
Acting
Kazuo Kitamura
Born — Died
1927-03-11 — 2007-05-06
Place of birth
Tokyo, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
72 titles
Known for
9.7The 64th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Churasan, a story of a young woman, Kohagura Eri, who was born in Kohamajima Island, Okinawa on May 15, 1972, the day when Okinawa was returned to Japan from the U.S. Eleven years later, Kamimura Shizuko and her two sons, Kazuya and Fumiya, from Tokyo come to stay as the guests of a small inn run by Eri’s family. Eri’s fun-loving, yet eccentric family welcomes them warmly. However, Eri is shocked to hear one of the sons, Kazuya is terminally ill and Shizuko and her sons came to Okinawa to spend his last moment together in beautiful nature. Fumiya, Kazuya’s younger brother, and Eri promise to marry each other someday. However after Kazuya’s death, Fumiya and his mother leave the island to go back to Tokyo. Years later, they are reunited, Eri as a nurse and Fumiya, a doctor, working at the same hospital in Tokyo.
Churasan
2001
8.4A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
High and Low
1963
7.2In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
NRThe chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of Japan. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. His older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
1966
7.0The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.
Life of a Flower
1963
Film credits
2000s · 7 titles
6.6Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.
Shinobi: Heart Under Blade
2005
6.6When a dying friend tells out-of-work salaryman Yosuke about a hidden treasure, he sets off in search of the only clue about its location: a house by a red bridge. What he finds instead is a woman who transcends all his fantasies.
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
2001
5.6In the aftermath of a major earthquake, scientists predict that Japan will sink into the sea. As further disasters follow, politicians plead with other countries to take refugees, while scientists struggle to save Japan itself.
Japan Sinks
2006
6.5Henshin tells the story of Junichi, a young boy who is forced to go through a life-saving brain transplantation. By his side, his girlfriend Kei is watching over him all the time. Junichi seems to recover complete from this operation, but while Kei is thrilled that he is back by her side, Junichi senses that all is not well. Something inside of him seems to have changed and his feelings for Kei are beginning to fade. Though he wants nothing more than for the two of them to be happily together, Junichi realizes that something must be done. He makes a bold decision to protect the young woman he loves that will prove to everybody, especially himself, what his true feelings for Kei really are.
Henshin
2005
6.8A middle-aged salaryman with a typical family, living quietly in a provincial city (Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture), wakes up one morning in the summer of 1994 to find himself the prime suspect in the biggest mass-murder case of the decade.
Darkness in the Light
2001
NRA woman in a bright green coat, Mizue (Toda Naho), gets off the bus at Shikaoi Town in Hokkaido. She has followed her former salsa dance partner, Arisaka (Endo Kenichi), to his hometown. Arisaka, who is about to start a new life, is troubled, and soon their feelings for each other burn intensely...
The Woman Changed Her Clothes at the Bus Stop
2003
6.0When her husband is betrayed by his fellow yakuza and jailed, his wife takes over and fights to prevent his expulsion from the clan. 14th installment of the 16-film franchise.
Yakuza Ladies: Companions in Hell
2001
1990s · 4 titles
5.9Rin Jyoshima lost her father to death-by-gambling; years later, she's grown up in the Kosugi household and has fallen victim to gambling herself.
Heat Wave
1991
5.4Traditional Japanese pop singer Reiko (Muroi) decides to enter a well-known TV program for amateur singers along with a confused teenager (Ôtomo) and a 40-year-old father of four (Bito).
Amateur Singing Contest
1999
6.2Nayoko, a good-hearted geisha, brings luck to the men she sleeps with, even though most are scoundrels who don’t deserve it.
Tales of a Golden Geisha
1990
8.0There is a man who divorced his wife. He moved to rural Hokkaido from Tokyo where he lived with his family without running water or electricity. He has his son and daughter in tow and works hard for them. The folk in the area try to help. A couple of years pass and the older son moves back to Tokyo, attends school and works part-time. The daughter commutes to the city to attend school. She wants to become a nurse. To become a registered nurse she needs to study a further three years. This takes money.
Kita no kuni kara '92 Sudachi Part 1
1992
1980s · 10 titles
7.0This film stays very faithful to the original down to the smallest details, save for the kangaroo-rat that suddenly appears twenty minutes into the movie and subsequently follows Aladdin around, serving no purpose in the story but fulfilling the role of token animal mascot. The story takes some illogical and confusing jumps at the point where Aladdin begins to court the princess, and the extravagant animation that had characterised Toei films of the 60s, when Toei had the best animators around, had become a thing of the past long before this point; but this is still an above-average film, in large part because of the screenplay that stays so faithful to the original. The character designs are slightly more western-looking than one is accustomed to seeing in anime.
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
1982
7.6Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Black Rain
1989
7.0A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
1981
5.6Yokiro was the most successful Geisha house in Western Japan during the first half of the 20th century and remains open to this day. At its peak, it was home to over 200 geisha, however behind the fabulous facade, there were many battles - between family members, men and women, and with the Yakuza. Momokawa was sold to Yokiro at age 12, and despite being the top geisha, her many complicated relationships provide unending challenges throughout her glamorous but turbulent life.
The Geisha
1983
6.6A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away.
Company Executives
1989
4.0A free-spirited girl living in a Japanese province spends her time working in a brothel and running with her dog. When her routine is shattered she gets on a path of hate and self discovery.
Lake of Illusions
1982
10.0After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife.
The Longest Tunnel
1982
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
NRTV film about the "Nishiyama Incident", a scandal surrounding the 1972 return of Okinawa to Japan. Produced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of TV Asahi in 1978 and released theatrically by Office Henmi in 1988.
Secret Agreement: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secret Leak Incident
1988
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Festival of Dreams
1989
1970s · 11 titles
7.2In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970
7.5A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.
Vengeance Is Mine
1979
7.4A high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.
The Man Who Stole the Sun
1979
6.9When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot.
Solar Eclipse
1975
6.5By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the control of cruel & armed pirates. Imamura will come to meet those men in order to understand their position.
The Pirates of Buban
1972
6.5Patterned after Japanese art and silk screens, Taro, The Dragon Boy is an animated feature about Japanese mythology and cultures, focusing on Taro, a young boy who has to make a voyage to a distant lake to save his mother, who has been turned into a dragon.
Taro the Dragon Boy
1979
6.7During the Vietnam War, an American G.I. deserts his base in Japan and escapes to Tokyo with the help of his Japanese bar hostess girlfriend. In the capital he gets involved with an anti-war organization while dodging the military police.
Summer Soldiers
1972
7.5The second film in Toho's series on the military history of the Showa era, Hiromichi Horikawa's war drama offers a look at the career of controversial politician Hideki Tojo and the strained relationships between Japan's government, military, and the media.
The Militarists
1970
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Kigeki Ijiwaru Daishougai
1971
6.5Kobasashi was learning Spanish so that she could go to Spain to look for her father who had left the family. She fell in love with her language teacher Ken. Finally she found her father in Madrid and she also met Ken's ex-girl friend Taeko there. Ken came to Madrid and learned of their meeting. He wanted her to help to look for Taeko. Ken was caught in between the past and the present.
White Love
1979
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Touch of Love
1974
1960s · 26 titles
8.4A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
High and Low
1963
7.7Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
Kwaidan
1965
8.4After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his old life, he faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his men sneak behind enemy lines.
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
1961
7.2A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
The Insect Woman
1963
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
7.3A dramatisation of the 24-hour period in which the Japanese government was deadlocked over the decision to accept or reject the Allies' demand for an unconditional surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan's Longest Day
1967
7.0The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Intentions of Murder
1964
8.1War widow Reiko rebuilds and runs the grocery shop in the house of her husband's family. Many years later, their business is threatened by a newly built supermarket and Reiko's in-laws plan to convert their small shop into a supermarket, to her detriment.
Yearning
1964
6.7Michi's first encounter with Nobuyuki Ishida, secretary to the chairman of a private school, takes place in the drawing room, when she attempts to swindle him out of two million yen for alleged rape by his son. Akie, Ishida's wife and the chairman's daughter, offers her a million, but he gives her what she demands. Now Michi is not only satisfied, but she has a mad desire for Ishida and calls him every day asking for a date. His sympathy for her gradually evolves into love, and he soon allows her insatiable passion to strip him of his decency.
Vixen
1969
NRJapanese crime film.
The Woman Killer
1969
7.4Tokyo engineer Kariya arrives on a primitive tropical island, where he interacts with the Futori clan, to drill a well to power a sugar mill.
Profound Desires of the Gods
1968
7.0Three stories revolve around independence, a man searching for his wife, and a poor craftsman trying to make money.
Cold Rice, Osan, Chan
1965
7.2After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.
The Scent of Incense
1964
6.4Shingo and Ritsuko have a baby: Takashi. They happen to be a happy couple, but soon Ritsuko wants to know who is the true father of Takashi, born by artificial insemination.
Impasse
1967
10.0The sexworker who works in Turkish baths plans to make her fortune on the stock market, open a beauty salon, and marry her boyfriend. However, her plans are turned upside down by the arrival of her half-sister, and her boyfriends unfaithfulness.
Two Bitches
1964
6.9A woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in his years in Siberian labor camps and considers himself 'already dead'.
The Lovelorn Geisha
1960
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Women Called 'Wives'
1963
9.0Temari, a geisha, dreams of opening a small restaurant with her little brother.
Women and Miso Soup
1968
7.1A suspenseful Ninja fantasy based on Shiba Ryotaro's novel, woven with the mysterious fate and romance of Shinzo and a beautiful Princess who find themselves at the center of an intrigue surrounding the legendary land of Yasurai in the mountains of Kumano. Hidden gold, the love of a beautiful Princess, and the approaching evil sword all contribute in bringing you a Ninja action thriller that only the legendary actor Okawa Hashizo and the genius director Kato Tai could produce!
Warrior of the Wind
1964
7.0Keiko is pretty and intelligent but her home life is not a happy one. Never having known a father's love, she develops a possessive attachment to Mr. Mazaki, the new mathematics teacher.
Fresh Leaves
1962
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Night Scandal
1964
10.0During the war a university professor meets a girl and marries her. Very soon however, it is apparent that their needs are not matched. He would much rather be translating Shakespeare than attending to her, and she has a secret in her past - one that results in her sleeping with a great number of men.
Whirlpool of Flesh
1964
8.0Natsuko’s daughter Saori is born blind in 1941, just before her father is drafted. Despite an attempted surgery and years of struggle, her condition proves permanent. Growing up, she faces stigma and danger but eventually finds hope and love with a fellow blind student.
Till Tomorrow Is
1962
6.8When a US army sergeant is found drowned in Tokyo Bay, an investigation is launched to determine how and why he lost his life. The investigation uncovers a black market scheme involving counterfeit money, murder, and conspiracy.
A Chain of Islands
1965
NRNo synopsis available yet.
That Cute Girl
1965
7.0Narcotics officer Matsumoto’s investigation into a drug smuggling ring leads him from Tokyo to Hong Kong, where personal ties and painful secrets unravel a complex web of betrayal. As love, family, and justice collide, Matsumoto must face a truth too deep to escape—and a loss too great to mend.
The White Rose of Hong Kong
1965
1950s · 2 titles
6.2A Japanese woman writes down three stories she has witnessed or heard of in her diary, each about the difficult situation a young woman finds herself in.
An Inlet of Muddy Water
1953
NRWhen he was a little boy, Tokitō Kensaku was sent to live with his paternal grandfather and his mistress Oei. Years later, Kensaku realizes he has feelings for Oei.
Pilgrimage at Night
1959
Series credits
9.7The 64th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Churasan, a story of a young woman, Kohagura Eri, who was born in Kohamajima Island, Okinawa on May 15, 1972, the day when Okinawa was returned to Japan from the U.S. Eleven years later, Kamimura Shizuko and her two sons, Kazuya and Fumiya, from Tokyo come to stay as the guests of a small inn run by Eri’s family. Eri’s fun-loving, yet eccentric family welcomes them warmly. However, Eri is shocked to hear one of the sons, Kazuya is terminally ill and Shizuko and her sons came to Okinawa to spend his last moment together in beautiful nature. Fumiya, Kazuya’s younger brother, and Eri promise to marry each other someday. However after Kazuya’s death, Fumiya and his mother leave the island to go back to Tokyo. Years later, they are reunited, Eri as a nurse and Fumiya, a doctor, working at the same hospital in Tokyo.
Churasan
2001
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
NRThe chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of Japan. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. His older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
1966
7.0The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.
Life of a Flower
1963
8.4Orphaned when he was not yet ten, Musashi grows up skilled in the martial arts. During the Battle of Sekigahara, he fights on the side of the losing Toyotomi forces, but eludes the enemy as they hunt down the vanquished soldiers. He then spends years wandering the countryside mastering the sword. As his fame spreads throughout the nation, men seek him out to test their skills against him--most notably Sasaki Kojiro who faces Musashi in the ultimate duel at Ganryujima.
Musashi
2003
7.5"Ako Roshi" is a group of 47 former retainers of Lord Asano. Lord Asano was forced to commit suicide after attempting to kill Lord Kira. Once the retainers hear about their Lord's death, they sacrifice their lives to regain the honor of their former master.
Akō Rōshi
1964
NRNo synopsis available yet.
シークレット部隊
1972
NRSet in a sushi restaurant in Tokyo shortly after the end of the war, the story follows a stubborn, old-fashioned master and his hot-tempered, brash apprentice growing up among the warm-hearted people of downtown Tokyo.
Iki no Iiyatsu
1987
NRThe drama depicts the lives and loves of people living in three different environments: a family consisting of two brothers and their parents; a family with a father and a daughter who are not well organized; and a girl who has moved from the countryside to Tokyo to live alone in the whirlwind of the big city, desperately trying to survive.
Brother
1969
NRAkemi's marriage was the kind that no one could complain about. Akemi had perfect kids and a great husband. Everyone was happy. Until her husband, Eiji, starts having an affair, and a cruel fate calls upon her.
I Miss Age 35
1996
NRA milestone in Japanese teen drama, representing the 1970s. It questions the meaning of life, worries, and joys.
Oretachi no Tabi
1975
NRAn action detective drama depicting the activities of detectives belonging to a fictional department called the Fifth Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department, commonly known as "Danger". From January to March 1976, a total of 10 episodes were broadcast on the NET (now TV Asahi) the leading role is Shinichi Chiba.
Daihijôsen
1976
