Masaharu Arikawa

Pride (1998)

Based on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East of 1946–48, depicts Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo as a family man who fought to defend Japan and Asia from western colonialism but was ultimately hanged by a vengeful United States. ...

The Unruly Ronin's Journey II (1992)

Formerly a covert spy under the shogunate, ronin Azami Onijuro and his carefree companion, ronin, journeyed along the Kiso Highway. As they approached the Echizen Domain, they encountered a woman named Osode. Recognizing Onijuro's formidable skills, she as ...

Lone Wolf & Child: Assassin on the Road to Hell (1989)

The tale of Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro has come full circle with the greatest sword actor of all time, Wakayama Tomisaburo now playing Lone Wolf's mortal enemy, the evil Lord Yagyu Retsudo, who masterminded Ogami's fall from grace. Brilliant sword acto ...

Yakuza Ladies (1986)

When her crime boss husband is sent to prison, a woman assumes control of one of the most powerful gangs in Japan. ...

The Story of a Man Among Men (1984)

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. ...

Fireflies in the North (1984)

Set in the icy wilderness of Hokkaido during the early days of the Meiji era, where the brutal warden of Kabato Prison terrorizes convicts sentenced to forced labor to build the roads needed to open up the territory. ...

Appassionata (1984)

This story is based on the novel "Jo no mai" by Tomiko Miyao which is based on the life of painter Shōen Uemura (1875–1949), the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. The title refers to the masterpiece bijinga ("picture of a beautiful woman") ...

Odokumiyaku Shushou Kawaite sōrō (1983)

The Shogun's Vault II (1982)

A mysterious thief called "Yami no Kiba" (Fang of Darkness), who sneaks into the residences of the shogunate one after another and steals the shogun's treasures, has been shaking the public authorities. The identity of the thief is Ichibei, a medicine sell ...

Samurai Reincarnation (1981)

After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage. ...

Gate of Youth (1981)

The story of Shinsuke, a young man who lives through a stormy life as a poverty-stricken coal miner. Ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of his life. Shinsuke's father a group leader ...

Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1979)

Two Kyushu based yakuza groups are desperate for domaination of the area. When more powerful yakuza groups get involved in their power struggle, a group of childhood friends, belonging to different yakuza families, are caught in the middle. Lies, deceit, a ...

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

A Japanese geologist discovers that dinosaurs still exist in caves beneath the surface of a volcanic lake. ...

Hokuriku Proxy War (1977)

A Yakuza group from Osaka with dreams of national dominance moves into the snowy Hokuriku region, sparking a bloody turf war with local gangs. ...

Japan's Don (1977)

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

Yakuza Graveyard (1976)

A police investigator cracks down on yakuza business, but once he realizes the police are in negotiations with certain factions, he sides with his own syndicate of choice. ...

Oxen Split Torturing (1976)

Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. The first, during a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with a young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as his ...

Operation Plazma in Osaka (1976)

Amidst Japan's postwar economic boom, yakuza factions in Osaka fight for survival when Japan's largest crime syndicate plans a hostile takeover. ...

Cops vs. Thugs (1975)

When a lucrative waterfront development becomes available, the Kawade gang quickly use their political connections to secure the land. However, the acting boss of the Ohara gang also has his eyes on the property and recruits crooked detective Tokumatsu Kun ...

The Viper Brothers and the Young General (1975)

The last in the series. Sugawara runs into two mahjong cheaters (Ichiro Araki and Mako Midori + sidekick Takuzo Kawatani) whom he takes for friends in need as his naivety prevents him from seeing their true nature. ...

The Rapacious Jailbreaker (1974)

Convicted of murder, Masayuki Ueda is sent to Hiroshima Prison along with his accomplice. But for a man like him, breaking out of prison is easy. ...

The Street Fighter's Last Revenge (1974)

Terry Sugury is hired to recover one of two tapes containing a formula for making heroin for a price of 200 dollars a pound. But he gets double crossed. So he wants the tape back. ...

Code of Wolves (1974)

In gangster-infested 1920s Yokohama, gambler Ishiguro gets in with the local gang -- but his view of life changes after the Great Kanto Earthquake. ...

Third Generation Boss (1974)

Based on Kazuo Taoka's autobiography, this film follows a Kobe gangster as he builds the small Yamaguchi-gumi into Japan's largest criminal clan. ...

A College Girl's Affairs (1974)

1974 Toei movie. ...

The Maizuru Showdown between The Yakuza Brothers (1974)

With a Kansai syndicate vying for Tokyo, one man reunites with his roguish half-brother in the midst of negotiations, when all hell breaks loose. ...

The Tattooed Hitman (1974)

The most dangerous hired gun in Kyushu's underworld has managed to trigger a vicious gang war, and now, there's a contract on his life. Though nobody is more skilled in the arts of dealing death, can the tattooed hitman fend off the entire Japanese mafia a ...

Woman Mobsters (1974)

Bank robbers steal 30 million yen and try to elude the cops and escape with the cash. Of the three, only one manages to avoid capture. Yoko, a female accomplice, is tossed in a women's prison where she meets Yuki, and the two of them manage to escape. Thei ...

The Viper Brothers: Up on 30 Charges (1974)

Part 7 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. Katsuji finds his long lost mother, who is a rich lady of a ...

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics (1974)

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. ...

Yakuza of the Present (1973)

In the roaring 1970s, a man who has left the world of the yakuza to become the owner of a sushi restaurant decides to rise up again when he sees his former family being overrun by a modern yakuza group from the Kansai region. ...

Gokudo of Kamagasaki (1973)

Ninth installment in the "Gokudo" series. Depicts the activities of Shimamura Seikichi and his henchmen. ...

The Kyoto Connection (1973)

Christina, on arriving in Japan, acquaints a Japanese man at the airport who looks like a sap. He takes her to his apartment where he brutally rapes her and keeps her hostage and bound in chains. Christina's alluring beauty eventually enchants the rapist a ...

Sex and Fury (1973)

Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shunosuke, a radical set on murdering prominent p ...

Informal Dress (1972)

The Pledge (1972)

When Omuro Yahachi of the Omuro family is selected as Mutsumikai Soke's successor, the conflict between the Kitakyushu and Wakamatsu begins. ...

Withered Tree, the Adventures of Monjiro (1972)

Kogarashi Monjiro is a lone samurai who agrees to take responsibility for a murder that his friend committed so that he can stay with his dying mother, with the expectation that his friend will confess and get him pardoned once she dies. Monjiro is sentenc ...

Modern Lady Gambler (1972)

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 ...

The Viper Brothers: Prison Gang 13 (1972)

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. ...

A Scarred Life 2: Blood Will Tell (1972)

President of the territorial yakuza organization is being manipulated by a crooked leader in the military and some capitalists Ishikiri. The plan is to get multiple family of the organized crime groups based in Osaka to war it out and order the Shima to th ...

The Man (1971)

Japanese movie. ...

Trials of an Okinawa Village (1971)

A boss from a trucking company has run-ins with evil yakuza during the American occupation of Okinawa. Her hometown is threatened by usurers, gangsters and indirectly by American GI influences. She must battle a yakuza organization with her employees to he ...

The Viper Brothers Rage Again (1971)

Part 2 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. ...

A Scarred Life (1971)

Set in Osaka, during the devastated time of post-war Japan, this is a tale of the yakuza who set about rebuilding after the death of their Oyabun (big boss). Battles erupt as tempers explode as someone seeks to fill the seat of power. ...

The Viper Brothers (1971)

After spending several years in prison, yakuza punk Masa (Bunta Sugawara) and his underling, Katsuji (Tamio Kawachi) are back out in the mean streets of Kobe to make a name for themselves amongst the local yakuza organization. ...

Dagger (1971)

Dagger ...

Bloodiest Flower (1971)

A dramatic captivating tale tells of widowed Tei (Junko Fuji), she has become a coalmine operator and is determined to be successful despite mining being a predominately male domain. Overcoming the natural hardships, a more serious threat to Tei and her mi ...

Silk Hat Boss (1970)

In a strange outfit and full of youthful energy, the explosive Boss Kumatora raises hell like there's no tomorrow. The first movie of a new series starring Wakayama Tomisaburo as everybody's favorite character Boss Kumatora from the Red Peony Gambler serie ...

Kanto Street Peddlers: Royal Temple Duel (1970)

The third film in the Kanto Street Peddlers series. Sugawara still plays the same Kanto street peddler, who this time ventures to Osaka where he defends a blind girl at a street market. The area is targeted by rotten yakuza (Asao Koike and Tatsuo Endo), wh ...

Kanto Street Peddlers (1969)

Kokubu Masaru (Bunta Sugawara) is a hard-headed, hot-tempered member of a street vendor clan run by an elderly boss (Kanjuro Arashi). They come into conflict with an unholy alliance of evil Yakuza bosses (Watanabe, Amatsu and Kawazu). ...

Memoir of Japanese Assassinations (1969)

This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history. ...

Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game (1969)

The third chapter of the 'Red Peony Gambler' saga depicts the happiness and sadness of Red Peony Oryu's life as she seals her femininity with a red peony tattoo and lives in world of chivalry and honor of the yakuza. This story takes place in the middle of ...

Industrial Spy (1968)

Kogure, an industrial spy, is tasked by Sawada, head of the research department of the Nisshin Corporation, to learn the secrets of the design of a new engine invented by a rival company. Kogure manages to obtain the secrets, but Sawada's goal was not the ...

The Marked Man (1968)

A man from Osaka comes up to Tokyo to fight gangsterism. ...

Eleven Samurai (1967)

The lord of the Oshi fief is killed by his trespassing neighbour, the cruel and despotic Nariatsu, son of the former Shogun. After an investigation, the Oshi clan is blamed for what happened and sentenced to be disbanded. Eleven of the best samurai of the ...

The Shogun and His Mistresses (1967)

Three tales of women that resided in the Shogun's harem (o-oku) during the Edo period. ...

Samurai Wolf II (1967)

Kiba Okaminosuke finds himself entangled with a group of prisoners being transported to their executions, one of whom oddly looks exactly like his dead father. There are crooked gold miners, a beautiful girl who is unfortunately a complete lunatic and a do ...

Isshin Tasuke: Edoites Festival (1967)

A costumed film featuring the famous hero of Japanese history, Isshin Tasuke, arranged in the form of a popular song. ...

Eighteen Years in Prison (1967)

A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths cross again as they both fall in love with the same woman. ...

The Domain: White Blade (1967)

The Domain: White Blade ...

Three Gamblers (1967)

Three closely associated gamblers have adventures in Yokohama, Hokkaido, and Macao. Gambling trio endure hardships to rescue Naojiro's family. ...

Golden Ninja (1966)

Just after the Battle of Sekigahara, a pair of children Denji and Kichizo witnessed a team of the defeated forces hide the Toyotomi treasure. When the leader cuts down the rest of the team, a bloodstained footman seems to be the only survivor, and his ima ...

Showdown of Men (1966)

Part one. ...

Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza (1966)

Tokijiro has the unfortunate duty according to the code of the gamblers to join in the fighting when afforded a night's stay and meals at the home of a town boss. Though he dislikes killing, the strength of his swordsmanship will be tested time and time ag ...

The Flower and the Dragon (1965)

A story of manly life and the beauty of conjugal love. A story about a man and a woman establishing a family of longshoreman, centering on their love and struggle. ...

Yakuza G-Men (1965)

34th year of Meiji (1901). Japanese gangster Shuntaro Hibiki is forced to work for the police to find out who robbed a truck full of gold. ...

Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro (1965)

The fifth and final installment with the build up of the epic battle between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. With all the familiar characters making appearances: Otsu (Musashi's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi ...

Chivalrous Nature (1965)

The Gambler (1965)

A crime film released in 1965 ...

Three Yakuza (1965)

A tale of three Yakuza gamblers who traveled Japan during the samurai era living by their wits and sword skills. Told in 3 separate vignettes, each part tells the story of a different drifter's life. Part 1: A man is on the run after killing two Hasshu Off ...

The Third Contest (1965)

Mondonosuke, a young sword student, has a bad dream about his sensei being killed in a duel.Consequently, he quickly returns to his sensei's dojo in Edo, where he has not set foot in three years. ...

The Tattooed Lord (1965)

The Domain: The Naniwa Story (1965)

Second film of Makino's Nihon Kyokakuden series set in Osaka's harbor. The series also known as "The Domain" Each a stand alone film in it's own, none are connected other than starring the famous Ken Takakura as the main Character. This story begins with K ...

Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1965)

In turbulent 16th-century Japan, the leaders of a minor fief have their child taken from them as a political hostage. His mother and his clan endure years of tribulations until he can return. ...

The Third Ninja (1964)

Three Iga ninja are on a hunt for Chidoken, a Takeda ninja sent out to assasinate Lord Nobunaga. ...

Warrior of the Wind (1964)

A suspenseful Ninja fantasy based on Shiba Ryotaro's novel, woven with the mysterious fate and romance of Shinzo and a beautiful Princess who find themselves at the center of an intrigue surrounding the legendary land of Yasurai in the mountains of Kumano. ...

Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple (1964)

In the fourth installment, Musashi's potentially greatest opponent Kojiro jumps in and out of the story at the oddest and most coincidental moments. As his great love Otsu has succumbed to madness. Musashi then sets off to beat the functionaries of a treac ...

13 Assassins (1963)

A sadistic Daimyo (feudal lord) rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring attention to the crime, the matter is quickly hushed up. Not only will there be no punishment, but because the ...

The Kingdom of Jirocho 1 (1963)

The tale of real-life Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho is told from his earliest beginnings as a gambler on the road as he forms his gang and sets out on the path to fame and fortune. One of the smartest and strongest of all the gang bosses, he went on to survi ...

The Coin Thrower Zenigata (1963)

The film tells about a young detective Zenigata Heiji who successfully solves a disgusting and unusual case involving the manufacture of counterfeit money. ...

Blind Wolf (1963)

Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style (1963)

In the third installment of Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, things continue from the 2nd film at the end of battle, where Miyamoto continues on a mission of learning; with the introduction of his arch-rival Sasaki Kojiro; and lastly the large cast of characters ...

Tokaido Fullhouse (1963)

When Kanbe Nagakichi has his turf taken over by Ano-Toku, the father-in-law of his sworn brother Kira Nikichi sets in motion one of the most violent gang battles in Japanese history. Forced by the situation to choose between family and yakuza honor, Nikich ...

Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights (1962)

The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle after three years of intense contemplation and philosophical study and starting on his epic quest to complete ...

While Traveling (1962)

In this film, Hibari plays a dual role as brother and sister. The story involves a journey to Hanagasa for an incognito Lord (Kotaro Satomi) to overthrow an attempted usurpation of his domain, while being harassed by vassals of the usurper (Kensaku Hara). ...

Tekka Wakashū (1962)

1962 Japanese movie ...

A Revengeful Raid (1962)

In this tale of bravery and honor among the roving gamblers of old Japan, the heroic Jirocho, Boss of the Tokaido is called upon to help a young yakuza named Eijiro after he runs afoul of the new samurai officials who have taken over his hometown. Expertly ...

The Yagyu Military Art: One Eyed Swordsman (1962)

In the fourth film in this exciting series, and the first since losing his left eye, Yagyu Jubei is charged again with the task of protecting the Yagyu Secret Scrolls. The two scrolls are held in separate locations to assure their safety. Within them there ...

Drunken Sword (1962)

Tetsunosuke, an eccentric doctor and an owner of a fencing school, takes aim against corrupt authorities. ...

Otoko dokyō no ayame kasa (1962)

1962 Japanese movie ...

Kisaragi Sword (1962)

The story concerns the efforts of seven master swordsman who join together to protect the new inexperienced Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune from the evil plans of the Owari Clan's corrupt Lord. It's a colorful bunch, a drunk samurai, a master thief, a sword inst ...

Yagyu Chronicles 3: The Valley of Outlaws (1961)

This time, sword-saint Yagyu Jubei battles the evil corruption in Akizuki Village, with the help of his friend, a samurai named Matashichiro. This spaghetti western style action swordplay film is exciting and dynamic from start to finish! One-eyed master o ...

Fine Man (1961)

A young son of a master of the Kuwana clan gets disowned for his rebellious behavior. After he goes from the mountains to the ocean defeating the evil, he becomes a fine man. ...