
Directing
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Born — Died
1911-02-15 — 1983-07-26
Place of birth
Tokyo, Japan
Known for
Directing
Credits
40 titles
Kimiyoshi Yasuda was a Japanese film director from the 1930s to 1970s. He directed six films about Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman. He signed with Nikkatsu Kyoto studio as an assistant director and started working as an assistant director under Sadao Yamanaka and Hiroshi Inagaki etc.
Known for
6.8Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
1971
7.0Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.
Zatoichi and the Fugitives
1968
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Date sōdō: Haha goten
1954
NRA seafaring man who hates women and a barmaid who hates men… drawn together and torn apart by a strange twist of fate… a melodrama of passion and intensity.
Jōen no hatoba
1951
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zoku suna-e jubaku: Yukijorō
1953
6.6A greedy developer, in league with a corrupt Shrine Magistrate, brutally tries to drive people out of a tenement building and destroy the shrine in back. But he makes the fatal mistake of hosting a 100 Ghost Stories ceremony without the closing cleansing ritual, opening the door for the Yokai Monsters to punish the wicked.
Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
1968
Behind the camera
6.8Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
1971
6.8Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
1971
7.0Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.
Zatoichi and the Fugitives
1968
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Date sōdō: Haha goten
1954
NRA seafaring man who hates women and a barmaid who hates men… drawn together and torn apart by a strange twist of fate… a melodrama of passion and intensity.
Jōen no hatoba
1951
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zoku suna-e jubaku: Yukijorō
1953
6.6A greedy developer, in league with a corrupt Shrine Magistrate, brutally tries to drive people out of a tenement building and destroy the shrine in back. But he makes the fatal mistake of hosting a 100 Ghost Stories ceremony without the closing cleansing ritual, opening the door for the Yokai Monsters to punish the wicked.
Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
1968
6.5A giant stone statue comes to life to protect the residents of a small town against the depradations of an evil warlord.
Daimajin
1966
6.7Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.
Adventures of Zatoichi
1964
No synopsis available yet.
Suna-e jubaku
1953
6.9Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.
Zatoichi on the Road
1963
7.0Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. He is befriended by Omiyo, who had the same wet-nurse as Zatoichi. He also encounters a boyhood friend, Shinbei, who is now wealthy and appears not to remember Zatoichi. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers' debts, but is, in reality, manipulating the ownership of a now valuable rock quarry. Zatoichi learns of the subterfuge and confronts his old friend, who has a score of yakuza swordsmen backing his play.
Zatoichi's Conspiracy
1973
6.4In feudal Japan, gangsters chase a young girl who might testify against their boss. When the gangsters murder the girl's grandfather on sacred ground, the door is opened for the Yokai Monsters to step in.
Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts
1969
4.3As a child, Okin the one-armed one-eyed swordswoman was disfigured by Lord Daizen-dayu, who was after her family's most treasured possession, the famed Drenched Swallow sword. As an adult, she has become a skilled swordswoman and lives a carefree life with her adopted family. One day, Okin saves a girl from a group of yakuza, and in doing so, gets involved in a grand conspiracy involving religious leaders, government officials, the yakuza and Lord Daizen-dayu, the man who killed her father and mutilated her body...
Lefty Fencer
1969
NRA handsome man and a beautiful woman who seek to restore the Toyotomi clan by taking in the orphaned Princess Tsuru.
Furisode kyōjo
1952
6.2A decapitation at the hands of the shogun's monstrous misbegotten son kicks off the action and draws nomadic Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) into more sword-fighting adventures when he's blamed for the beheading. Meanwhile, the head-chopper's mother is busy knocking off the shogun's lawful heirs to secure the shogunate for her son.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 3: Full Circle Killing
1964
7.4Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.
Zatoichi's Cane Sword
1967
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Haha koiboshi
1949
6.4Sixth film in the series. A little boy who just wants to be a carpenter is at the center of a plot that might topple -- or save -- a mighty Clan, and while the swords of some angry samurai may not cause Kyoshiro much trouble, the deadly wiles of two women may be more difficult to survive!
Sleepy Eyes of Death 6: Sword of Satan
1965
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Kai nusumadara kumo
1954
NRA blind little girl searches for her mother.
Haha no hitomi
1953
NRA mysterious Komusō monk suddenly appears to stand up to the yakuza who are tormenting innocent townspeople.
Komusō yashiki
1950
NRA mysterious Komusō monk suddenly appears to stand up to the yakuza who are tormenting innocent townspeople.
Komusō yashiki
1950
A late-night murder, a kidnapping… and a thrilling tale of the legendary “Cndor” in action as he takes on a counterfeit currency ring operating deep beneath the metropolis.
Condor
1950
NR1962 Japanese movie
Kumoemon to sono tsuma
1962
7.0One murky night, Soetsu, a blind acupuncturist and money lender, calls on Shinzaemon Fukami, a Hatamoto samurai, to collect some money. But Fukami is too busy having an affair with a maid and curtly tells Soetsu to ask Sawano, his wife, for the money. As they have no money, Sawano interprets her husband's words as telling her to give herself to Soetsu in lieu of payment. However, Fukami catches them in the act and kills them both. Snatching up Soetsu's money bag with 30 ryo in it, he then asks two ruffians, to sink the bodies in a marsh. From what follows, it seems as if the spirits of Soetsu and Sawano are still hovering on earth in anguish and anger. For soon afterwards, Fukami is found dead by his own hand and Osono, Soetsu's younger daughter, suddenly disappears from home.
Ghost of Kasane Swamp
1970
6.4The titular "tarantula" is a murderous woman who, along with the brother who is in love with her, kill without warrant because they are wealthy & above the law. Kyoshiro the homeless masterless wandering samurai has nothing to lose, & no scruples anyway, so can reproach even the powerful with ease. He is thus, for all that he has broad streaks of villainy all his own, a champion of the people by default.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 11: In the Spider's Lair
1968
NRA fierce battle between a vicious train criminal and a police officer.
Tetsuro no dankon
1950
A mysterious beauty with two faces on the magical island of the distant sea of mystery. Sequel to Hagetaka (1950).
Pirate Island
1950
7.3The first film in the 2 part series about Ryuzen, a renegade martial-arts priest who, in addition to breaking all the commandments against sex and gambling, opens his own gambling den in direct defiance of the local yakuza boss. Exciting action and a twisty plot this movie breaks new barriers in Japanese cinema. Katsu Shintaro is superb in one of his better non-Zato Ichi roles as he fights off the advances of a love-lorn woman and risks his life to defeat the powerful gambling boss who has a stranglehold on the town.
The Hoodlum Priest
1967
7.01961 Japanese movie
晴小袖
1961
NRMedical student Makoto Tachibana took advantage of his summer break to visit Sado Island, the hometown of his best friend Tago. Tago was the son of the owner of a ryokan in Ryotsu Port on Sado, and his younger sister, the aspiring singer Chieko, had also come to the island. The day Makoto arrived on the island was the opening ceremony for the Ryōtsu River, and the entire town was buzzing with the Okesa dance. That night, Chieko introduced Makoto to Fumiyo, whom she had noticed on the ferry and had been curious about. Although Makoto and Fumiyo were attracted to each other, her grandfather and older brother vehemently opposed their relationship.
Sado Island Elegy
1952
NRA ronin sets out on a journey with his horse, with no particular destination in mind. Re-released in 1953.
Ouma wa nanajū nanaman seki
1944
NRThe film is set in Kyoto at the end of the Tokugawa period, when there is a fierce clash between the supporters of the Emperor, who are fighting for the overthrow of the Shogunate, and the Shinsengumi squad, who are chasing them. Suddenly, a mysterious masked warrior appears, on a white horse he is called Tengu from Mount Kurama and he opposes the Shinsengumi.
New Tengu from Mount Kurama
1965
NROn a snowy winter night, Soetsu, a blind masseur, and his daughter Shiga visit the nobleman Shinzaemon Fukami. Drunk, he assaults Shiga, and when Soetsu tries to protect her, he’s brutally killed. Later, Soetsu's body is thrown into a swamp, but his spirit returns to haunt Shinzaemon, driving him inevitably toward death.
Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Ghost of Kasane Swamp
1979
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Izayoi kaidō
1951
NRAs the map fragments are united, conspiracies tighten around the magistrate’s clan. Storms, uprisings and betrayals lead the young hero to the secret of the “Tower of Otena” and a final reckoning.
Shin Shokoku Monogatari: Otena no To Part 2
1956
6.5Follows the murder of a money-lending masseur by an impoverished samurai. The slain masseur's daughter will also fall victim to his curse, so that she can become empowered as an agent of her father's vengeance.
Ghost Story: Depth of Kasane
1960
NRThe film adaptation of the famous tragic love story of the young samurai Shirai Gonpachi and the beautiful courtesan Komurasaki.
Shirai Gonpachi
1956
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Young Swordsman
1954
