Kunie Tanaka

Acting

Kunie Tanaka

Born — Died

1932-11-23 — 2021-03-24

Place of birth

Toki, Gifu, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

75 titles

Kunie Tanaka (田中 邦衛 Tanaka Kunie, November 23, 1932 - March 24, 2021) was a Japanese actor. He had his first notable role in 1960 as a thug in Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, and worked with the director again on Sanjuro. Tanaka is well known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. He also appeared in Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan. He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993. He appeared as the lecherous Shinjiro Ishiyama, nicknamed Aodaishō, the antagonist of the hero, played by Yūzō Kayama, in all of the Wakadaishō series of films. The character Kizaru,…

Known for

From the Northern Country poster
8.9

Narrated by the son, Jun, the tale follows the lives of two children torn between their parents and their parents' divorce. Jun, and his sister Hotaru, grow and mature - willingly and sometimes forcibly - in the harsh climates of Hokkaido, learning the ways of life through their interaction with the folk of Furano.

From the Northern Country

1981

Kwaidan poster
7.7

Taking 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

Submersion of Japan poster
NR

In this TV series of the hit 1973 film, Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes shake Japan. Firestorms burn beautiful Japanese cities to the ground. A weather survey group discovers that the Japanese Archipelago is moving towards the Japanese Trench, which if left to continue on its collision course, would bring the whole island of Japan under the sea!

Submersion of Japan

1974

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity poster
8.2

Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

1959

Sanjuro poster
7.9

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Sanjuro

1962

The Bad Sleep Well poster
7.7

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

The Bad Sleep Well

1960

Film credits

1990s · 6 titles

1980s · 6 titles

May Love Be Restored poster
NR

A tragic love story between a prostitute and a young trainee monk.

May Love Be Restored

1980

Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy poster
5.7

Travel into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager; Yusaku, the exam-addled college student; Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip; Kentaro, her bratty son; Akemi, the boozy bar hostess; and the mooching and peeping Mr. Yotsuya.

Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy

1986

Take Me Out to the Snowland poster
8.3

Fumio Yano is an unassuming young businessman in the ski wear line. His own skiing ability is close to professional level, and he assists a former world champion, Tayama, on the sales team. Fumio meets and falls in love with Yu, a young secretary, but initially finds it hard to express his true feelings for her. A St Valentine's Day fashion show provides an unexpected backdrop for crisis resolution, and a mad scramble ensues to beat the clock and make it to a neighboring ski resort in time for the press and photographers. A pack of chocolate is a symbol of true love...

Take Me Out to the Snowland

1987

Station poster
6.2

A detective goes out of his way to crack the case of a serial killer who specialises in murdering police officers.

Station

1981

The Shootout poster
7.0

A run-in with the police once again puts three former reformatory inmates on the wrong side of the law. Their situation becomes increasingly desperate as events spin out of control, culminating in an audacious hijack at sea...

The Shootout

1982

Choji Snack Bar poster
7.2

Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.

Choji Snack Bar

1983

1970s · 27 titles

Manhunt poster
6.2

A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.

Manhunt

1976

Dodes'ka-den poster
7.1

On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father and son designing a dream house, a young woman brutalized at home, drunks, schemers, and saints of small kindnesses. Kurosawa crafts a ragged mosaic of hardship, fantasy, and flickers of grace that keep people moving forward.

Dodes'ka-den

1970

The Demon poster
6.6

When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.

The Demon

1978

Graveyard of Honor poster
6.7

A self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the yakuza but quickly loses his self-control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.

Graveyard of Honor

1975

The Bullet Train poster
6.9

A Japanese bullet train is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if the train slows below 80 km/h, unless a ransom is paid. Police race to find the bombers so the train crew can learn how to defuse the bomb.

The Bullet Train

1975

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics poster
7.0

As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic Games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics

1974

Tora-san, the Good Samaritan poster
8.0

After a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.

Tora-san, the Good Samaritan

1971

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode poster
7.2

While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode

1974

Great Jailbreak poster
7.0

A group of prisoners attempts to break the Abashiri prison. This film can be considered a sequel to the Abashiri Bangaichi series, written and directed by Ishii Teruo. The friendship between two men on death row, a fleeting love affair with a traveling dancer and a deadly battle with the real culprit who has hunted him down filmed over a long period of time on location in Hokkaido.

Great Jailbreak

1975

The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi poster
6.4

Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.

The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi

1979

Blood Type: Blue poster
6.1

UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.

Blood Type: Blue

1978

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

Battles Without Honor and Humanity poster
7.3

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity

1973

Ghost Festival in Zenjin Village poster
NR

Inspector Uno and college student Yuko Nagai are honored guests at an isolated village where 300 million yen mysteriously went missing and a deadly festival is celebrated every three years...

Ghost Festival in Zenjin Village

1979

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival poster
6.8

The blind masseuse is targeted by the leader of a powerful yakuza group while also fending off a jealous husband bent on revenge. Zatoichi tours Edo's underground via a rousing onsen fight scene, gambling houses and the gender-bending character of Umeji, before a final, flame-filled conflagration.

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival

1970

Never Give Up poster
6.4

Special forces officer Ajisawa leaves his paramilitary group to take care of his newly-adopted daughter, Yoriko: the sole survival of a bloodbath for which he is responsible. Years later, Ajisawa is forced to return to the scene of the tragedy for his new job as a claims adjuster where he is subsequently arrested for his suspected involvement. But the threat of jail time is the least of his worries as his former organization comes gunning for him.

Never Give Up

1978

The Battle of Okinawa poster
7.8

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

The Battle of Okinawa

1971

Japan's Don poster
7.2

A yakuza leader must balance his violent tactics necessary for the rough streets of 1960s Tokyo with the domestic needs of his daughters.

Japan's Don

1977

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War poster
7.0

Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru Uchimoto.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War

1973

Summer Soldiers poster
6.7

During 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

The Inferno poster
6.9

Hell manifests itself through the sins, shame and desires of an upper class rural family and a mother's grief from beyond the grave.

The Inferno

1979

Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron poster
6.1

Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.

Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron

1978

Village of Eight Gravestones poster
7.0

The heir to a family fortune discovers that a curse has been placed on it, put there centuries before by a band of samurai warriors. Adaptation of novel by Seishi Yokomizo

Village of Eight Gravestones

1977

Down with The Big Boss poster
8.0

In pre-war Japan, two members of a large yakuza syndicate instigate a turf war that embroils the highest echelons of Tokyo's underworld.

Down with The Big Boss

1979

The Truck Rascals Go to The North poster
9.0

Eighth movie in the Torakku Yarō series

The Truck Rascals Go to The North

1978

Sugata Sanshiro poster
10.0

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself.

Sugata Sanshiro

1977

Dynamite Don-Don poster
7.8

Yakuza Gang War is at the height in North Kyūshū Area in the summer of 1950, particularly between the Okagen Group and the rising Hashiden Gang. Now with the mediation/interference of the Americans, they decide to settle it in a peaceful, *democratic* way, that is, to settle it with a baseball game. Now, with its money and power, The Hashiden group soon recruits a group of gamblers known to be good at baseball from the whole country. So, what is the Okagen Gumi gonna do?

Dynamite Don-Don

1978

1960s · 18 titles

Kwaidan poster
7.7

Taking 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

Sanjuro poster
7.9

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Sanjuro

1962

The Bad Sleep Well poster
7.7

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

The Bad Sleep Well

1960

The Face of Another poster
7.8

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

The Face of Another

1966

Goyokin poster
7.5

A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.

Goyokin

1969

Pitfall poster
7.3

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

Pitfall

1962

Tenchu! poster
7.0

A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage.

Tenchu!

1969

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

The Sword of Doom poster
7.8

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

The Sword of Doom

1966

Abashiri Prison poster
7.2

Abashiri Prison is located in the coldest place in Japan. Two men, handcuffed together have escaped from the prison, one a yakuza, the other a petty criminal, and although they hate each other they must work together if they are to evade capture in this harshest of climates.

Abashiri Prison

1965

The Human Bullet poster
6.0

A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.

The Human Bullet

1968

The Last Judgment poster
8.3

Driven by greed and a desire for his cousin's wife, Jiro orchestrates a complex frame-up to have his cousin arrested for murder.

The Last Judgment

1965

Big Shots Die at Dawn poster
6.4

Grown up son arrives home to learn his father, the newly elected mayor, has been assassinated. So he journeys down a path to find the assassin and gets involved with two opposing yakuza gangs.

Big Shots Die at Dawn

1961

The Inheritance poster
7.3

A dying businessman intends to will ¥200 million to his three illegitimate children, but his associates scheme to take advantage of the situation.

The Inheritance

1962

The Threat poster
7.3

Two escaped criminals who kidnapped a baby break into the house of Misawa, a man who works in an advertising agency and lives quietly with his family. They will force him to collect the child's ransom for them.

The Threat

1966

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

Hymn to a Tired Man poster
8.2

During WWII, Zensaku, middle-aged and deaf in one ear, learns that his son has fallen for the daughter of a war officer responsible for the maiming.

Hymn to a Tired Man

1968

The Sun's Burial poster
6.5

In Osaka's slum, capricious folks without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the trading of ID cards and blood.

The Sun's Burial

1960

1950s · 2 titles

Series credits

From the Northern Country poster
8.9

Narrated by the son, Jun, the tale follows the lives of two children torn between their parents and their parents' divorce. Jun, and his sister Hotaru, grow and mature - willingly and sometimes forcibly - in the harsh climates of Hokkaido, learning the ways of life through their interaction with the folk of Furano.

From the Northern Country

1981

Submersion of Japan poster
NR

In this TV series of the hit 1973 film, Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes shake Japan. Firestorms burn beautiful Japanese cities to the ground. A weather survey group discovers that the Japanese Archipelago is moving towards the Japanese Trench, which if left to continue on its collision course, would bring the whole island of Japan under the sea!

Submersion of Japan

1974

Rice Curry poster
NR

Set in the majestic Canadian wilderness, the drama depicts the adolescence and love of three young men who were on a high school baseball team together.

Rice Curry

1986

The Shin Hasegawa Series poster
NR

From the Taisho era to the Showa 30s, known as the father of popular literature who left many masterpieces and was also a teacher of Shotaro Ikebana and Yumie Hiraiwa, this omnibus work was produced based on the works of Shin Hasegawa and broadcasted from 1972 to 1973 with a total of 30 episodes.

The Shin Hasegawa Series

1972

Older brother poster
NR

The series tells about the life of construction foreman Eiji and his sister. Both have a love interest: she has a boyfriend, and he has a young girl. The sister is thinking about marriage, and the brother has too strict principles to recklessly rush into the abyss of passion.

Older brother

1977

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

世界で一番熱い夏

2001

The Nagasaki Crime Chronicles poster
NR

The drama depicts in the late Edo period in Nagasaki, Hiramatsu takes up Nagasaki bugyō`s head post. He likes alcohol and women. Furthermore He is always willing to accept a bribe from villains so they consider it is easy to manipulate him. But he is just pretending to be idiot and he kills villains who escape justice despite their crimes.

The Nagasaki Crime Chronicles

1975

Hacchōbori Torimono Banashi poster
NR

A jidaieki drama where a hard-nosed doshin, Shinpachiro Kariya, takes on difficult cases with exquisite teamwork under the supervision of a young magistrate.

Hacchōbori Torimono Banashi

1993

No artwork available
NR

Shingo Katori stars as Kuramatsu, a manager- foreman for Kumagaya Construction. In order to solve an acute energy shortage in the Kansai region, Kansai Electric Power decided to built a massive hydroelectric dam on the upper Kurobe River. However, the project requires the drilling of a huge tunnel that some, including Kuramatsu, believe is impossible.

The Sun in Kurobe

2009

The Password is Courage poster
NR

The story takes place in a small rural village surrounded by beautiful nature. However, it is about to be destroyed by a waste disposal plant. Something must be done. The villagers rise up. They get a lawyer from Tokyo to help fight alongside them. Only that he's not a real lawyer but a washed-up actor (Yakusho Kōji), who once played a lawyer on TV.

The Password is Courage

2000

Aoki Ookami Narukichiomoase no Shougai poster
NR

Tv special that follows the life of Genghis Khan. Adapted from a novel by Yasushi Inoue.

Aoki Ookami Narukichiomoase no Shougai

1980

Private Detective Dobu poster
NR

Dobu, an unconventional detective, teams up with Yoriki Samon to solve crimes in Yaoyacho, Edo, showcasing their courage and detective skills.

Private Detective Dobu

1991

Baian the Assassin poster
10.0

During the day, Dr. Baian is the friendly and trusted village acupuncturist. At night, he becomes Baian, the assassin. Using his acupuncture needles as weapons, he takes on deadly assignments, killing evildoers with an undeniable skill and precision.

Baian the Assassin

1991

Dazzling Cops poster
NR

Action detective show

Dazzling Cops

1977

The Saturday Tiger poster
NR

Corporate consultant serves as a private detective for businesses, solving cases.

The Saturday Tiger

1966