Kazuo Miyagawa

The Dancer (1989)

Based on a semi-autobiographical story by Ogai Mori, about a Japanese medical student who goes to Berlin to study in the 1880s and falls in love with a German ballet dancer. ...

Gonza the Spearman (1986)

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokugawa Period, a time in which appearances are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan ...

MacArthur's Children (1984)

In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation's defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops. ...

The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1981)

A bunraku puppet drama of the courtesan Ohatsu and her lover, Tokubei, a soy-sauce merchant whose fortunes have gone awry through the perfidy of a trusted associate. For Tokubei, suicide is the only honorable act left; for Ohatsu, it is the only emotionall ...

Island of the Evil Spirits (1981)

Famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi follows a dying man's words to an enigmatic island, where he meets beautiful twin sisters and tragic events unfold. ...

Ballad of Orin (1977)

A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her. ...

Akumyo: Notorious Dragon (1974)

About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family business. Instead he supports himself by arranging cockfights. He becomes ex-geisha Okinu's patron and lover, and f ...

Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973)

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He shows inadequate respect to the treasurer, who wants him dead. ...

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)

Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei. ...

The Fearless Avenger (1972)

Thirsting for revenge, Jokichi rashly attempts to assassinate the evil Chogoro but ends up being captured by yakuza. His life is spared by Boss Juzaburo, in order that the harmony of an important commemoration not be further disturbed. Though now even more ...

The Trail of Blood (1972)

Can a sinful man change and find peace? It's unlikely in gang-plagued Japan. Jokichi of Mikogami, a drifter (and hired sword), goes straight after protecting a woman in distress: they marry, have a son, and Jokichi pursues his father's craft. After three y ...

Silence (1971)

Two Jesuit priests encounter persecution when they travel to Japan in the 17th century to spread Christianity and search for their mentor. ...

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970)

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, b ...

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)

Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it's become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss's bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of ...

The Magoichi Saga (1969)

Lord Oda Nobunaga gains control of nearly all of Japan and tries to enlist the aid of Magoichi and his 3.000 gunners. ...

Devil's Temple (1969)

An abandoned temple in the mountains outside of the old capital city of Kyoto is the scene of a fated meeting between a traveling priest, two women, and a vicious killer. Bloody violence erupts whenever strangers approach the temple. Can the traveling prie ...

The Funeral Racket (1968)

The film portrays a satirical view of today's heartless money-oriented society. ...

Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968)

Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official. ...

A Killer's Key (1967)

A lone wolf assassin, masquerading as a traditional dance instructor named Nitta, is called in to avert a potential financial scandal that threatens to engulf a powerful yakuza group with ties to influential figures in the political establishment. ...

Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967)

When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free. ...

A Certain Killer (1967)

A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with. ...

The Little Runaway (1966)

During a Soviet circus tour in Japan, a small street musician, Ken, meets a clown, Yuri Nikulin. Upon learning that his sick father is being treated in the Soviet Union, Ken sets off in search of him. The friendship of the great clown and the boy continues ...

Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966)

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 bli ...

Irezumi (1966)

Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas f ...

Tokyo Olympiad (1965)

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive events. Highlights include an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and the final mar ...

Bloody Shuriken (1965)

Ronin samurai Ibuki-san enters a town and sells his skills to the warring families. He falls in love with the beautiful horse stable owner but like all heroes, cannot stay. ...

The Life of a Chivalrous Man in Suruga: Broken Swords (1964)

The second film in the "Suruga yukyoden" series, in which Shintaro Katsu plays Jirocho Shimizu. The film features Omasa, Komasa, Ocho, who will become Jirocho's wife, as well as other members of his future family. There is a particularly great swordfight n ...

The Money Dance (1964)

Machida (Shintaro Katsu) is in constant trouble because of his instincts to do right every time, even when it endangers his life. A gang hires him for his "forceful personality," and assigns him to kill evil people, a president of a loan company and a drug ...

Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964)

Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay his respects at the grave of Kichizo, a man he killed two years ago. When some tax money is stolen while in transit to the governor he is accused and sets out to find the money and clear his name. ...

Bamboo Doll of Echizen (1963)

Kisuke, a young bamboo worker marries Tomoe, a courtesan who was once involved with Kisuke's late father. ...

Rabble Tactics (1963)

The warlords overrun the country while the farmers are starving, and forced to become soldiers to keep the wolf from the door. The farmers are recruited in groups of fifteen. In Yaju's village, there are only twelve men, so they press Oto, who looks more ...

The Third Will (1963)

A story about a wealthy family and the greed and selfishness of three daughters and relatives, after the passing of their old father. ...

The Broken Commandment (1962)

Ushimatsu's father told him never to reveal his lower-caste heritage; years later, he now contemplates confiding in an activist fighting against such discrimination. ...

Bad Reputation Returns (1961)

This is the 2nd in a series of films called The Akumyō (悪名, "bad name"). The series consists of seventeen yakuza films starring Shintaro Katsu and Jiro Tamiya, produced between 1960 and 1974. A remake and a direct-to-video sequel starring Kōji Matob ...

Tough Guy (1961)

Asakichi beats a ganster, Sada, in a physical fight, leading to recognition by Sada's clan boss. When Kotoito, the geisha Asakichi is in love with, is kidnapped by a rival clan and sold to a a house of pleasure, Asakichi and Sada set out to rescue her. ...

The Gambler's Code (1961)

One of Japan's most popular stories is the tale of Kutsukake Tokijiro, a traveling gambler who finds that he must take care of the wife and child of a yakuza he had been forced by the code of the gamblers to fight man to man. In a brilliant performance fro ...

Yojimbo (1961)

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and ...

Marriageable Age (1961)

The three Matsunami sisters navigate adulthood and the complex social pressures of finding a husband while living under their traditional father's roof. As they balance their personal desires against the family's obsession with status, their search for "ma ...

Her Brother (1960)

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother. ...

Scarred Yosaburo (1960)

The film depicts the scarring of Yosaburo at the hands of yakuza thugs who catch him with mistress of the gang boss. Despite the physical and emotional scars he now carries with him, Yosaburo falls for a young noblewoman. The rest of the film follows the t ...

Bonchi (1960)

Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give them an heiress for the family business, he stands by helplessly as his wife is thrown out of the house for ...

A Woman's Testament (1960)

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male cli ...

Floating Weeds (1959)

A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences. ...

Odd Obsession (1959)

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the introduction of his daughter's lover to his wife. ...

The Woman and the Pirate (1959)

In the early Edo period, among the pirate ships that roamed the seas near Ryukyu and Korea, there was a ship called the Sueyoshi, led by a man known as Misaki Shogoro, who was infamous for his devilish cruelty. Shogoro had a rule: he would kill all the men ...

The Gay Masquerade (1958)

The film won 1959 Blue Ribbon Awards for best actor Raizo Ichikawa and for best cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa. The film also won 1959 Kinema Junpo Award for best actor Raizo Ichikawa. ...

Conflagration (1958)

Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological distress. ...

Akado Suzunosuke vs. the Birdman with 3 Eyes (1958)

Suzunosuke faces perhaps his wildest foes. This evil gang is lead by a one-eyed birdman and other demonic creatures. ...

Princess Tsuki (1958)

Night Butterflies (1957)

A traditional bar mistress in Kyoto clashes with her Tokyo rival. ...

Love of the Princess (1957)

A story of aristocratic star-crossed love. ...

Undercurrent (1956)

In Kyoto a young kimono maker with traditional ideas gets involved with a married professor. ...

Street of Shame (1956)

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law. ...

Taira Clan Saga (1955)

Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei. ...

The Second Son (1955)

Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954)

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another. ...

The Woman in the Rumor (1954)

After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much. ...

Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho. ...

A Geisha (1953)

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people. ...

Yokubo (1953)

Nobuko Otowa won the Blue Ribbon for the Best Actress for this movie among others. ...

Ugetsu (1953)

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady ...

Reminiscence (1953)

Kazuo Miyagawa's prizewinning black-and-white cinematography draws out the moral shadings of Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata's 1952 novel Thousand Cranes, a quietly devastating story of a young man, orphaned during the war, who stumbles into a passionate ...

Sisters of Nishijin (1952)

A family of Kyoto textile workers struggles after tragedy. ...

Miss Oyu (1951)

Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective marriage partner, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu convinces Shinnosuke and Shizu ...

A Spectacular Murder (1951)

When a theater producer Kurato is murdered in the audience on opening night, Inspector Kawano investigates the prop pistols used on stage, but all were fake. That same night, a dancer in the troupe went missing and a police officer was shot with the same c ...

Rashomon (1950)

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife. ...

Song of Love (1950)

In postwar Japan, a new teacher, Miyamoto Yasuko, is discovered by her estranged daughter, Fukuoka Shōko, at a high school. As Yasuko confronts her past, she navigates themes of forgiveness, identity, and motherhood, addressing social taboos of the time. ...

That Night's Adventure (1948)

Children Hand in Hand (1948)

A small-town boy with a learning disability attempts to fit in with his classmates. ...

The Devil's toast (1947)

Retired police inspector Kurusu is vacationing at a seaside hotel when one night he hears a child's screaming...but there are no children staying in the hotel. But when an ex-actress who is also a guest there mentions an unsolved murder that occurred on th ...

The Woman Who Opens the Door (1946)

Thus the Divine Wind Blows (1944)

Set in the late thirteenth century, this film depicts the defense of southern Japan led by the Kono clan against the Mongol invasion in 1281. ...

Wrestling-Ring Festival (1944)

According to Donal Richie in The Japanese Film it was meant to do for sumo wrestling what Kurosawa had done for judo in Sanshiro sugata, and that Kurosawa wrote it for Daiei after "drinking up all [his] money" (from his autobiography). ...

The Life of Matsu the Untamed (1943)

Matsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy, Toshio, and is hired by the boy's parents. ...

Singing Lovebirds (1939)

An umbrella maker with a shopping addiction finds himself in dire straits when his debts force him to consider selling his attractive, desirable daughter to a suitor she doesn't love. ...

Taiko's Rising in the World (1938)

Taikoki is a legendary biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose to the office of taikō. And the story of this film is about the rise to power of Toyotomi Hideyoshi from a farmer's son. ...

The World of Kazuo Miyagawa (2012)

Renowned cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa collaborated with a number of great Japanese filmmakers, including Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Kon Ichikawa, and Yasujiro Ozu. The following excerpts from the Japanese television documentary THE WORLD OF KAZUO M ...

Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975)

In 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the life and career of his friend and mentor Mizoguchi. ...