Sadao Nakajima

Love's Twisting Path (2019)

Set in Kyoto in the last days of the Edo Period, the bloody conflict continues between local feudal domains, which aim to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Shogun's police and city patrol. Tajuro Kiyokawa, once the master of the sword but now a dep ...

Chambara: The Art of Japanese Swordplay (2015)

Veteran director Nakajima Sadao examines the appeal, background, context and transition of chambara, or period sword-fighting and samurai films, in Kyoto. Not only interviews with actors, choreographers and critiques are included, but the director orchestr ...

Yakuza Ladies: Revenge (2000)

13th installment of the 16-film franchise. ...

Yakuza Ladies: Red Murder (1999)

11th installment of the 16-film franchise. ...

No Mercy Dog (1998)

Yakuza Ladies: Decision (1998)

Kasuga's husband gets arrested for a murder of his beloved protégé. She and her family investigate and find out he was trapped by greedy Nagoshi, the boss of their rival yakuza family. She has to make a decision to revenge Nagoshi. ...

Yakuza Ladies: Dangerous Gamble (1996)

The wife of a recently deceased yakuza boss is caught in a conflict between the candidates for his succession and must protect her beloved daughter. 9th installment of the 16-film franchise. ...

The Man Who Shot the Don (1994)

Horai serves an 18 year sentence for killing a rival boss, but right before his release he is attacked. ...

Oda Nobunaga (1992)

Among the great 'Warlords' in Japanese history, Oda Nobunaga holds a unique place. In effect, his military success led to the ultimate unification of the country. This historically accurate portrayal of Nobunaga's life and times is highlighted by many of J ...

Yakuza Warfare (1991)

Two childhood friends find themselves caught in the midst of an all-out turf war between rival factions in the yakuza-stained region of Kyushu. ...

Yakuza Ladies Revisited (1991)

The wife of a yakuza lieutenant tries to keep the peace when the clan's heir suddenly dies and a succession conflict threatens to break out. ...

1750 Days of Turbulence (1990)

After the death of previous Boss, a gang war lasts for more than four years. ...

She-Shogun (1990)

The rise to power of the famed Lady Kasuga no Tsubone, who established the 'Ooku' (the women's quarters at Edo castle) and acted as nursemaid to Tokugawa Iemitsu, the future 3rd Shogun is chronicled in this historical drama. Intrigue and suspicion abound a ...

Shogun's Shadow (1989)

A shogun's eldest son must do whatever it takes to survive a series of attempts on his life. He receives much-needed aid from seven warriors who are led by a strong leader. ...

The Boss' Wife (1988)

The widow of a murdered yakuza boss serves jail time for attacking the man she believes killed her husband. After her release, as she is shadowed by a hitman, she returns to thoughts of revenge. ...

My Beloved Is My Husband's Boss?! (1987)

In Jimpachi Kodera's household, young samurai Keishiro Kanie arrives, captivating Jimpachi's wife, Shoko, despite his initially arrogant demeanor. Keishiro introduces himself while Shoko is cleaning, and she recalls her husband mentioning a visitor, reluct ...

Tokyo Bordello (1987)

A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. The owner of the brothel has hopes to make her a great new addition which will attract the richest of customers. But after se ...

Father Avenger (1987)

Master director Sadao Nakajima brings to life the adventures of Shohachi, a ronin (masterless samurai) searching for his father's enemy. O-Tama, the star of a light acrobatics hut in the back mountains of Asakusa, falls in love at first sight with a ronin ...

Countryside Accountant's Government Reform (1987)

Genichiro Okugawa is appointed as the head of accounting in a feudal domain and travels with his servant Gonsuke to the country from Edo. Along the way, they are attacked by masked samurai on a mountain road. Genichiro is saved by Sukezaemon Tsuda, the sup ...

The Seburi Story (1985)

The culturally isolated, nomadic Seburi people of western Japan are the subject of this tragedy about a few of the community's members who especially experience difficulties as modern Japan encroaches on their world. The setting is World War II, and confli ...

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") ...

Theater Of Life (1983)

Adaptation of Shiro Ozaki's novel. ...

Domineering (1982)

When the patriarch of Japan's most powerful yakuza family is shot, his wife is left to pick up the pieces and carry on the legacy. ...

The Blazing Valiant (1981)

Jo has just come back to Japan for the funeral of his parents, who were killed in tribal warfare in Africa where the family had been living throughout most of Jo's life. Once the funeral was over, he missed the boat that was going to take him back home, an ...

Kamikaze, the Adventurer (1981)

An ex-Olympic athlete and a student commit cash robbery. Aki Hoshino, a pre-med student, becomes inspired to steal money the school collected as "special fees" from parents wanting to assure their offspring's' acceptance into the hallowed institution. He f ...

Jun (1980)

Jun has come to Tokyo from his family home, an island which resembles a ship. He works in a machine shop and is attempting to develop a career as a cartoonist in his spare time. When he travels around the town by subway, he has grown into the habit of grop ...

The Shogun Assassins (1979)

This is a film about a real person. Sanada Yukimura fought a war against Tokugawa Ieyasu. ...

Down with The Big Boss (1979)

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

Japanese Godfather: Conclusion (1978)

The three-film saga comes to a conclusion as three leaders of the underworld battle it out to determine who will become Don of Japan. ...

Dog Whistle (1978)

In this crime thriller produced by Toshiro Mifune (who has a supporting role), hard-boiled Shiro Akitsu goes on a relentless search for his abducted 7-year old daughter, with the aid of an Ainu dog summoned by a whistle she gave him. ...

Japanese Godfather: Ambition (1977)

An ambitious Kansai yakuza don moves in on Tokyo using financial and political tactics, sparking conflict with a local criminal association. ...

Japanese Humanity and Justice (1977)

When a mob boss retires under political pressure, his successor and yakuza family are tested to their limits as new alliances and enemies are formed. ...

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. ...

The Three Ginza Rascals (1976)

Three men, all named Masa, join forces to capitalize on each of their unique yet questionable talents against a hyper-competitive Tokyo underworld. ...

The Great Okinawa Yakuza War (1976)

Chiba, looking gnarly, and acting as animalistic as ever, stars alongside Matsukata as violent gangsters battling their way through fight after bloody fight with rival yakuza on the streets of Okinawa. ...

A Savage Beast Goes Mad (1976)

Test driver Hayami loses control of his car and rolls over. His company then learns that he has kept secret that he is visually impaired, and he is fired. Without the prospect of returning to his old job he makes a plan to rob several jewelry stores. A few ...

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. ...

Scoundrel Boss (1975)

Daigoro Koiwa and Katsuo Rokujo, who met by chance, open a recession-resistant funeral business and a urinary treatment business, and put it on track, but each time, they are caught in the ploy of a money lender, Sumitomo Mitsui, who works a scam, and take ...

Company Buggers (1975)

Hiroshi, a small-time racketeer, makes a name for himself extorting vulnerable companies and their directors for financial gain. ...

Shimane Prison Riot (1975)

Japan, 1948: Hiroki Matsukata stars as a man facing a nine year prison sentence. He incites prisoners of Shimane Prison to the biggest riot in jail history. A fighter by heart, he sees a way out of any situation, but will he survive this, the gutsiest ass ...

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. ...

Violent Fraternity (1974)

Set in Shibuya in 1949, this is another film based on real life former yakuza boss Noboru Ando's memoirs. ...

The Scoundler vs. The Viper Brothers (1974)

A crossover between Wakayama's Gokudo and Sugawara Mamushi series. Gokudo runs a restaurant and makes Takuzo Kawatani his kitchen bitch. He tries to do the same for the Mamushi bros. but the boys don't play along, which pisses Gokudo off. Things get worse ...

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. ...

Jeans Blues: No Future (1974)

Hijiriko makes off from the bar she works at with money and a car that isn't hers. Meanwhile, Jiro Katagiri is up to no good with his gangster friends and ends up making off with all their ill-gotten gains, much to their disapproval. The two misfits end up ...

Bohachi Bushido: The Villain (1974)

The Bohachi Clan, the most vile, corrupt organization with ties deep in the Shogunate, have controlled the flesh trade in Japan for generations. When threatened by a competitor, they employ Saburai, a nihilistic ronin on the verge of self destruction. Bloo ...

Tokyo-Seoul-Bangkok Drug Triangle (1973)

A truck driver arrives in Seoul to receive his dead sister's ashes. While there, he discovers the death may not have been an accident after all, and has something to do with international drug smuggling. ...

Girl Boss: Escape From Reform School (1973)

Girl Boss Ruriko and her cellmates escape from a greedy corrupt reform school that's more interested in cheating the government out of money than reformation. Each having their own reasons for escaping, they go their separate ways. With the help of a young ...

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 ...

Aesthetics of a Bullet (1973)

A small time crook who sells rabbits for a living frequently gets himself into trouble with loan sharks and the yakuza. He dreams of becoming a successful big-shot and embarks on the life of a yakuza hitman. ...

Queen of Eros (1973)

Kogarashi Monjiro 2: Secret of Monjiro's Birth (1972)

Monjiro, reunited with his long lost sister, is pursued by a yakuza gang because he killed their boss. He also meets a fellow gambler who idolizes Monjiro. The gambler and Monjiro's sister are pulled into a conspiracy to get to Monjiro, but do things go as ...

The Viper Brothers: 18 Extortion Threats (1972)

Part 4 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. Sugawara tries to overcome a traumatic experience of gettin ...

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 ...

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 Modern Yakuza: Three Decoy Blood Brothers (1971)

When a large crime syndicate seeks to invade Gifu's underworld, three brothers and their yakuza family are the only ones that stand in their way. ...

Twisted Sex (1971)

A look at sex in Japan, that covers underground gay life, transvestites, sex change operations, tattoos, and S&M. What does it mean to live an individualistic life in the modern age? By capturing the seemingly bizarre customs of men in drag and women in me ...

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. ...

Pilgrimage to Japanese Baths (1971)

Ippei was born at the cost of his mother's life. This fact haunts him, he felt a longing for Japan's ancient hot springs and embarked on a journey to find his ideal bath. The pinnacle of baths was the bathhouses with female bathers during the Keicho and Ka ...

The Revelation of a Geisha (1970)

After the bankruptcy of her foster-father's condom factory, Tamae sets out to make a living on her own and ends up working as a geisha at a hot spring resort. After rising in popularity, a climactic sex battle is held to decide who gets to lay claim to her ...

Three Pretty Devils (1970)

A trio of teenage tarts try to earn money through shoplifting and prostitution scams and get into deep trouble. ...

Postwar Secrets (1970)

Everybody's chasing a diamond in Sadao Nakajima's crime/action/drama. It was a based on a novel by Tsusai Sugawara, who was a Japanese writer and political figure campaigning against drugs, prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases. ...

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. ...

The Cross of Vengeance (1969)

Film with Junko Miyazono. ...

Nippon '69: Sexual Curiosity Seeking Zone (1969)

"Orgy Party" A secret apartment in Kansai. Everyone is naked, and while some drink alcohol calmly, five women and seven men intertwine silently or loudly. "Sexual Perverts" A perverted man is chained and whipped. A man and woman, dressed as dogs, drink a w ...

Nunnery Confidential (1968)

Erotic Pinku film showcasing he life of Buddhist nuns during the Edo Period. ...

Code Between Brothers 6 (1967)

Sixth film in the "Kyodai Jingi" series. Three gangsters challenge an underworld group in northern Japan. ...

Shogun and His Mistress 2 (1967)

In the year 1786, Shogun Ieharu Tokugawa selected beautiful Ochisa to be his concubine. It causes other concubines to become very jealous and mean. When the Shogun passes away, his concubines are forced to become nuns, which they are not happy to be. The s ...

The Shogun and His Mistresses (1967)

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

Classmates (1967)

A story of young students trained to become Kamikaze pilots in World War II. ...

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. ...

The Domain: White Blade (1967)

The Domain: White Blade ...

Judo vs. Karate (1966)

A story of friendship between a lone wolf judo expert and a youth. ...

Showdown of Men (1966)

Part one. ...

Yakuza Hooligans (1966)

A bunch of young, angry and penniless misfits are full of great vitality. They aren't quite up to joining the yakuza and execute a variety of petty scams. After being approached by a yakuza and asked to become a spy for them, they are now planning to take ...

Yakuza Vassal (1966)

A young samurai defends townsfolk from evil forces. ...

Flower and Dragon: Duel of the Sea Caves (1966)

The sequel of "Flower and Dragon". Kingoro Tamai founded a family in the port of Wakamatsu. He unites people with his courage, and revolts against the entrepreneur Oki Nakashi, who is teeming with vices. Kingoro and his family are also forced to fight agai ...

True Osaka Grit (1965)

Based on a novel by Kôen Hasegawa ...

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 Tattooed Lord (1965)

The Spying Sorceress (1964)

Second part of the series where sex magic skills of female and Iga ninjas clash over enourmous treasure of the Toyotomi family, discovered in connection with the plot to overthrow the shogunate. ...

Female Ninja Magic (1964)

In Osaka during the Edo period, ruler Sanada Yukimura was in losing position, fearing Toyotomi's blood descendents would end, he impregnates one of five Shinano female ninja with the seed of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in hopes of continuing the bloodline. Princess ...

Giant Rumble (1964)

In this gritty tale of gamblers battling in the samurai era, Okawa Hashizo gives perhaps his greatest performance as a gambler returning to his home town. Swearing allegiance to his fiancée's father, a decent boss, he had taken to the road after a gang fi ...

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws (1964)

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws ...

Mifune: The Last Samurai (2016)

An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. ...

Chambara: The Art of Japanese Swordplay (2015)

Veteran director Nakajima Sadao examines the appeal, background, context and transition of chambara, or period sword-fighting and samurai films, in Kyoto. Not only interviews with actors, choreographers and critiques are included, but the director orchestr ...

Uzumasa Limelight (2014)

Fewer samurai films are being made, and the Uzumasa studio has fallen on hard times. One day, veteran "kirareyaku" (whose job it is to be felled with a sword by a film's star) actor Kamiyama is tasked with teaching sword action techniques to fledgling actr ...

Yakuza Eiga, une histoire du cinéma yakuza (2009)

The history of the Yakuza Eiga at the TOEI studio is roughly outlined. Real Yakuza and also their connections to the movie business are discussed, and many important actors and directors of the genres are interviewed. Former real yakuza boss turned actor N ...