Shigeru Amachi

Acting

Shigeru Amachi

Born — Died

1931-03-04 — 1985-07-27

Place of birth

Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

70 titles

Shigeru Amachi (天知 茂, Amachi Shigeru, 4 March 1931 – 27 July 1985) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 120 films from 1953 to 1984. Amachi joined the Shintoho studio as one of its "New Face" actors of 1951 and established himself in action and jidaigeki films. He gained fame for the nihilistic mood of his character in Akatsuki no hijōsen and starred in Nobuo Nakagawa's version of Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan (1959). On television, he played the hardboiled detective in Hijō no raisensu and Kogoro Akechi in a long-running series of TV specials. On stage he was best known for playing Hishakaku in Jinsei gekijō.

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

Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu

1977

No artwork available
NR

Set in the eighteenth century, during the reign of the fifth Tokugawa shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Akō-han is demolished by the Tokugawa shogunate. Hotta Hayato is a ronin who is living a desperate life because of his sad past. But one day he starts working for Chisaka Takafusa, the Chief retainer of the Uesugi clan. The Uesugi clan and Chisaka are wary of Ōishi Kuranosuke and Ako Roshi's movements, so Chisaka orders Hotta to observe Ōishi Kuranosuke.

The 47 Ronins of Ako

1979

Port Arthur poster
7.4

Depicts the bloody siege of the fortress of Port Arthur, one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world, during the Russo-Japanese War of (1904 - 1905). In the story dominated the character Lt Takeshi Kogyo (Teruhiko Aoi), teachers, and a reserve officer who became commander of the platoon and later company. At the same time monitors the conduct of the army commander general Nogi (Tatsuya Nakadai), which was commissioned of the emperor Matsuhito (Toshirô Mifune) to the conquest of the fort.

Port Arthur

1980

Yasei no Shōmei poster
NR

A girl survives a massacre of villagers by Japanese soldiers in a remote mountain village, and a member of the Self-Defense Force who stumbled upon the scene of the massacre during training - this suspenseful drama depicts a huge conspiracy in the Tohoku region centered on these two people.

Yasei no Shōmei

1979

Hijo no License poster
NR

A hard-boiled detective drama. Detective Aida, who belongs to the Special Investigation Department founded by the Special Prosecutor's Office, gathers the outcasts of the Metropolitan Police Department and fights evil with an unconventional investigative method.

Hijo no License

1973

Film credits

1980s · 9 titles

Port Arthur poster
7.4

Depicts the bloody siege of the fortress of Port Arthur, one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world, during the Russo-Japanese War of (1904 - 1905). In the story dominated the character Lt Takeshi Kogyo (Teruhiko Aoi), teachers, and a reserve officer who became commander of the platoon and later company. At the same time monitors the conduct of the army commander general Nogi (Tatsuya Nakadai), which was commissioned of the emperor Matsuhito (Toshirô Mifune) to the conquest of the fort.

Port Arthur

1980

The Beast and the Magic Sword poster
5.3

His bloodline damned by a witch, Waldemar Daninsky heads to Japan to seek a cure for his werewolf curse.

The Beast and the Magic Sword

1983

The Story of a Man Among Men poster
6.0

During the Showa era, a young yakuza survives war and injury and rises to become a clan boss with the help and respect of his sworn brothers.

The Story of a Man Among Men

1984

The Beauty of the Black Pearl poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Beauty of the Black Pearl

1985

Kanei Command Performance poster
NR

During the reign of Shogun Iemitsu, a great martial arts tournament was held to determine whether or not Iemitsu was to remain in power or cede it to his uncle, Yornobu, the 10th son of Ieyasu. Among the contestants were many expert swordsmen who have become well-known to this day. Warriors such as Yagyu Jubei (Kaga Takeshi), and Miyamoto Musashi (Matsukata Hiroki) headed up the slate. This was to be the all-star samurai match of the century. An amazing TV movie with non-stop action as Yagyu Jubei must save an emissary of the Ming and reach Edo in time to fight the crucial match.

Kanei Command Performance

1983

Angel and Devil Beauty poster
NR

Based on Edogawa Ranpo's "Daydream."

Angel and Devil Beauty

1983

Beauty at the Bottom of the Lake poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Beauty at the Bottom of the Lake

1982

No artwork available
8.0

Samon Kamiyama, a yoriki of the Minami-machi magistrate infiltrates the Denzū-machi prison disguised as Mushuku Sahēji. Samon is mistaken for a snitch and about to be beaten up when he was saved by the quick thinking of a ferryman Sanji. The infiltration is the plan of Samon and chief elder Abe Isenokami, who has asked Samon to obtain smuggling evidence against shipping whole retailers Kawachiya Senemon and his son Sennosuke.

Samon’s Hell Revenge: Unauthorised Jutte Records 2 - The Assassination of the Shogun

1983

The Beauty of Heaven and Hell poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Beauty of Heaven and Hell

1982

1970s · 12 titles

Dead Angle poster
7.3

Elite college graduates commit perfect financial crimes though loopholes in the law during the 1950s.

Dead Angle

1979

The Beauty in the Bathroom poster
NR

A magician who targets the Yucun family, who obtain huge wealth through gemstones. Even the wise Kogoro was fooled by his meticulous criminal plan

The Beauty in the Bathroom

1978

The Beauty of the Black Narcissus poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Beauty of the Black Narcissus

1978

The Viper Brothers: Prison Gang 13 poster
7.0

Part 3 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves.

The Viper Brothers: Prison Gang 13

1972

Easy Money poster
NR

An action-comedy about three men who try to bilk money out of gambling dens.

Easy Money

1970

Fairy Beauty poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Fairy Beauty

1978

The Faceless Man poster
NR

Okada, who had escaped death in the duel, suffered the greatest humiliation in the presence of his beloved Fumiko, and disappeared. Mitani and Fumiko are united, but when Okada's body is found, Fumiko becomes embroiled in a terrible incident... The story is about a beautiful woman who sends all the men who woo her to their deaths.

The Faceless Man

1977

Devilish Beauty poster
NR

Based on Edogawa Rampo's famous story, "Black Lizard"

Devilish Beauty

1979

Modern Lady Gambler poster
7.0

Fujiko wanders aimlessly through the country, seeking vengence on the man she onced loved, who betrayed her, and destroying her family and her life. When she discovers that man had already died, she loses her will to live. But in a twist of fate, she meets Tatsumi, a raising star in the Horikawa Family. She quickly falls in love with him and his yakuza lifstyle. But when Tatsumi is chosen to but the next Boss of the family, his jealous sworn brother Morito kills him with the help of a mysterious man behind the scenes. Now Fujiko becomes a Bakuto, a wandering yakuza gambler, and once again, walks the bloody path of vengence...

Modern Lady Gambler

1972

Red Scorpion Beauty poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Red Scorpion Beauty

1979

White Mermaid Beauty poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

White Mermaid Beauty

1978

Eight Men to Kill poster
6.7

The third movie following the exploits of bounty hunter Shikoro Ichibei. The theft of almost a half ton of gold from the shogunate's official mine threatens to bankrupt the government of Japan. Despite a desperate search the gold has not been found, causing officials of the Tokugawa bakufu to call on their most skillful secret agent, Shikoro Ichibei.

Eight Men to Kill

1972

1960s · 29 titles

Jigoku poster
6.3

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

Jigoku

1960

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

Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance poster
6.9

[Period covered: 1582-1594]. As the film opens, the warlod Nobunaga Oda rides to Iga Ayanokuni shrine. He is asked if he thinks he has destroyed all the ninja who opposed him and answers that he suspects that there may be more. A servant brings water and tests it first. The paige dies and we hear gunshots as two ninja flee the scene. His suspicions confirmed, Nobunaga oversees the execution of captured ninja and decides that, in the future, he needs a much crueler method of execution. The daimyo Hideyoshi comes to visit.

Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance

1963

Sword of the Beast poster
7.5

Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.

Sword of the Beast

1965

Two Lives, Two Yakuza poster
NR

An early ninkyo film from before the genre had truly established its form. Koji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an ambush. It turns out the man is the head of a hard working clan appointed to a railway construction project. A ruthless yakuza gang is also trying to get their share of the project and attempts to sabotage the work. After the old man dies, his son (Sonny Chiba) and daughter (Junko Fuji) try to complete the project. Tsuruta joins them while also falling in love with a local woman working in a bar (after all, Tsuruta always was more of a lover than his stoic colleague Takakura).

Two Lives, Two Yakuza

1964

The Boss poster
7.0

Teruo Ishii portrays the bitter conflict over the right to develop land in a gripping and humorous way. Nakagami, the head of the Kanto Joseikai, is ordered to acquire the rights to work to level the reclaimed land and prevent the Doshikai from expanding from Kansai into Tokyo, but the interference of the Koda-gumi, associated with the Kansai Doshikai, intensifies. Nakagami's younger brother Hayami, unhappy that the situation is moving slowly, tries to blackmail the mayor into moving forward, but... A true Toei gangster film with an all-star cast including Koji Tsuruta and Ken Takakura!

The Boss

1965

Straight Talk on Romance: The Definitive Guide poster
NR

A omnibus movie consisting of the three parts: "Kechinbo", "Yowak" and "Kōshoku".

Straight Talk on Romance: The Definitive Guide

1961

Zatoichi's Vengeance poster
7.0

Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes Zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. In trying to help the town, Zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a hero to the boy. He must make a choice of whether to use non-violence and set a good example, or violence and set the boy on the wrong path in life.

Zatoichi's Vengeance

1966

Blackmail Is My Life poster
6.6

Though he has come from a rough background on the streets, Muraki quickly rises through the ranks by means of his well-honed blackmailing instincts. Desperate to keep rolling with his freewheeling lifestyle, Muraki sees his luck begin to crumble when he sets his sights on the business partners of a powerful gang boss.

Blackmail Is My Life

1968

Trigger Happy Romeo poster
7.5

Fifth film in the "Inu" series.

Trigger Happy Romeo

1965

Betting on the Sword poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Betting on the Sword

1962

Destiny's Son poster
6.8

In Edo-period Japan, Shingo is born the son of an assassin who was executed for murdering her lord’s concubine. Decades later, his adoptive family is massacred for keeping the secret. Armed with an unbeatable swordfighting technique, Shingo embarks on the path of the masterless samurai in search of vengeance and a path beyond his own ignominious origins.

Destiny's Son

1962

Enigmatic Explosion of the Battleship Mutsu poster
NR

During the naval battle of Midway in WWII, the battleship Mutsu was in its home port in Japan. The ship's officers and crew were frustrated at not being able to take part in the fighting. They had been held back by orders from the Naval Ministry, but there was also a plot by saboteurs, who were trying to prevent the sailing of the Mutsu. Director Komori developed a suspenseful plot by including a fictional adaptation of the Russian spy Richard Sorge, who had been captured in Japan and subsequently executed. Komori brings a fictional Russian spy to the screen by portraying him as a military attaché at the German embassy. As Germany was an ally of Japan in WWII, a secret agent being a mole in the German embassy is a perfect cover. The interaction of the saboteurs and the officers and crew of the Mutsu make an exciting story.

Enigmatic Explosion of the Battleship Mutsu

1960

The Demon of Sendai's Castle poster
NR

Tsunamune Date, the young lord of Sendai Domain, was ordered by the shogunate to stand down after being spotted in a brothel. Shortly after, four advisors from his entourage were assassinated, calling into question the possessions of the Date family.

The Demon of Sendai's Castle

1962

Quick-Draw Dog poster
7.5

Quick Drawer Dog (早射ち犬 Hayauchi inu) is a 1967 film directed by Tetsutarō Murano. It is the eighth film in the Inu series.

Quick-Draw Dog

1967

Shroud of Snow poster
7.6

1930. In splendid snowy settings, the trials and pain of a woman married to a man who maintains a relationship with their servant.

Shroud of Snow

1967

Long Swords of the Loyal Forty-Seven poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Long Swords of the Loyal Forty-Seven

1962

Yakuza Hooligans poster
7.0

A 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

Shinsengumi Chronicles poster
6.7

As winds of change sweep Japan, an honest man joins the Shinsengumi out of admiration for its leader, and because he wants to live and die as a samurai. However, as his involvement grows, reality and idealism come into deadly conflict.

Shinsengumi Chronicles

1963

Classmates poster
6.5

A story of young students trained to become Kamikaze pilots in World War II.

Classmates

1967

Return of Gun Dog poster
6.2

Zoku teppō inu (続鉄砲犬) is a 1966 film directed by Mitsuo Murayama. It is the sixth film in the Inu series.

Return of Gun Dog

1966

The Pretty Jade poster
NR

Part 3 of the 'Onna bangaichi' series

The Pretty Jade

1966

The Dedicated Gunman poster
7.0

Third film in the "Inu" series.

The Dedicated Gunman

1965

Roar of the Bullets poster
NR

At the end of the Greater East Asia War, young Amada Koichi and his father were wrongfully accused as spy suspects and his father died in prison after being tortured. Ten years later, Amada seeks for revenge on the three men responsible for his father death.

Roar of the Bullets

1960

Homeless Dog poster
7.0

First movie of the Inu series directed by Tokuzō Tanaka

Homeless Dog

1964

The Third Shadow Warrior poster
7.2

In the mountain regions of Hida, the dreams of a peasant named Kyonosuke, who longed to be a samurai, come true when he becomes one of three doubles, of shadows, of Lord Yasutaka. After months of intense and cruel training, he faces his destiny when the Lord and the other two shadows are killed in battle and he must take on the role of Lord Yasutaka....

The Third Shadow Warrior

1963

The Gambler's Law poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Gambler's Law

1967

A Lonely Gamble poster
NR

In post-war Japan, it is difficult for private business to stay afloat. The small atelier has a debt of several million yen. To get a loan, his proprietress is forced to turn to a successful businessman, owner of entertainment establishments and bars. But she has nothing to guarantee the return of the debt, and then she offers herself as collateral. A drama about the contradictory nature of human feelings.

A Lonely Gamble

1965

Yellow Line poster
7.8

The murder of the chief official of Kobe city's Customs triggers an investigation of a prostitution ring called the 'Yellow Line' that sells Japanese women. A hired assassin is betrayed by his organization, and kidnaps a woman who happens to be the girlfriend of a newspaper reporter.

Yellow Line

1960

1950s · 9 titles

Emperor Meiji and the Great Russo-Japanese War poster
8.0

Meiji Tenno portrays the buildup to the Russo-Japan War. In addition to showing the political events that led to war, it also shows the era from the story of a farm family in rural Japan that sends their son off to war. As such, it could be considered an anti-war movie, showing how, while war is devised by governments, the people do not really understand what war is, and its combatants often do not know what they are fighting for.

Emperor Meiji and the Great Russo-Japanese War

1957

Ghost Story of Yotsuya poster
6.5

This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend about a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.

Ghost Story of Yotsuya

1959

Twilight Saloon poster
8.0

Inside a bustling postwar Tokyo beer hall, a diverse group of patrons, performers, and workers spend a single evening navigating their personal frustrations and social anxieties. A disillusioned professor, a struggling artist, and various laborers find their lives intersecting through chance encounters and heated arguments fueled by drink.

Twilight Saloon

1955

Mole Alley poster
8.0

33-year-old poor writer Ogata was able to endure his miserable life cheerfully thanks to Yoshie, a 19-year-old innocent young wife. After graduating from a girls' school in Hokuriku, she immediately moved to Tokyo to meet and marry Ogata. After neatly writing Ogata's manuscript, he would buy dorayaki as a gratuity and devour it.

Mole Alley

1953

Rusty Knife poster
5.9

Udaka is a new, post-war city where corruption has already taken hold. A persistent district attorney wants to arrest and convict Katsumata, a laughing, self-confident thug. The D.A. gets an anonymous letter about the suicide five years' before of a city council member. Evidence about the case leads the D.A. to Tachibana, struggling to go straight after involvement with the mob and a prison sentence for killing the man responsible for the rape and suicide of his fiancée. One of Tachibana's friends is Keiko, the daughter of the dead councilman and the ward of another powerful official. How do these stories connect?

Rusty Knife

1958

The Pacific War and the International Military Tribunal poster
8.0

In 1941, overpopulated Japan faces an economic boycott and its armed forces push further to the south. And despite negotiations between Japan and the U. S. A. war is declared with the attack on Pearl Harbour. Victories follow for Japan on land and sea and her forces push forward to the borders of India. But gradually the tide turns in favour of the Allies and after the atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is compelled to accept the Potsdam Declaration and by the order of the Emperor agrees to unconditional surrender. Under the supervision of the occupation forces the International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo to try the Japanese war leaders. Established in the cause of justice, and to prevent future aggressive wars the trials drag on for two and a half years. And on December 23, 1948, General Tojo and six other war leaders mount the thirteen steps to the gallows at Tokyo's Sugamo prison.

The Pacific War and the International Military Tribunal

1959

Nonki saiban poster
NR

A spectacular comedy with a star-studded cast that depicts unusual trials and unexpected verdicts regarding the five deadly sins: the crime of beauty, the crime of a terrifying wife, the crime of taking the wrong course, the crime of seducing, and the crime of killing with laughter.

Nonki saiban

1955

No artwork available
6.0

Kizaki, an upstart at a trading company has one more assignment for the day before meeting his lovely girlfriend, Natsuki for a date. Little does he know that he's walking straight into a trap set up by his boss, Asanuma and his murderous right hand man. The next day Kizaki finds himself framed for the murder of the company president, and the robbing of the company safe. Natsuki innocently waves goodbye to her loved ones as the boat sails only find herself caught in Asanuma's evil scheming and the object of his lust. In a desperate attempt to escape, she falls to the watery depths. When we next see her she has washed ashore like a siren in the nude on a deserted island inhabited by five castaways who fight each other for her. She learns there's a rich wealth of clams underwater and eventually comes into a large fortune in pearls. Once rescued, she returns to Japan with revenge on her mind.

Revenge of the Pearl Queen

1956

The Lady Vampire poster
5.4

Tamio takes Itsuko to an art gallery and the two find one painting is a nude portrait of Itsuko's mother, who disappeared twenty years ago when she was just a baby. No one knows the first thing about the artist who painted it, but he goes by the name Shiro Sofue, and he's always wearing shades in the daytime...

The Lady Vampire

1959

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

Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu

1977

No artwork available
NR

Set in the eighteenth century, during the reign of the fifth Tokugawa shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Akō-han is demolished by the Tokugawa shogunate. Hotta Hayato is a ronin who is living a desperate life because of his sad past. But one day he starts working for Chisaka Takafusa, the Chief retainer of the Uesugi clan. The Uesugi clan and Chisaka are wary of Ōishi Kuranosuke and Ako Roshi's movements, so Chisaka orders Hotta to observe Ōishi Kuranosuke.

The 47 Ronins of Ako

1979

Yasei no Shōmei poster
NR

A girl survives a massacre of villagers by Japanese soldiers in a remote mountain village, and a member of the Self-Defense Force who stumbled upon the scene of the massacre during training - this suspenseful drama depicts a huge conspiracy in the Tohoku region centered on these two people.

Yasei no Shōmei

1979

Hijo no License poster
NR

A hard-boiled detective drama. Detective Aida, who belongs to the Special Investigation Department founded by the Special Prosecutor's Office, gathers the outcasts of the Metropolitan Police Department and fights evil with an unconventional investigative method.

Hijo no License

1973

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

白昼の死角(TV)

—

Star of the Night poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Star of the Night

1968

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

江戸の牙

1979

Behind the camera