Toshio Masuda

Toshio Masuda (born October 5, 1927 in Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. He developed a reputation as a consistent box office hit-maker. Over the course of five decades, 16 of his films made the yearly top ten lists at the Japanese box office—a second place record in the industry. Between 1958 and 1968 he directed 52 films for the Nikkatsu Company. He was their top director of action films and worked with the company's top stars, including Yujiro Ishihara with whom he made 25 films. After the breakdown of the studio system, he moved on to a succession of big-budget movies including the American-Japanese co-production Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and the science fiction epic Catastrophe 1999: The Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974). He worked on such anime productions as the Space Battleship Yamato series. His corporate drama Company Funeral (1989) earned him a Japanese Academy Award nomination and wins at the Blue Ribbon Awards and Mainichi Film Awards. In Japan, his films are well remembered by fans and called genre landmarks by critics. He remains little known abroad save for rare exceptions of his post-Nikkatsu work such as Tora! Tora! Tora!. However, a number of his films were screened in a 2005 Nikkatsu Action Cinema retrospective in Italy and a few have since made their way to the United States. At the age of 81, he is currently prepping to helm Uchū Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu hen (2009). Description above from the Wikipedia article Toshio Masuda, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Works

Father and Son Hawk

The life of Katsu Kaishū and his father.

Release Date:1994-01-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:11

Date Masamune: The One-Eyed Dragon

Biopic of Date Masamune. Young Masamune upon learning of the death of Nobunaga decides that he is the man to fill those sainted clogs. The fastest way to do this is to subjugate the neighboring warlords. This is an action that results in the death of his father and younger brother and not the least brings him to the attention of Hideyoshi and not in a good way either but intervention by the regents nephew Hidetsugu and Maeda Toshiie save his neck although he is forced to move to a smaller fief and send his wife to Kyoto as hostage. Although curbed of his lofty ambitions his friendship with Hidetsugu again lands him in hot water when Ishida Mitsunari arranges the downfall of the unfortunate Hidetsugu, Toshiie and Ieyasu save his neck and the flamboyant young warlord is sent to Korea where he wins great honors. Upon his return Hideyoshi is dead and Masamune allies himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu thus assuring the survival of the Date family. An amazing story from beginning to the end!

Release Date:1993-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Heavenly Sin

Elite lawyer Ryoko enlists the help of a foreign mafia in rescuing her son from a criminal who holds grudge against her.

Release Date:1992-10-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

The Unruly Ronin's Journey II

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 asked for his help as she was on her way to Owari. Osode, the daughter of the second-ranking retainer of the Katsuyama Domain, carried a blood-sealed letter that served as evidence of a conspiracy involving the assassination of the domain lord by the Deputy Chief and the lord's younger brother. Onijuro's group becomes a target and is chased after by the chief retainer's top enforcer.

Release Date:1992-03-30

Department:Directing

Job:Director

三国志

Release Date:1992-01-24

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Vote Count:1

Tokugawa Ieyasu: The Conqueror of Japan

The life story of Japan’s greatest leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose shogunate ruled the nation for almost 300 years has never been told like this before. From the early days as a supporter of Imagawa Yoshimoto, then on to his days with Oda Nobunaga, leading to his wars against and ultimate victory over the Toyotomi to become shogun is a fascinating tale of his military genius coupled with a native intelligence that allowed him to become the last of the great warlords and ultimately the leader of the nation. With great performances from an all-star cast featuring names like Kitaoji Kinya and Takahashi Hideki this is history come to life on the screen.

Release Date:1992-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Sure Death 5

Fifth movie in the Hissatsu (Sure Death!) Series. At the behest of a corrupt bureaucrat, a mysterious band of murderers wage a bloody battle against three deadly assassins.

Release Date:1991-12-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Great Shogunate Battle

The early days of the Tokugawa shogunate are brought to light in this exciting historical tale of broken vows and violent swordplay. In an ambush the heir to the shogun’s seat is brutally cut down by those who hope to install the emperor’s 5th son as military leader of the nation.

Release Date:1991-12-14

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:4

Dohten

Jubei is a Japanese merchant who learns tricks from Western merchants to get ahead in the game.

Release Date:1991-01-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Minamoto Yoshitsune

One evening, when the monk Saito Musashibo Benkei was luring for his sword number 1000 at Gojo bridge, Shanao (later Yoshitsune), a young man of small and fragile stature passed by. He wore a nice sword and played the flute.

Release Date:1990-12-31

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Miyamoto Musashi

On September 15, Keicho, a young man, Takezo, whose life was ruined by the war in Sekigahara wandered around like a wild beast. Only his lover Otsu and the pacifist monk Takuan understood Musashi, who escaped from the hands of the Ochimusha hunters and turned against everyone. Then, a crisis loomed over Takezo as he fled into the mountains. At the same time in the village of Jokyoji in Echizen, the sword prodigy Sasaki Kojiro, in his quest for strength had defeated his own master, Tomita Seigen and got out of the village.

Release Date:1990-01-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:13

Company Executives

A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away.

Release Date:1989-06-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:4

Iemitsu, Hikoza and Isshin Tasuke - A National Crisis: Edo Castle in Danger

Yagyu Jubei, the finest swordsman in the land, is called upon to bare his blade to help Iemitsu keep his post. Meanwhile a fishmonger named Isshin Tasuke who bears an amazing resemblance to Shogun Iemitsu may be called upon to put his life on the line by acting as the Shogun's double. At the same time, the tragic story of Banzuiin Chobei and Mizuno Jurozaemon is unfolding.

Release Date:1989-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

This Story of Love

Life and love stories of stunt men and women.

Release Date:1987-09-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Tokyo Blackout

Based on a science-fiction novel by Sakyo Komatsu. Tokyo is suddenly covered by a dome shaped electromagnetic cloud for an unknown reason and is totally blocked and isolated from other parts of the world. The temperature inside the cloud is slowly increasing. The Soviet Pacific fleet is getting closer. The U.S. is forcing Japan to form a new government. Scientists and research workers outside Tokyo have to race against time to find out how to get through the cloud in order to rescue the 12,000,000+ lives in Tokyo and the fate of the country.

Release Date:1987-01-16

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

Vendetta of Obligation

This is the story of the 47 ronin of the Ako clan who rose up to avenge the brutal death of their beloved master Asano Takumi-no-kami after his failed attack on the vile Lord Kira led to his being ordered to commit ritual suicide in a garden on the grounds of the shogun's palace.

Release Date:1985-12-30

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Odin: Starlight Mutiny

Odin centers around the novice crew of the laser sailing space schooner Starlight as they embark on an historic interstellar test flight. They are intercepted by what seems to be a wrecked spaceship only to find that it contains a lone survivor; a young woman named Sara Cyanbaker. Unknown to the crew at this time, a mechanized space fleet approaches Earth and a scout vessel from that fleet was responsible for the destruction of Sara's ship.

Release Date:1985-08-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:8

Love: Starting on a Journey

A girl suffering from an incurable disease get in a coma, while her boyfriend visit her to the hospital, she visits the beyond.

Release Date:1985-01-26

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:2

Zero

Two young men are recruited into the Japanese air force just before outbreak of WW2 by the test pilot of Japans new super fighter - the Zero. The movie is told in reverse from the point of one of the young men who don't qualify for the pilot training and instead joins the ground crew. It chronicles the entire history of the famous fighter from the first prototype test flights all through the war.

Release Date:1984-08-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:4

L・O・V・I・N・G

Murder case.

Release Date:1983-12-24

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Battle Anthem

The story of Japan's victory in the battle of Tsushima Strait.

Release Date:1983-06-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

Final Yamato

The Galman Empire is destroyed but the planet Galmania is not, by a chance collision of galaxies. The Bolar Federation worlds including Planet Bolar are destroyed. The Yamato, back under the command of Captain Okita, encounters the planet Denguil too late to save its humanoid civilization from being flooded by the water planet Aquarius. The surviving Denguil, a warrior race who believe only the strong should survive, plan to use Aquarius to flood Earth and destroy humanity, in order to create a new home for their race.

Release Date:1983-03-19

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:7

Future War 198X

An American scientist constructs a laser satellite with hopes of preventing any nuclear conflicts from occurring. However, after a fatal error from both the US and the USSR governments, war breaks out and humanity faces a new bloodshed.

Release Date:1982-10-30

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:7

Highteen Boogie

Youth is energy and beauty. Racing gang Sho, Sammy and Shige have their own dream--car-racer, rock and roll and love. Sho falls in love with Momoko but disagreed by his father; Sammy loves rock and roll; Shige dreams of becoming a car-racer though his right fist is injured. As they are giving out their sparks of life, they are also learning the value of life.

Release Date:1982-08-07

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Imperial Japanese Empire

Story of three people, a barber, a Christian and a graduate of the Tokyo Military Academy during the 2nd World War.

Release Date:1982-08-07

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

The Last Days of Planet Earth

In 1853, Gentetsu Nishiyama tells his students that the French prophet Nostaradamus foretells great change for Japan, some of his students revolt, calling his words heresy and his wife flees with a book of Nostradamus’s predictions… In the present day, Dr. Nishiyama has to combat increasingly bizarre goings on which seem all to familiar to the prophet's predictions…

Release Date:1981-04-18

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Battle of Port Arthur: Will Love Die?

An epic of love and death that depicts how soldiers and ordinary people lived and fought during the Russo-Japanese War, when Japan's very existence was at stake in the face of the great power of Russia.

Release Date:1981-01-07

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:8

Port Arthur

Depicts the bloody siege of the fortress of Port Arthur, one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world, during the Russo-Japanese War of (1904 - 1905). In the story dominated the character Lt Takeshi Kogyo (Teruhiko Aoi), teachers, and a reserve officer who became commander of the platoon and later company. At the same time monitors the conduct of the army commander general Nogi (Tatsuya Nakadai), which was commissioned of the emperor Matsuhito (Toshirô Mifune) to the conquest of the fort.

Release Date:1980-08-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:10

Be Forever Yamato

The Black Nebula Empire attacks Earth and threatens to blow up the planet with a bomb they placed on Earth if counter attacked. Earths hopes rest on the Yamato crew as they go to the Black Nebula Planet and try to find a way to difuse the bomb before it's too late.

Release Date:1980-08-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:9

Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage

Time to ease up ... not! Although the Yamato's crew has witnessed the end of the long, hard-fought Comet Empire War, a peaceful future will have to wait. While Dessler gathers together the shattered remnants of his Gamilus Empire, new forces are at work in the universe that could augur in another conflict. Seems the Black Star Empire has invaded Dessler's homeworld and is decimating it, all the while gathering power for its war machine.

Release Date:1979-09-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

Triton of the Sea

5,000 years ago, the Triton Family was living peacefully in Atlantis until the Poseidon Family destroyed them all. Triton, of the Triton Family line, embarks on an adventurous life in the sea fighting the Poseidon Family.

Release Date:1979-07-04

Department:Production

Job:Supervising Producer

Vote Count:4

Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato

The Yamato and her crew face the onslaught of the Comet Empire, a civilization from the Andromeda Galaxy who seek to conquer Earth, led by Prince Zordar. They have harnessed a comet and is using its terrible power to unleash destruction upon its rivals and inferiors... which are in fact everyone. The Space Battleship Yamato heads back into action. But this time, it shall not return, and much of the Yamato crew have signed on for their last voyage.

Release Date:1978-07-14

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:8

High Seas Hijack

Terrorists hijack an oil tanker and threaten to blow it up unless Japan meets their demands.

Release Date:1977-10-20

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1

Space Battleship Yamato

When vile aliens known as the Gamilons wreak nuclear havoc on Earth, a group of survivors refit the Japanese battleship Yamato for intergalactic travel and set off on a mission to retrieve a neutralizer that will eradicate the radiation from Earth's atmosphere.

Release Date:1977-08-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:9

Human Revolution II

Dramatic story of one man trying to make a difference.

Release Date:1976-06-19

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Conflagration

Global South guerrillas hijack the Japanese oil tanker Arabian Light, threatening to blow it up in Tokyo Bay, unless the Cabinet complies with an economically devastating ultimatum.

Release Date:1975-07-12

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:2

My Blood is the Blood of Others

Release Date:1974-10-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Prophecies of Nostradamus

Professor Nishiyama, after studying and interpreting the prophecies of Nostradamus, realizes that the end of the world is at hand. Unfortunately, nobody listens to him until it is too late. As the effects of mankind's tampering of the earth - radioactive smog clouds, hideously mutated animals, destruction of the ozone layer - rage out of control, the world leaders hurtle blindly toward the final confrontation. The film sparked controversy in Japan and was subsequently pulled out of circulation, with no official video release of the uncut film.

Release Date:1974-08-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Voice

Vote Count:15

The Human Revolution

Release Date:1973-09-08

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Lone Wolf and Cub

Ogami Itto is a master swordsman who holds a position of high power in the Tokugawa Shogunate. Highly trusted by the Shogun, he serves as the official decapitator, assisting lords and samurai who have been ordered by the Shogun to commit seppuku. One day, Itto’s wife and members of his household are brutally murdered by a clan seeking to avenge their lord’s execution, which had been carried out by Itto. In the wake of the attack, two items are left in Itto’s home: his unhurt infant son, Daigoro, and a symbol meant to signify Itto’s betrayal of the Shogun. Disgraced by the false symbol, Itto is labeled a traitor and forced to forfeit his position. He becomes a ronin, wandering the country with his son, searching for the men who killed his wife, seeking to clear his name and avenge her death.

Release Date:1973-04-08

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:7

Shadow Hunters 2: Echo of Destiny

The great Daimyo enlists the aid of the three Shadow Hunters in ensuring the delivery of an illegal cannon in this sequel to Toshio Masuda's bloody adaptation of the manga by Takao Saito. Despite the Shadow Hunters's remarkable skill, this mission is no walk in the park, and in order to survive they must face a relentless army of ninjas and female warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to disrupt the delivery and claim the cannon for themselves.

Release Date:1972-10-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

Shadow Hunters

Set during the declining years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Shadow Hunters details the questionably noble exploits of three ronin who act as "Shadow Hunters". These three ronin are not your normal ornery ruffians who are looking for a drink, a broad and someone to jab a sword into, but are in fact former samurai who, rather than follow their destroyed fiefs and murdered masters into death via seppuku, have dedicated their combined sword prowess to stopping the government from raping its daimyos for valuable resources.

Release Date:1972-06-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:4

Sword and Flower

Masuda Toshio film starring Watari Tetsuya and Mori Masayuki, about a lone-wolf type (Watari) seeking love and defending the honor of an elderly widower (Mori).

Release Date:1972-04-14

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Chase That Man

The story of the desperate struggle between the police and a large crime syndicate.

Release Date:1972-02-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Farewell to the Code

Release Date:1971-09-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Spartan Education

In a match where professional baseball referee Yuzo Tagami was observing a young referee, Hara, a player who got angry at the indecisive judge, knocked the referee down. Tagami lived with his wife and five children, but when he returned home, Hara, who had been suspended for a month, wanted to receive Tagami's Subaruta training.

Release Date:1970-08-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Kanto Street Peddlers Clan: Violent Loyalty

The second film in the Kanto Street Peddlers Clan series starring Bunta Sugawara.

Release Date:1970-03-05

Department:Crew

Job:Cinematography

Tora! Tora! Tora!

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

Release Date:1970-01-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:546

The Cleanup

A real all-star cast turns out for this modern yakuza yarn.

Release Date:1969-12-31

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Fatal Raid

Kazama and three others defeated Yoshie Sangyo, but the Nishio group was disbanded due to public pressure, and the territory belonged to the Hirata group.

Release Date:1969-08-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Exiled to Hell

It is the end of the Taisho era (1912-1926), and at the Hanazuki-tei theatre in Asakusa, the famous performance of storyteller Koiso Kikuji and performer Kataoka Koshin is reaching its climax when the Tawaraya family interferes... This is an entertaining action film bursting with righteousness and humanity, centred on men who try to live righteously against a corrupt boss who preys on the performers.

Release Date:1969-01-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Monument to the Girl's Corps

In 1943, critical developments in the Pacific War have placed Japan at a disadvantage, although the fiery breaths of war hadn't yet reached Okinawa Normal School for women. Nothing seemed the least bit out of the ordinary, as Kazuko and her friends enjoyed a day of sports. A year later the war takes a devastating turn, as US forces plan an amphibious attack known as "Operation Iceberg" on the Ryukyu island.

Release Date:1968-09-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Man of a Stormy Era

The early years of the Showa period were turbulent times for Japan. The country suffered financial crisis and famine, women worked under intolerable employment conditions, and political corruption was a major issue. Out of fear that the great nation would soon fall, a group of young patriotic men gathered to lay out plans to assassinate the crooked politicians. One of these young terrorists was Shinsuke Kusaka. He receives orders to kill the Prime Minister.

Release Date:1968-06-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Song of my Life

Release Date:1968-05-29

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Outlaw: Gangster VIP

Goro had grown up in the yakuza world. As an active member of the Mizuhara family crime syndicate, he expressed his loyalty by always putting himself in the forefront of every battle. Violence never bothered him. However, after being sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing a rival gang’s hit man, he becomes disenchanted with the Yakuza life style. Goro is determined to start anew, but karma catches up. His two closest friends are murdered by his ex-boss. He is left with two options: to kill or be killed.

Release Date:1968-01-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:11

Velvet Hustler

A young yakuza hitman named Goro does a job and needs to hideout away from Tokyo for a while. He hangs out with loose women and hard men and always manages to stay one step ahead of the law. In his exile, he comes under suspicion for a murder and meets the girlfriend of the murdered man. They develop a strange bond while unbeknown to Goro, another hitman is after him for the job he did in Tokyo.

Release Date:1967-10-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

The Man of Victory

Release Date:1967-02-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Challenge for Glory

A young ex-boxer has become a successful businessman, running his various enterprises with his best friend, another boxer whom he accidentally injured in a match. When the latter is found dead, he cannot believe it is suicide and decides to investigate. Sure enough, a group of gangsters is behind his death and, resenting his intrusion, try to ruin him and to pin the murder of his young friend's fiancee on him. At the last minute he shoots it out with the villains and emerges with his reputation intact.

Release Date:1966-10-18

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Stormy Man

A remake of the 1957 classic "Man Who Raised a Storm" with Watari Tetsuya in the title role.

Release Date:1966-10-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Kill the Night Rose

An entertaining but silly and fairly forgettable action film with much tongue-in cheek James Bond influence

Release Date:1966-06-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Blood Shed

Ginjiro was born to a family of nobility, though he yearned for freedom. To earn this freedom, he affiliates himself with the worst of the worst. Swearing his allegiance to the notorious Kuroiwa crime syndicate, the yakuza family known for its thirst for blood, Ginjiro equips for battle. When a rival family raids their gambling parlor, he slashes a masked henchman. Unbeknown to him, his victim was no henchman.

Release Date:1966-04-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Showdown in the Red Valley

Ken Watanabe, a young man from Tokyo, comes to the great plains of Rumo, Hokkaido to see his hometown with his own eyes. Ken, who was entangled in this land's boss Samejima and collapsed, was rescued by Shingo Kazama, a mountain man who works at the quarry. Samejima, who doesn't like Shingo, tries to interfere with Shingo's work...

Release Date:1965-12-29

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Why Are We Young?

After ten years of study in the US, Nonomura Kensuke returns to Japan to be an English teacher at a local high school. Kensuke's nontraditional teaching style stirs up the school, but the students gradually accept him.

Release Date:1965-07-14

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Taking the Castle

The Sengoku Era was coming to an end. The monopoly of the ever powerful shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, was at a near. Only one man was brave enough to stand in Ieyasu's way - A lone wolf samurai by the name of Kagekatsu Uesugi. Inspired by Uesugi's courage to revolt, a young samurai warrior, Touzou Kuruma decides to join the fight. Their target: the Tamonyama Castle.

Release Date:1965-03-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Jinsei Gekijo

1964 Nikkatsu Theater of Life adaptation.

Release Date:1964-02-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Red Handkerchief

A hot-shot detective in Yokohama kills a witness during a drug investigation. He flees to the countryside and evades his past for several years, only to return to find the woman he loved married to his former partner. He searches for answers to his troubled past, knowing that his inevitable doomed fate is more or less sealed.

Release Date:1964-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

Prince of Wolves

As the post-war turmoil continued, Take, the boss of the waifs, stole the money of US soldiers and lived with friends. They were like children of wolves. By chance, they were found by and became a members of a yakuza family. Five years later, Take dominated the port town as a young boss.

Release Date:1963-10-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Hana to ryu

Hana to ryu: Toshio Masuda directed movie

Release Date:1962-12-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Hitoribotchi no futari daga

1962 Japanese movie

Release Date:1962-11-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

零戦黒雲一家

Release Date:1962-08-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Keep Your Chin Up

Kawanishi Kyu and Tomoda Ryoji, two waifs, are inmates of a Reform School. One night, the boys succeed in a mass escape and split up. Kyu and Ryoji hear the sirens shrieking behind them and panic. Kyu pretends he has been hit by a small truck and Ryoji demands that they be taken to a hospital, little dreaming that Nagai, the driver, is the official guardian of juveniles. The next morning the two boys hear a light knock, and Nagai's daughter, Noriko enters, but surprise is changed to fear as they see her father approaching with Kume, the Juvenile Officer. Their one thought is escape but Kyu discovers his leg is stiff and it pains him to move. In the excitement, he had not realized he had really been hit by the truck. He sends Ryoji away while he waits alone for Officer Kume. Nagai takes Kyu under his wing, while Ryoji finds himself again in the hard-boiled world.

Release Date:1962-03-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Otoko to otoko no ikiru machi

1962 Japanese movie

Release Date:1962-01-14

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Lost in the Sun

Release Date:1961-08-16

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Where the Horizon Meets the Sun

Release Date:1961-07-15

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Hotbed of Crime

Released in the UK as Hotbed of Crime

Release Date:1961-03-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Man at the Bullfight

An unprecedented, extravagant, passionate film set in Spain and Southern Europe. It depicts the passionate Yujiro who risks his life to invite bullfighting.

Release Date:1960-12-27

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Day of Youth

At Tokyo Gakuen University, Takema, son of Tatsunosuke, chief of the Waku gang, is a freshman who wishes to prepare himself for a better life away from gang activities despite the wishes of his father who wants him to assist strengthen the gang against the Kawano group. Takema's classmate, Akiko, is the daughter of Eiko who operates a restaurant, and through her he obtains a lodging in the house of Shiu, a dancing mistress. The students enjoy their life, but most have their troubles. Sakamoto works as a laborer on the docks to help pay for his schooling, and Akiko worries over the relationship between her mother and Sakurai, a corrupt politician, suspected to be involved in graft over jet aircraft.

Release Date:1960-04-29

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Poem of the Blue Star

Might Guy Akira's unique action drama depicts the bizarre fate of a young doctor who vows to avenge his girlfriend, who was shot by a yakuza on a whim!

Release Date:1960-01-31

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Sky Is Mine

Release Date:1959-11-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

A Man Explodes

Kensaku Muro and his father manage a farm in Sakudaira at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains. One day Kensuke saves a suicidal woman, Fukiko Uzu, who jumps into a waterfall. Having injured his eyes in the process, he is brought to Tokyo for medical treatment. In Tokyo, Kensaku visits his mother Kaneko who left her son years ago. She now owns an exclusive club and has a son, Isao, with the president of Kobe Concern. Isao plots to steal Kensuke's farm as part of a land development scheme with Fukiko's husband. Without knowing they are blood related, their conflict over the farm intensifies.

Release Date:1959-04-28

Department:Directing

Job:Director

We Live Today

In a fictional mining city in northern Kanto, a Tokyo drifter named Shiro (Ishihara Yūjirō), caught in a conflict between two transportation companies, plays the role of both the good and bad guy.

Release Date:1959-03-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Perfect Game

College students come up with a scam to rob a gambling house. When it comes time to collect, the money isn't there, leading the young men into even more serious crime.

Release Date:1958-11-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:6

Red Pier

Shortly after arriving in Kobe, "Jiro the Lefty", a killer with a natural talent, witnesses a man die in a crane accident which turns out to be a cover-up for a murder. Jiro soon finds himself on the run, tailed by a determined cop.

Release Date:1958-09-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:4

Rusty Knife

Udaka is a new, post-war city where corruption has already taken hold. A persistent district attorney wants to arrest and convict Katsumata, a laughing, self-confident thug. The D.A. gets an anonymous letter about the suicide five years' before of a city council member. Evidence about the case leads the D.A. to Tachibana, struggling to go straight after involvement with the mob and a prison sentence for killing the man responsible for the rape and suicide of his fiancée. One of Tachibana's friends is Keiko, the daughter of the dead councilman and the ward of another powerful official. How do these stories connect?

Release Date:1958-03-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:14

The Eagle and the Hawk

In a warehouse area at night, a drunk chief engineer is stabbed to death by someone who whistles. After the break of dawn, two seamen join the crew of a rusty cargo ship Kaiyo Maru. One is a troublemaker with bad attitudes, Senkichi Nomura, who pursues an enemy in order to take revenge for his father's death. The other is Keizo Sasaki, a buff, eagle-eyed man on board for a certain mission.

Release Date:1957-09-29

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:7

The Champion

Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date. (source: Nikkatsu International)

Release Date:1957-05-01

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:4

Dancing Sisters

It’s been five years since her husband had passed away. Fuyuko lives in the quiet suburbs, in a small but loving home with her three beautiful daughters. Haruko, the eldest, is the lead vocalist in a band. Natsuko is the conscientious type, who spends her days in ballet classes beautifying herself. The youngest of the three, Akiko is a bookworm who found her niche in philosophy. Although the sisters may appear to have nothing in common, there is one thing they all agree on; "Mom needs a new husband".

Release Date:1957-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Lunar Eclipse

A unique and controversial film directed by Umeji Inoue, based on the original story by Shintaro Ishihara, which depicts the image of a group of young people in the agony of mistrust, love and hate with a powerful touch.

Release Date:1956-12-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Nikoyon monogatari

Japanese drama film.

Release Date:1956-09-11

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

The Burmese Harp

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

Release Date:1956-01-21

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:153

Evil Reward

After finishing his sentence, Ryosuke Ogiwara, who left the prison gate, got into a car that was sent by his wife's cell and Kenmochi detective of the Metropolitan Police Department, but the real Kenmochi detective arrived a few minutes later. The corpse of the bunch went up in the moat near Akasaka, and the Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1 was colored.

Release Date:1956-01-08

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

The Heart

In the dying months of the Meiji era, a sympathetic student befriends a married couple, but soon realizes they share a curiously strained relationship stemming from an unknown incident in their past.

Release Date:1955-08-31

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:13