of Manchukuo, marries Ryuko, daughter of an aristocratic family. To the surprise of all, a deep love between Pu Zhe and Ryuko develops and is put to the test when Japan loses the war.

The Wandering Princess

1960

Assignment Dragon No. 3 poster
7.0

In late 1940 the Japanese were anxious to conclude peace in China and to that end sent Colonel Hidaka to inaugurate negotiations. He was mysteriously assassinated, however, when his car was blown up. The General Staff Headquarters in Japan, sends Lieutenant Shiina, a graduate of the famed Nakano School of Spies inaugurated by Colonel Kusanagi, to investigate the matter. Arriving in Shanghai, he disguises himself as a Chinese coolie and sets out to watch for developments, the only clue being a silver dollar found beside what was left of the victim.

Assignment Dragon No. 3

1967

The School of Spies poster
6.6

Nakano Institution is the so-called ‘Spy School’ where many young men are trained to be excellent spies. They erase their names, families, even lovers to bury themselves in training. Jiro, one of the cadets, successfully seize the secret code of English army to pass the final exam. However, he reaches the crossroad when his fiancee Yukiko turns out to be a spy of the enemy.

The School of Spies

1966

Blood End poster
6.3

Sentaro is been severely beaten for his defiance of the government and the high taxes during a time of famine. He is befriended by Kada Gentaro, a leader in the Mito Tengu group, which plans to overthrow the shogunate.

Blood End

1969

Ōkuma Shigenobu the great poster
NR

The biopic of Shigenobu Ōkuma, one of the main Japanese leaders at the turn of the 20th century, a supporter of rapprochement with the United Kingdom, and who brought his country into the Triple Entente against the German Empire.

Ōkuma Shigenobu the great

1963

1950s · 35 titles

Tokai no kiba poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tokai no kiba

1959

Otoko jū kyū no wataridori poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Otoko jū kyū no wataridori

1958

Kesareta keiji poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kesareta keiji

1958

Kaachan wa hannin janai poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kaachan wa hannin janai

1958

Symphony of Love poster
NR

A romance between a young koto prodigy and the head of a koto school’s daughter.

Symphony of Love

1958

Princess Yang Kwei-fei poster
6.7

In 8th-century China, the Emperor grieves the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their court influence. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen, whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets.

Princess Yang Kwei-fei

1955

Itsuki no komori uta poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Itsuki no komori uta

1954

Horeruna Yanpachi poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Horeruna Yanpachi

1956

On This Earth poster
7.0

Ichiro’s family used to be a large landowner, but now he is living in poverty with his mother. His mother works hard to get her son through school. Under such circumstances, Ichiro meets Wakako, the daughter of a wealthy man, and they fall in love with each other, but they are opposed by those around them because of their different social status.

On This Earth

1957

Duel at Noon poster
NR

Judo movie.

Duel at Noon

1957

Tsuki no kōdōkan poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tsuki no kōdōkan

1956

Shōbushi to sono musume poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shōbushi to sono musume

1959

The Big Four of the Kodokan poster
NR

A passionate young man who risks his life for love and judo and the innocent young woman who adores him face off against an evil judoka at Chidorigafuchi.

The Big Four of the Kodokan

1955

Outlaw poster
NR

A 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

No artwork available
NR

A desperate detective on the trail of criminals who are holding a baby hostage and demanding one million yen

San akunin to akanbō

1950

Teen-ager's Resistance poster
NR

A college student falls in love with a notorious delinquent girl.

Teen-ager's Resistance

1955

Tsuma koso waga inochi poster
NR

This story depicts the struggles of a man living in the cutthroat world of competition and the pure love of his wife.

Tsuma koso waga inochi

1957

Zoku ginga no miyako poster
NR

Judo movie.

Zoku ginga no miyako

1957

Where Might is Right poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Where Might is Right

1955

No artwork available
NR

A romantic action drama set in early Meiji-era Hokkaido, centered on a passionate, justice-seeking newspaper reporter who takes on an official seeking to line his own pockets, alongside an ill-fated brother and sister harboring a desire for revenge.

Eki basha osowaru

1957

Fires on the Plain poster
7.6

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

Fires on the Plain

1959

Ginga no miyako poster
NR

After helping a woman recover her wallet, which had been stolen by a pickpocket, a rough-around-the-edges young man who is a sixth-dan judo practitioner falls in love with a beautiful teacher of traditional folk songs.

Ginga no miyako

1957

Bara no kōdōkan poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bara no kōdōkan

1956

Rakka no mon poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Rakka no mon

1954

8:13 PM poster
NR

Melodrama about a young woman who saves a young man from the world of evil after he has saved her from blindness.

8:13 PM

1956

Rōkyoku tengu dōjō poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Rōkyoku tengu dōjō

1955

Musume hatsukoi yatton-bushi poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Musume hatsukoi yatton-bushi

1952

Haha tokidori poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Haha tokidori

1954

No artwork available
NR

Even the beautiful international port of Yokohama has a seedy underbelly. An action thriller in which a newspaper reporter plunges into a den of vice to expose the smuggling and the prostitution.

Dai san hijōsen

1956

Kidnapper poster
NR

A series of kidnappings is occurring right under the authorities’ noses as they desperately pursue the culprits. Could the typewritten ransom note reveal the culprit?

Kidnapper

1955

Dawn Chorus poster
NR

An innocent bus girl who gave up on getting into a women’s college and is now filled with new hope and the cheerful, slightly flirtatious young man who loves her, inside the car on a stormy night...

Dawn Chorus

1955

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Four Mothers

1954

Ringo murakara poster
NR

A couple in love are separated between the city and the countryside and face misunderstandings due to slander from those around them, but are ultimately reunited at the apple orchard in their hometown.

Ringo murakara

1956

Tokyo Elegy poster
NR

In 1945, in a Shanghai filled with a palpable sense of unease as the war was still raging, Atsuko Kijima and Ryuji Kudo fell in love and exchanged promises of marriage. Ryuji was deployed shortly thereafter, and after the war ended, he was taken to Siberia as a prisoner of war. Atsuko, who had returned to Tokyo, clung to the promise she had made with Ryuji—that if he were safe, he would “come to the garden of St. Nicholas Cathedral at noon on Christmas Day.” Relying on that promise, she went to St. Nicholas Cathedral at noon on Christmas Day in both 1946 and 1947, but Ryuji never appeared.

Tokyo Elegy

1951

Tokoharu jamono poster
NR

Two barbers have fallen for each other, but their fathers are both stubborn, and, on top of that, they’re old rivals from the past.

Tokoharu jamono

1953

Series credits

Professional Killers poster
8.0

A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...

Professional Killers

1972

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura poster
NR

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.

Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura

1970