Acting

Akira Sera

Born 1912-10-14 · Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Acting credits

Ikiru poster
8.3

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Ikiru

1952

Varan the Unbelievable poster
4.4

In an effort to find an economic means of purifying salt water, a joint U.S.-Japanese military command is set up on an isolated Japanese island where an unusual salt water lake is situated. However, their purifying experiments arouse the prehistoric monster Obaki from hibernation at the lake's bottom, and it proceeds to attack Japan. Although made by a U.S. independent film company, this film was based on a Japanese Toho monster film of 1958, "Daikaiju Varan", from which all of the monster effects scenes and a few incidental dramatic shots were edited into it.

Varan the Unbelievable

1962

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs poster
8.0

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

1960

Floating Clouds poster
7.7

A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Japanese typist and promises to leave his wife. He doesn't and after the war, she turns up and the affair resumes.

Floating Clouds

1955

Female Detective Story: S.O.S  Woman poster
10.0

A private detective and a colleague investigate a man for a wealthy young lady.

Female Detective Story: S.O.S Woman

1958

Desperado Outpost poster
6.3

When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother's killer.

Desperado Outpost

1959

The Castle of Sand poster
7.4

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

The Castle of Sand

1974

The Revolt poster
7.0

When a young soldier is killed while trying to prevent his younger sister, Kaoru, from being sold into a life of prostitution, his commander, Col. Miyagi, tries to honor his dying wish to rescue his sister. Upon finding Kaoru at a party working as a geisha and later rescuing her from committing suicide, Col. Miyagi allows her to move in with him. Over time, the two grow close, but in spite of Kaoru's growing feelings for him, Col. Miyagi is unable to bring himself to return her love. On the night of his deployment to war, Col. Miyagi finally admits his feelings for Kaoru, but will they ever be able to enjoy a peaceful life together now that a very violent and bloody military revolt is under way...

The Revolt

1980

Hito mo arukeba poster
9.0

A drummer falls for a pawnbroker's daughter.

Hito mo arukeba

1960

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto poster
7.2

Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto

1954

Echo Mountain poster
9.0

An Ishiro Honda film.

Echo Mountain

1959

The H-Man poster
5.8

When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works.

The H-Man

1958

The Three Treasures poster
5.5

The legend of the birth of Shintoism. In Fourth Century Japan, the Emperor's son Ouso expects to succeed his father on the throne, but Otomo, the Emperor's vassal, prefers Ouso's stepbrother, and conspires to have Ouso die on a dangerous mission he has contrived. But Ouso prevails in the mission and returns to his father's castle under a new name, Prince Yamato Takeru. Otomo plots to have the Prince sent into even greater danger, but Otomo is unaware that the gods have favored the Prince and the outcome is far from what any of them expected.

The Three Treasures

1959

The Happicoat Comedian poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Happicoat Comedian

1960

I Saw the Killer poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

I Saw the Killer

1956

The Big Boss poster
6.5

Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must kill his brother if he wants to survive.

The Big Boss

1959

Aishu no machi ni kiri ga furu poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Aishu no machi ni kiri ga furu

1956

Elephant from "Zoo Story" poster
NR

The fifth film in the Toho Diamond series, following "The Hateful Thing." Based on the true story of "Zoo Story" by author Fukuda Saburo. During the Tokyo air raids of World War II, Zen-san, an elephant keeper at Ueno Zoo, is faced with the heartbreaking task of euthanizing Tonki, a beloved elephant, due to food shortages and wartime pressures. Unable to carry out the order, Zen-san secretly feeds Tonki, but the elephant is ultimately shot by the military police. The film poignantly captures Zen-san’s despair and the devastation of war, as he reflects on his powerlessness amid the chaos.

Elephant from "Zoo Story"

1957

Invisible Man poster
6.7

When an invisible man is run down by a car it’s up to an eager young reporter and a strange clown to bring a dangerous gang to justice.

Invisible Man

1954

The Secret of the Telegian poster
6.5

Men are being murdered by a killer who uses a matter-transmitting device to locate his victims.

The Secret of the Telegian

1960

Beyond The Stars poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Beyond The Stars

1956

The Last Gunfight poster
6.2

Japanese police detective Saburo Fujioka is suspected of corruption, demoted, and sent to the city of Kojin. Kojin is the scene of fierce fighting between rival gangs. Fujioka is assigned to investigate the death of the wife of gangster Tetsuo Maruyama of the Kozuka gang, probably at the hands of one of the Oka gang. During a gang gunfight, Maruyama is rescued by Detective Fujioka and the two become friends. But Maruyama insists on avenging his wife's murder, even if it means conflict with his new friend.

The Last Gunfight

1960

The Man Who Came to Port poster
10.0

An Ishiro Honda film.

The Man Who Came to Port

1952

The Eagle of the Pacific poster
7.8

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.

The Eagle of the Pacific

1953