Tatsuya Nakadai
Birthday: Born in 1932-12-13 in Tokyo, Japan
Deathday: Alive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代 達矢 Nakadai Tatsuya, born Motohisa Nakadai December 13, 1932) is a Japanese leading film actor. He became a star after he was discovered working as a Tokyo shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the early 1950s. He became the favorite leading man of internationally-acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa after a well publicized fallout between Kurosawa and the legendary Toshirō Mifune. Beginning in the late 1950s, he worked with a number of Japan's best-known filmmakers, starring or co-starring in five Kurosawa films, along with significant films made by Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shiro Toyoda (Portrait of Hell) and Kon Ichikawa (Enjo and Odd Obsession). Notably, his long-term collaboration with Masaki Kobayashi invites comparison to the working relationship between Akira Kurosawa and Toshirō Mifune. Nakadai was featured in 11 Kobayashi films including the The Human Condition trilogy, Harakiri, Samurai Rebellion and Kwaidan. The Thick-Walled Room marked Nakadai's acting debut. His next role was a little noticed and uncredited one in Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai where he appears for a few seconds as a samurai wandering about town. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tatsuya Nakadai, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Credits
新・平家物語
Character: Taira no Kiyomori
Set at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era ...
罪人の嘘
Character: Kenzo Haneda
Serious legal thriller starring Hideaki Ito which depicts the glory and the darkness of an infamous and highly paid lawyer....
風林火山
Character:
Fūrin Kazan was the 46th NHK Taiga drama beginning on January 7, 2007. It was aired throughout 2007. The four characters from left to right are wind, woods, fire, and mountain. The title is a reference to the war banner used by Takeda Shingen, which in turn was taken from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. It means "Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire and Immovable as a Mountain."...
世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ
Character: Matsumoto Kentaro
"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for t...
大地の子
Character:
...
着ながし奉行
Character:
Koheita, a newly appointed magistrate, never shows his face in the magistrate's office, instead spending his time in the 'Horisoto', a den of evil where anything goes, from theft to prostitution to murder. However, this man is about to clean up the city in an unconventional way!...
樅ノ木は残った 乱心
Character:
A human drama based on the "Date Riots"....
風車の浜吉捕物綴
Character:
Nezu no Hamakichi used to be a renowned detective. He had lost his job and been banished from Edo after he was arrested for some reasons. Back in Edo for the first time in 5 years, he has just sold toys. This is a story that Hamakichi resolves difficult incidents....
砂の器
Character: 今西栄太郎
Two police investigate the death of a corpse found in a train yard....
Movie Credits
Kwaidan
Character: Minokichi (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
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....
Sanjuro
Character: Hanbei Muroto
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." 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....
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
Character: Kaji
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police....
Ran
Character: Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power....
Kagemusha
Character: Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord....
Yojimbo
Character: Unosuke, gunfighter
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 sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men....
Hachiko
Character: Shujiro Ueno
The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death....
Samurai Rebellion
Character: Tatewaki Asano
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back....
High and Low
Character: Chief Detective Tokura
In the midst of an attempt to take over his company, a powerhouse executive is hit with a huge ransom demand when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake....
Phoenix
Character:
Emi Ikushima, a star actress in the Roses, is half-hearted, but she wasn't disappointed by the news of her father Enmy's sudden death, and she performed enthusiastically on the stage that night, attracting a crowded audience....
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
Character: Kaji
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines....
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
Character: Kaji
Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division....
The Wolves
Character: Seji Iwahashi
After going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, Seji Iwahashi (Tatsuya Nakadai) gets released early -- only to find that his former gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, how long will it be before the bloodshed begins anew? Set in 1926 Japan, this serpentine crime thriller from director Hideo Gosha also stars Toshio Kurosawa and Isao Natsuyagi as Iwahashi's closest ally....
Harakiri
Character: Hanshiro Tsugumo
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, an...
The Face of Another
Character: Mr. Okuyama
A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality....
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Character: Kenichi Komatsu
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older....
Tenchu!
Character: Hanpei Takechi
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....
Odd Obsession
Character: Kimura
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....
13 Assassins
Character:
In between the original 1963 13 ASSASSINS film and the 2010 remake by Miike Takashi, Fuji TV produced a version for TV. Starring Nakadai Tatsuya and Natsuyagi Isao, with strong support from Tanba Tetsuro and Tanaka Ken, this is the ultimate tale of samurai justice carried out in a historical masterpiece. The shogun’s half-brother, Matsudaira Naritsugu has been slated to join the Roju Council of Elders as a senior adviser even though he is criminally insane. His outrageous acts cause one of his t...
Hunter in the Dark
Character: Gomyo Kiyoemon
Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming....
Henkan kōshōjin: Itsuka, Okinawa o torimodosu
Character: Narrator
In 2010, while covering the issue of the "secret agreement" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the author came across diplomatic documents relating to the reversion of Okinawa and was particularly impressed by the handwritten documents of Kazuo Chiba, then Director of the North American First Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, unlike ordinary bureaucrats, "stood out from the crowd and seemed unique". The name of Chiba subsequently appeared in a number of documents left by forme...
Kill!
Character: Genta
A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin....
Magistrate of the Floating World
Character:
Kodaira Mochizuki has come from Edo to keep Horisoto secure....
Wish Upon a Star
Character: Takanori Wakamiya
Japanese TV film...
Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die!
Character: James Elfego
A man, released after a jail term for a crime he did not commit, raises a gang to go after the man who framed him....
Goyokin
Character: Magobei Wakizaka
A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place....
Illusion of Blood
Character: Tamiya Iemon
The ghost of a samurai's wife takes revenge on her husband....
Final Yamato
Character: Narrator
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 ...
Ant Hell War
Character:
The sixth film of the desperado outpost series directed by Takashi Tsuboshima...
Wicked City
Character: Daishu
Taki and his partner Kai is assigned to go after Daishu for selling a drug from the Rapters's world, called 'Happiness' which causes people to evaporate....
The Sword of Doom
Character: Ryunosuke Tsukue
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....
Portrait of Hell
Character: Yoshihide
The story, set in the Heian era, depicts the conflict between Korean painter Yoshihide (Nakadai) and his Japanese patron, the cruel and egotistical daimyo Horikawa (Nakamura). It is based on the 1918 short story Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa....
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival
Character: Ronin
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....
Daughters, Wives and a Mother
Character: Shingo Kuroki
Sanae is left a widow after her prestigious husband dies, but holds the proceeds of a million yen insurance policy. Being childless, her former in-laws have no objection to her return to her own family....
Kurosawa
Character: Self
Documentary on film maker Akira Kurosawa...
Return from the River Kwai
Character: Major Harada
A group of war prisoners has spilt blood, sweat and tears to construct a bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand. Just when the bridge is ready, an American bomber arrives and destroys it. Camp commander Tanaka wants to set an example and orders that some of the prisoners must be executed. Just in time major Harada arrives with orders that the healthiest prisoners must be transported to Japan by train and boat. A treacherous journey since the allied forces keep a close eye on railroads and practi...
Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen
Character: Shindon
Ushinosuke returns to his hometown to become a farmer. Part three (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi’s novel, Oban....
Oban kanketsu hen
Character: Shin Don
Ushinosuke returns to Tokyo with new ambitions. Fourth and final part of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi’s novel, Oban....
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
Character: Kumokiri Nizaemon
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....
Ôban
Character: Shin Don
A young country boy leaves his village for Tokyo, where he begins to work as a stock trader. First part (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi's novel, Oban....
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen
Character: Shin don
Ushinosuke returns broke to his hometown, where everyone believes he's rich and successful. Part two (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi's novel, Oban....
Conflagration
Character: Tokari
Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological distress....
Inn of Evil
Character: Sadashichi
The story takes place in feudal Japan, when any commerce with the rest of the world was strictly prohibited. An idealist suddenly appears in an isolated inn (the one that the title refers to), the head-quarters of a group of smugglers, with stolen money intended to ransom his loved one who is forced to work in a brothel....
Black River
Character: Jo
A university student moves into an apartment building and becomes involved with a waitress. The landlord then attempts to evict the tenants and sell the building through illicit means....
Haru's Journey
Character: Tadao Nakai
Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make....
Blood End
Character: Sentaro
Sentaro is been severely beaten for his defiance of the government and the high taxes during a time of famine. He is befriended by Kada Gentaro, a leader in the Mito Tengu group, which plans to overthrow the shogunate....
The Human Bullet
Character: Narrator
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....
Onimasa: A Japanese Godfather
Character: Masagoro Kiryuin - Onimasa
Onimasa is the egocentric boss of a small yakuza clan on Shikoku Island, whose criminal duties conflict with his self-image as a chivalrous samurai. His struggles with his boss, the Shikoku Godfather, and the tumultuous life of his adopted daughter, Matsue, form the backdrop of this epic tale of justice, obedience, and bloody vengeance....
Immortal Love
Character: Heibei
The year is 1932, and a woman, whose tenant-farmer fiancé is fighting in China, is raped by the landowner's son, who has returned from the war with a crippling injury, and then forced into marriage with him. In four more chapters, presented over three decades, their children undertake their own searches for love, while the parents try to make each other as miserable as possible....
Battle of the Japan Sea
Character: Major Genjiro Akashi
Japan and Russia clash in what comes to be known as the Russo-Japanese War. An attempt by the Japanese fleet and army to take Port Arthur fails, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Sea of Japan. Admiral Heihachiro Togo sends his fleet to confront the Russians, with results which stun both nations. Meanwhile, Major Genjiro Akashi makes secret negotiations with the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia, negotiations that have repercussions far beyond the conflict at hand....
Like Asura
Character: Kotaro Takezawa
The four Takezawa sisters discover that their father has an illegitimate child so they hire a private detective to investigate....
Japan's Tragedy
Character: Fujio Murai
In 2010, 31,560 people ended their own lives and about 20,000 people died or went missing with the earthquake. Unemployed widower Fujio Murai’s family tragedy contains instances of both; diagnosed with lung cancer, Fujio refuses surgery and returns home with his son Yoshio....
East Meets West
Character: Kaishu Katsu
A disgraced warrior planning the murder of a Japanese diplomat, and a ninja in the employ of a navy official are about to land in San Francisco when a band of thieves steal the money the diplomats are carrying. The two set off on a chase across the American west to catch the robbers....
Great evil does not go to sleep: The counterattack of the special investigation unit prosecutor
Character: Yohei Tachibana
Shinichi Tominaga is a prosecutor, newly appointed to the special investigation division for the Tokyo district prosecutors' office. He is currently busy with a case involving suspicious donations to powerful politician Yohei Tachibana. Shinichi then receives a mysterious message from his friend Samon Kondo. His friend is in charge of space development at The The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The message talks about a scandal related to space development. Samon ...
Heat Wave
Character: Tsunejiro Murai
Rin Jyoshima lost her father to death-by-gambling; years later, she's grown up in the Kosugi household and has fallen victim to gambling herself....
I Am a Cat
Character: Kushami
Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat!...
The Battle of Okinawa
Character: Colonel Hiromichi Yahara
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 d...
Kurosawa: The Last Emperor
Character: Self
A profile and history of film director Akira Kurosawa....
The Inheritance
Character: Kikuo Furukawa
A dying businessman intends to will his fortune to his three illegitimate children, whose whereabouts are unknown, so a bevy of lawyers and associates scheme to take advantage of the situation....
Another Way: D-Kikan-Joho
Character:
...
Battle Cry
Character: Hijikata Toshizo
During the military phase of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Sentaro joins a local militia loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate in order to fight Imperial troops. But Sentaro's friendship with a pickpocket, who switches sides whenever it suits his needs, leads to complications that could cost Sentaro his life as they infiltrate enemy lines....
Kin chan no Cinema Jack
Character:
Kin chan no Cinema Jack is an anthology film starring Yuen Biao and produced by Jackie Chan...
The Age of Assassins
Character: Shinji Kikyo
A nerdy young college instructor named Shinji Kikyo returns home one day to find himself the target of a mad assassin. Surviving somewhat miraculously, he fends off other assassins and with the help of reporter Keiko Tsurumaki and car mechanic Bill Otomo, eventually discovering that a "population control" association is really an assassination squad led by Shogo Mizorogi, who has been training patients of a mental asylum to become killers....
The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan
Character: Naojiro Kataoka
An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stifling, moralistic laws....
The Law of Hell
Character:
At a restaurant called Anrakutei on an island is a wasteland surrounded by moat and swamp. The owner Ikuzo manages the restaurant with his daughter. It’s customers who have a dark past have utmost respect for Ikuzo. One day, a half-dead man Tomijiro comes to the restaurant. This is the beginning of Ikuzo’s terrible fight....
The Life and Love of Kenji Miyazawa
Character: Seijiro Miyazawa
A biographical drama depicting the life full of love and suffering of the writer and poet Kenji Miyazawa, who celebrated his 100th birthday in 1996....
Duel at Fort Ezo
Character: Daizennokami Honjo
1864. Samurai Shinbei is sent in a secret mission to Ezo, in the North of Japan, to stop riots of villagers commanded by Jirozaemon. A Russian count's daughter, the village leader's daughter and a secret treasure add up to the adventure....
Love Under the Crucifix
Character: Ukon Takayama
The basic story in Love under the Crucifix is about Ogin, daughter of a tea master, who are both Christians in feudal Japan. Ogin falls in love with a feudal prince, also a Christian who is already married, and that creates problems. Further, when the Shogun bans Christianity, the situation worsens....
Vengeance for Sale
Character: Umetaro Katakura
In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a ‘cool and rambling yakuza’ that has made a business out of helping victims carry out their revenge. When he returns to his hometown to pay a visit to his mother’s grave he meets a deadly ronin who carries a secret which eventually leads him into a vendetta of his own....
After the Rain
Character: Tsuji Gettan
A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers....
Rise, Fair Sun
Character:
Though a farmer and his fellow villagers in this Japanese film resist the effort to turn the unspoiled region in which they live into a land development, they are ultimately unsuccessful....
Until the Break of Dawn
Character: Sadayuki Akiyama
High school student Ayumi is trained by his grandmother to act as a "tsunagu," an intermediary for people who want to reach the dead....
A Dangerous Hero
Character:
A film by Hideo Suzuki....
ふたりの死刑囚
Character: Narrator
...
Murder of the Inugami Clan
Character: Sahei Inugami
Inugami Sahei, who built up the wealth of the Inugami Clan, passes away, leaving a will with Furudate, his legal adviser, for his daughters Matsuko, Takeko and Umeko, all of whom have different mothers, and for their sons, as well as for Nonomiya Tamayo, the granddaughter of a person to whom Sahei feels heavily indebted. The will states that all his assets are inherited by Tamayo alone, on the condition that she marries one of the sons of the daughters. Furudate's assistant learns the content of...
A Boy and Three Mothers
Character: The Engineer
...
Battle Anthem
Character:
The story of Japan's victory in the battle of Tsushima Strait....
Fireflies in the North
Character: Takeshi Tsukigata
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....
The Empty Table
Character: Nobuyuki Kidoji
One year has passed since the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a terrorist kidnapping, which resulted in multiple deaths. Although the parents of all the other perpetrators have either resigned from their professional positions or taken their own lives, Nobuyuki Kidoji tries to remain adamant that he was not responsible for his son's actions....
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS
Character: Matsushita (Matsushita Denki Co.)
A Japanese film that tells the tale of the birth of VHS. It follows Kagatani Shizuo, an electronics employee who rallies his coworkers to save their jobs by increasing sales. They do this by developing the VHS standard. They battle with Sony and their standard and ultimately prevail....
Giovanni's Island
Character: Older Junpei Senou (voice)
In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events....
Safari 5000
Character:
A Japanese racing driver for Nissan named Godai (Yujiro Ishihara) have a rivalry with a French driver named Pierre (Jean-Claude Drouot). Godai is enlisted to race in an annual endurance race, The East African Safari Rally. Peripheral to this is the story concerning Godai's former lover Yuko (Ruriko Asaoka), a fashion designer, and her friend Anna (Emmanuel Riva), who happens to be Pierre's wife....
Isao Takahata and His Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Character: Self
For his first film in fourteen years animation director Isao Takahata embarked on a visually sumptuous adaptation of "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya". A dream project for the director that would hopefully establish the recently formed Ghibli Studio 7, created to meet the demands of a new type of modern animation process. But almost immediately the epic production is faced with difficulties and falls dramatically behind schedule. In this compelling and insightful documentary we follow Isao Takah...
Untamed Woman
Character: Kimura
A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality....
Listen to My Heart
Character: Kyozo Hayami
A radio DJ, Mai starts a new program called, "Love Letters from the Drawer" to assist people who need an extra push to send out their simple yet very important message for their loved ones. The show was inspired by her own experience after reading a letter from her father after he died. Through her radio show, various characters come to light as everyone awaits for a miracle to happen. A miracle which can occur only by them expressing their true feelings... The movie is full of emotions and mus...
Basara: The Princess Goh
Character: Oribe Furuta
Furuta Oribe is ordered to become tea master under Toyotomi Hideyoshi after his teacher Sen no Rikyū, the former tea master, was ordered to commit suicide. Princess Goh, daughter of the lord but adopted by Hideyoshi, is outraged when Rikyū's severed head is thrown in the Nijo River. She sends Usu, Oribe's servant, to retrieve the head and deliver it to Rikyū's adopted daughter....
Belladonna of Sadness
Character: The Devil (voice)
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge....
The Gate of Youth
Character:
Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a kind Korean and a Harley-riding yakuza....
Life Work of Akira Kurosawa
Character: Self
Acclaimed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa has been misunderstood. Despite his public perception an a perfectionist who would clash with anyone in his way, the real Kurosawa was actually a very gentle and soft-spoken director. This documentary depicts the human being Akira Kurosawa on the set of his masterpiece "Ran"....
Seven Samurai
Character: Samurai Wandering through Town (uncredited)
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food....
Making of Ran
Character: Self
Behind the scenes of Akira Kurosawa's Ran, produced by Kurosawa Productions....
The Fir Trees Remain
Character:
The 21-year-old feudal on Sendai, Tsunamune Date, was prohibited to go out in the daytime for his misbehavior during his short stay in Edo. On the next day, his 4 attendants were killed one after another. Sakai Utanokamike, the Rozyu, is turned out to be involved in this scheme, and the aim is to destroy the Date family. Tsunamune's brother Munekatsu Date who is willing to take over the family doesn't know the real purpose of Utanokami and helps him. Munesuku Harada gets to know the whole pictur...
Lone Wolf and Cub: The Final Conflict
Character: Yagyu Retsudo
A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced that he was plotting against the Shogun the Code of Bushido calls for him and his son to commit sepuku. Instead he defies the Shogun's orders and takes up arms against his enemies, becoming an assassin for hire....
The Family
Character: Teppei Manpyo
Set in the post-World War II climate of the 1960s in Kobe, the movie explores the struggle for power within the powerful Manpyo family....
Fort Graveyard
Character: Sakuma
Charged with insubordination for punching a superior, Sergeant Kosugi is shipped to China in the last desperate days of the Second World War. His commander, Captain Sakuma, is vicious and dictatorial. Sakuma places Kosugi in charge of training for combat what once was the military band. Kosugi must somehow prepare his inept soldiers for the rigors of combat....
Queen Bee
Character: Ginzo Daidoji
To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating back several generations must be sorted out once and for all....
Will to Conquer
Character:
The struggles of a low-ranking samurai (Nakamura) coming to terms with the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the end of Japan's feudal age with the 1868 Restoration....
Gaku
Character: Kazama Shin-ichi
...
風車の浜吉捕物綴
Character:
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Port Arthur
Character: Maresuke Nogi
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...
Blood Type: Blue
Character: Minami
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....
Shadow Hunters
Character:
The government in Edo era is suffering from a financial crisis. It hires "Kage" to provoke the collapse of small hans (prefectures). "Kagekari" are people who were hired by Daimyos (mayers of local governments) to resist kage. The young mayor of Suwa Takashiwa, Tadamaru was assaulted by a kage on his way to Edo. Zyubei and Gennnosuke, the Kagekaris, try to carry injured Tadamaru to Edo....
The Ambitious
Character: Shintaro Nakaoka
The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy....
Cash Calls Hell
Character: Oida
Before leaving prison, Oida uncomfortably enters into an agreement with his cell mate: in exchange for a half-share of 30,000,000 yen, he is to assassinate three strangers given to him on a list. However, upon meeting his first potential victim, Oida has second thoughts. Yet, even as he tries to back out, the body count starts climbing. Oida must now try to alert the people on his list of their impending danger, and find out why they are being targeted in the first place....
The Human Trust
Character: Nobuhiro Sasakura
A professional scammer is hired by a wealthy young businessman to find a hidden treasure looted from the Bank of Japan and supposedly stashed away by a group of men after WWII in various locations around the globe. Eventually an assassin is put on their trail....
Three Yakuza
Character:
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 Officials to avenge his Boss. He must make a life or death decision as he is asked to protect a gang from attack. Part 2: A pair of gamblers chased out of a crooked game must fight not only their pursuers, but the ghosts of their pasts as well. ...
The Phoenix
Character: Jingi the Conqueror, leader of the Takamagahara
This extraordinarily complex film is not only a send-up of every samurai film ever made, it is also an extrapolation of the value of life. The Yamatai, represented by Prince Susano-O and elderly advisor Sumuke, hire Yumihiko of Matsuro to hunt the phoenix so that Queen Himiko, sister of Susano-O can have eteranal life....
Solar Eclipse
Character: Yasuo Hoshino, the Chief Cabinet Secretary
When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot....
A. K.
Character: Self
An intimate chronicle of the shooting of Ran (1985), a film directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa....
Through the Mist
Character: (Archive Footage)
A biopic of the late musician Dédé Fortin, the singer, songwriter, and founder of a very popular Québécois band called "Les Colocs"....
The Other Woman
Character: Minami
In "The Other Woman" the children of a distinguished professor find that the woman they have come to regard as their racy and slightly disreputable Ginza aunt is really their mother....
A Woman's Life
Character:
A woman remembers her own marriage when dealing with the love life of her son....
Jubaku: Spellbound
Character: Hideaki Sasaki
When a major bank is caught paying off a corporate extortionist, the media and prosecutors begin to dig, breaking open a money-and-favours scandal that threatens to rock the entire structure of business and government to its core. While the bank's top executives continue to vacillate, a quartet of middle-management reformers, led by straight-arrow Kitano (Koji Yakusho), decide to stage a boardroom coup and install a new, clean management team. With the aid of a hotshot news anchor (Miho Wada) an...
裸足の青春
Character: Yûji Wada
...
Atami Murder Case
Character: Denbei Nikaido
Chief Detective KIMURA Denbei, fondly referred to as Smoky Denbei, is a legendary figure at the Metropolitan Police Department. Transferred to Denbei's Criminal Investigation Division 1, Detective KUMADA Tomekichi arrives from the Toyama Prefectural Police. KUMADA is disconcerted by Denbei's position that murderers nowadays do not need a plausible motive, but gradually adapts to Denbei's unusual methods of investigation....
The Corporation
Character:
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Lear on the Shore
Character: Kuwahata Chokichi
Kuwahata Chokichi used to be a famous actor, but now he's suspected to be suffering from dementia. He is betrayed by his older daughter, Yukiko, her husband-cum-his-former-disciple, Ikuo, and Yukiko's lover, a mysterious driver, and gets sent to a high-class old folks' home. One day, Choukichi runs away from the home and wanders to the beach where he meets his younger daughter, Nobuko, who he had with his lover. Although he had thrown Nobuko out in the past, he begins to imagine seeing her as th...
Human Revolution II
Character:
Dramatic story of one man trying to make a difference....
The Blue Beast
Character:
Tatsuya Nakadai plays a scheming low-level executive who plays labor against management and uses anyone he can to further his career in this moral drama. When things get too hot, he bails and goes to work for a prominent politician (Koreya Senda). Soon he has impregnated the daughter (Yoko Tsukasa) of his boss, but he figures marriage will solve his current problems. His happiness is short-lived when he is stalked by a union radical he once double-crossed who now seeks vengeance....
Chibusa o daku musume tachi
Character:
Japanese drama....
Four Days of Snow and Blood
Character: Sugiyama
Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed....
Oración
Character: Heihachiro Wagu
Set on a quiet ranch in Hokkaido. One day, a colt is born from a legendary bloodline. It is given the name Oracion or "prayer". When Oracion is grown, a factory owner buys the horse. Will he be the key to solving the man's problems? Based on the novel by Teru Miyamoto....
As the Clouds Scatter
Character:
A provincial bus driver plans to marry his conductress, but one night he glimpses the woman he once loved, which throws him into turmoil....
Kojiro
Character: Musashi Miyamoto
Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the genius who staked his love, glory, and life on a duel with the supreme master of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi (Tatsuya Nakadai). Oscar winning Hiroshi Inagaki directs this epic motion picture based on Genzo Murakami’s fascinating story. Despite his humble birth, the orphan Sasaki Kojiro (Onoe Kikunosuke) is determined to become the foremost swordsman in all Japan, a title that traditionally belongs to a nobleman. At fencing school, young Kojiro receives the co...
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha'
Character: Self
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Kagemusha" (1980)....
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low'
Character: Self
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "High and Low" (1963)....
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo'
Character: Self
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Yojimbo" (1961)....
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro'
Character: Self
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Sanjuro" (1962)....
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Character: Charcoal-maker Old Man (voice)
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate....
The Last Judgment
Character:
The last judgment....
Pressure of Guilt
Character:
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The Naked Sun
Character:
A young, struggling couple are making every sacrifice so they will one day in the not-too-distant-future, have enough money to get married. As they have agreed on this procedure, it comes as a shock to the young woman to find out from her husband-to-be that he just loaned all the money they had saved to a friend. She is understandably miffed, and a big disagreement results. But after some time goes by, she discovers why the friend needed the money so badly, and the couple are back on solid footi...
The Beast Shall Die
Character: Kunihiko Date
A promising post-graduate literature student is transformed into a psychotic killer following the suicide of his father and a sleazy affair by his mother with a younger man....
Get 'em All
Character: Tsubota
Gang of robbers quarrel about the loot, but when one of them gets killed, his younger brother seeks them out to ice them one by one....
Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo
Character: Sazen Tange
A re-make of the classic story made for television in 1982....
Journey
Character:
...
Admiral Yamamoto
Character: Narrator (voice)
As Japan joins in a political pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is appointed supreme commander of the Japanese fleet. With Japan headed inexorably toward war, Yamamoto, despite his misgivings, believes the only possible victory lies in destroying the American fleet by surprise at Pearl Harbor. The attack succeeds, but fails to sink the American carrier fleet. Thus Yamamoto must lead the Japanese navy into war with ever-diminishing likelihood of success....
A Duel Tale
Character:
Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword to protect those he loves in this adaptation of a Fujisawa Shuhei novel. As a ”Heya-zumi” (essentially a freeloader living off his family) Sanosuke has one last chance to help his grandniece escape from the cruel samurai of an arranged marriage. Nakadai proves he ”still has it,” when fate forces him into a deadly duel. This award winning samurai d...
Taikoki
Character: (Narrator)
Rising from the lowliest of country samurai to the heights of power as Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is one of the pivotal figures of the Sengoku period....
Before The Leaves Fall
Character: Kenichiro Miya
An elderly woman sets out to see in person a painting by a famous artist.She believes she was the inspiration for the painting....
Legacy of the 500,000
Character: Mitsura Gunji
During World War II, Japan sends gold to the Phillipines. After the war, the gold is lost in the bay of Manille. Former soldier Takeichi Matsuo is now working as a business executive. He meets Mintsura Gunji, the boss of a large company, who offers him to go to the Philippines and bring back the gold....
Tatsuya Nakadai on 'The Human Condition'
Character: Self
In this new video interview with Tatsuya Nakadai, conducted in 2009, the screen legend discusses his landmark role as Kaji in THE HUMAN CONDITION....
Gun Woman
Character: Hamazaki
A brilliant doctor on a quest for revenge buys a young woman and trains her to be the ultimate assassin, implanting gun parts in her body that she must later assemble and use to kill her target before she bleeds to death....
The Daphne
Character:
Four sisters are all named after flowers. While the two youngest are married, the eldest two remain single, much to the annoyance of their long-suffering mother. The mother and her brother try various schemes to find husbands for them....
The Return
Character:
Tatsuya Nakadai, the world’s greatest living actor, returns to the screen in a brilliant adaptation of a story by novelist Shuhei Fujisawa. A traveling gambler known as “Funeral Uno” he is now 86 years old and returning to his hometown for the first time in 30 years. Partly told in flashbacks, he is forced to face his lifelong nemesis, Boss Kyuzo, a vile yakuza portrayed by another superstar of samurai cinema, Atsuo Nakamura! Before the two old gamblers can settle a 30-year-old score they must p...
Zatoichi: The Last
Character: Tendo
A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle....
Willful Murder
Character: Yashiro
The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Commu...
Faraway Sunset
Character: Kobayashi
Faraway Sunset tells the story of the famed bacteriologist who is known to have discovered the agent that cause syphilis, and for his relentless search for a cure to yellow fever. As a toddler, his mother's neglect had caused an accident to his left hand, fusing together all the fingers in a bizarre twist of fate. Naturally extremely remorseful for being the cause of her son's handicap, she does everything she could to ensure that he gets to lead a normal life, despite having to fend off bullies...
All About Marriage
Character: Akira Nakayama
Ultra-perky model likes single freedom but feels ryosai kenbo ("good wife, wise mother") pressure, exemplified by her bored-to-tears sister....
The Legend of Sayo
Character:
Sayo has just celebrated her sixteenth birthday when she attends a temple festival. On her way back she sees a large cherry tree which is infamous for the legend of dead white horse. When her fiancé returns from war and visits her he comes across a white horse which he takes in. The man also does not see himself engaged anymore as his family has lost its wealth....
To Dance with the White Dog
Character: Eisuke Nakamoto
...
Michi
Character: Seiji Tajima
...
Sazae-san
Character: Norisuke
An adaptation of the popular Sazae-san comic strip. The first entry in Toho's Sazae-san series....
Teenage Sazae
Character:
Adaptation of the popular Sazae-San comic strip. The first entry in the series shot in color....
Yamato
Character:
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."...
Pilgrimage at Night
Character:
Adapted by Yasumi Toshio and directed by Toyoda Shiro, this is a literary work based on a full-length novel of the same name published by Shiga Naoya of the Shirakaba School....
A Town and a Tall Chimney
Character:
Japan in 1910, industrialization is unstoppable and devastating entire areas in the name of progress. In X, a farming village in Ibaraki Prefecture, the environment is so polluted that the plants in the fields die and the air, which is laden with toxic smoke, can no longer be breathed. But Saburo, the grandson of the village elder, can no longer put up with this and forms the resistance of the villagers. In Junpei, the idealistic employee of Hitachi, he finds an unexpected ally, and together the...
The Human Revolution
Character:
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The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai
Character: Makino Tadayuki
...
Japan's Longest Day
Character: Narrator (voice)
Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anam...
Sleeping Village
Character: (narration)
In 1961, a spectacular criminal case shocks Japan: at what became known as the “Nabari Poison Wine” incident, five people lose their lives at a village social gathering. One of the attendants, Masaru OKUNISHI, is made out as the main suspect. Rumor has it that he wanted to kill his wife and his lover in order to end his extra-marital affair. After being questioned by the police for days, he signs a confession, only to withdraw it soon afterwards. Nonetheless, he is sentenced to death and all ple...
Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate
Character:
Masaru Okunishi is a prisoner who has been on death-row for over 40 years. In 1961, 5 women died from drinking poisoned wine in a small village gathering in Nabari City in Mie Prefecture. After his arrest, he appealed his innocence on the grounds that the police coerced his confession. He was found not guilty in the first trial. However, it was overturned and he received a death sentence in the second trial, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972. Since then, Okunishi has continuously app...