Akira Kobayashi

The film is set in Fukagawa in the early Showa period and depicts a fateful confrontation between two men who rise and fall in a black stream, trying...

The story of the tender love between Junki, the son of a wealthy landowner, and Kayuki, the daughter of a forester, who decided to unite their...

Around Ginza there is a night-city of bars and cabarets, hostesses, customers. Assisting to keep order here is Kagari (Akira Kobayashi) who...

Nonaka Tetsugoro, a substitute for the Aoi group, held a flower party to celebrate the complete recovery of his boss. However, three rival bosses,...

In Osaka, a family sets up shop in Tsuruhashi. Trouble brews for three brothers – Jinzuke, Tadayoshi, and Eizo – when they come together in their...

Set in Kyushu during the early Showa period, the son of a boss who is killed after a greedy boss takes over his territory, takes over and takes...

The first film in the Fearless Guy series. Kosuke was part of a huge organized crime group, but decided to leave after his best friend died a brutal...

Handsome young Katsuta tries to follow the yakuza code, but even his boss doesn't believe in it. Diamond Fuyu is less ethical, and allows the idiotic...

Fourth installment of Nikkatsu's "Drifter" series, with Kobayashi Akira.

A young yakuza experiences various conflicts, tactics, betrayals, rules, etc. in the gangster world, stands out in the organization, and climbs to...

1962 Japanese movie

With a Kansai syndicate setting their sights on Tokyo, a former yakuza boss gets dragged back into a world of violence.

Daisuke Honda, a war photographer in Vietnam, meets Yuriko Sawanouchi, a stewardess on his plane back to Japan. After drinking with her at a Tokyo...

Udaka is a new, post-war city where corruption has already taken hold. A persistent district attorney wants to arrest and convict Katsumata, a...

Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new...

As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new...

“I like shady dealings,” purrs undercover superspy Yabuki en route to infiltrating a sadistic, trigger-happy gang of international jewel thieves....

A noir action whodunit with Kobayashi his usual jaunty self as the smart aleck private eye whose missing person search soon becomes a murder case....

Post World War II, Minoru lives by selling supplies that had been stolen from the U.S. military. One day, he is arrested due to the plotting of...

Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various...

A once-powerful yakuza clan disbands as a result of a police crackdown, but one small group refuses to bow to police pressure, and launches a...

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...

A young yakuza in love with the girl who's to marry his clan oyabun, kidnaps the girl before fleeing with her. In Tokyo, he hides under the identity...

A man who became the third boss faces off against delinquent foreigners and villains vying to rule the underworld in order to develop the port city.

Masaaki Kagari (Akira Kobayashi) is the recruiter and protector of hostesses at the Club Rose. One day he visits Club Aron, to complain about...

Kagari (Akira Kobayashi), a scout and overseer of Ginza bar hostesses, receives an urgent phone call from Sawako, a hostess at the bar Rie, and...

Aboard a night ferry in the Inland Sea, Masaaki Kagari (Akira Kobayashi), a young tough, who supplies hostesses to night spots, encounters Yuko, his...

Strife between competing lumber mills.

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...

Yakuza Ryuichi, nicknamed the Dragon-killer, went on a journey with his son Tatsuo after he lost his wife. Due to Tatsuo's sudden illness, Ryuichi...

While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in...

Counterfeit Japanese dollars are connected to a large-scale underground drug organization. An action masterpiece with Akira Kobayashi, in the role of...

A crime film released in 1962

Shadowed and alone. Today, a melancholy guitar sobs in a wandering seaside town.... To make amends, he hides his identity and saves his girlfriend's...

A 1970 crime film.

It is the Taisho era in Japan. A man has quit the Yakuza after five years and returned to Shikoku in order to begin his life anew as a ferryman. His...

Two lone wolf yakuza (Hideki Takahashi and Kunie Tanaka) rob a gambling den, then split up when pursued by the angry gang. They eventually meet again...

Based on the original work of Yasunori Kawauchi of "Moonlight Mask", this is the second in the "Ginza Whirlwind Child (Mitsutogai)" series in which...

A motorcycle daredevil is murdered by a gang that wants to take over the circus to become the cover for their drug operation, but his replacement...

Place your bets! Koji Himuro (Akira Kobayashi) is a makeout artist with unparalleled gambling skills. Shortly after his return to Tokyo, he is...

As a foreign gambling ring tries to take over the Japanese underworld, Himuro the ace gambler must face their leader - and his dangerous gadgets…

Takuya witnesses the homicide of the detective leading an investigation into the murder of the chairman of the People’s Economic Association, and...

Based on the original work of Yasunori Kawauchi of "Moonlight Mask", this is the fifth in the "Ginza Whirlwind Child (Mitsutogai)" series in which...

A kidnapping occurred over a seven-million-dollar diamond that was sewn into his stomach. Takuya Nikaido, the hero of Kamideki, challenges the...

1962 Japanese movie

Remake of The Story of a Man Among Men (1984)

Kobayashi Akira stars as a wandering musician, who lost his brother and lover to dishonest rival Henmi. The third work in Nikkatsu's "Gambler" series.

In the early Meiji era, two contrasting craftsmen, who had been bound by a ten-year strong friendship, suddenly hated each other and face many...

1962 Japanese movie

Akira, a student who is professionally engaged in boxing, aspires to follow in the footsteps of his late father and become a champion when, during...

The 3rd film of the famous "Wataridori" (The Rambler) series from Nikkatsu. The young rambler, Shinji Taki (Akira Kobayashi), with his guitar arrives...

Kosuke Suzuki was presumed dead after boss Toseikai Setouchi lynched him and threw him into the sea off the coast of Kobe. However, three months...

Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly...

Mid 50s: the trials and tribulations of Shinsuke Ibuki, freshly arrived in Tokyo from Kyushu.

In this fifth episode of the "Wataridori" series, Taki Shinji (Kobayashi Akira) drifts north to Hokkaido, where he helps protect an Ainu village from...

Arriving in the town of Hakodate, a wandering musician, Shinji Taki, is soon recruited by the local gang as a hired hand. However, with the arrival...

Set in Uwajima, Shikoku, an action film starring Akira Kobayashi who uncovers evils related to pearl farming.

Follows the struggles of a yakuza wife after his husband gets hurt in a knife fight.

Kosuke Suzuki returns to Hakata's hometown after learning that his best friend Takehara has disappeared. Kosuke is persistently hindered by Hasebe...

Emerging from a stint in prison, yakuza lieutenant Sumukawa discovers that his gang has disintegrated. An ambitious type, he quickly hooks up with...

Fourth film in the Aitsu series. The outlaw-cum-travelling guitarist discovers that his friend has been killed by the gangsters who held up the...

A blockbuster youth action film that explodes with the charm of Maiko Guy and Akira, based on the serialized novel in Nikkan Sports by Yoshirō...

In this town, Kagosuke and Ryukichi of the Okamoto family, who are deeply committed to the yakuza way, are straightforward and justice-loving...

Tarao’s services are called upon to solve the mysterious death of bride-to-be, Mariko, who was found dead with an eerie mask of a devil.

Ryuji Inahara, the heir to the Atami Yamazakiya family, subsequently placed the group under the control of the influential members of the Guretai,...

Ryuji Inahara changed the name of the Inahara-gumi to the Inahara-kai, and accordingly unified the emblem of the Inahara-kai. Then, in 1961,...

A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza...

Mega star Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro in the rambunctious tale of a chef who opens a restaurant in the busy Ginza district. His culinary skills and...

Two brothers seek revenge on the yakuza responsible for the death of their father.

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

The 224-minute compilation edition of Battles Without Honor and Humanity compiles these four movies: Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Deadly...

A coming-of-age story about two newcomers to the world of professional baseball who compete for Rookie of the Year honors and love.

An action masterpiece about Might Guy Akira, a hot-blooded man who explodes against the backdrop of a large landfill full of intrigue and violence.

The fictional land "Pandora" sends three (numbered) graduates of the "National Gambling University" to Japan. You should defeat the master player...

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...

Vice Admiral Takajiro Ohnishi could see that Japan's defeat in WWII was inevitable. He came to realize that the only way to force a negotiated...

After spending eight years in prison for murder, Hiroshi leaves his yakuza family to start a new life as a labor racketeer.

A delinquent young man (Kobayashi Akira) from a wealthy family decides to get in on a blackmailing scheme targeting his young stepmother (Watanabe...

Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past.

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.

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

The year is 1926. It has been three years since the Great Kanto earthquake hit Tokyo. Everything is being rebuilt from the ground up. Odera crime...

The young rambler, Shinji Taki, with his guitar arrives a hot spa town at the foot of Mount Aizu Bandai. Of course he solves the problems in the town...

Japanese Western set at a mountain ranch in Kyushu.

An airplane loaded with 50 million yen for the reconstruction of Amami Oshima crashes en route from Kagoshima, Kyushu, but neither the money nor the...

Plans to build a touristic hot spring on the island of Izu Oshima run afoul of the Kobe yakuza group, which intends to use the island as a relay base...

A tale of wannabe yakuza youths. When not cooking up scams with his buddies, Zenkichi develops a crush on Taro's disgusted sister, Miki. But soon the...

It had been a year and four months since Mitsuo was last on a movie set. Welcomed back by director Ishizaki and his film crew, Mitsuo is excited to...

The Ginza Whirlwind (Akira Kobayashi) attempts to solve a murder.

Satake Shoji had been a trapeze artist in the Ezaki Circus, but when Shingo, his team mate, slipped and fell to his death, he had felt responsible...

The first in the Ginza Whirlwind Child series. A poignant action giant depicting the activities of Mait Guy Akira, who calls people to Ginza Boring...

Hanamura, widely known in gangland a professional trouble shooter has the sign of the Jack tattooed on his chest. His follower is his sworn partner...

In the nine part Wataridori series (1959-1962), Kobayashi played a wanderer on Japan’s back roads with most of the accoutrements of a Western hero,...

In the nine part Wataridori series (1959-1962), Kobayashi played a wanderer on Japan’s back roads with most of the accoutrements of a Western hero,...

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

A yakuza frames another yakuza who goes to jail for 5 years. When he is released he goes to seek revenge only to fall in love with the daughter of...

Story of an ex-con trying to go straight, but of course the old ways die hard.

Ryu (Akira Kobayashi) sets foot on the Yokohama port with a suitcase filled with 300 thousand dollars. He was sent by a jewelry company in Hong Kong...

Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a beautiful widow. Reiko meets her husband’s...

Legendary detective returns.

A violent upstart forms an alliance with the powerful Tensei-kai syndicate to fight on the front lines of an underworld war and take over all of...

A continuation of Hungry Soul, from the same year. Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a...

Final installment of THE WANDERING GUITARIST series.

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...

Film about a car dealer who gets into financial trouble.

The anti-gangster law has been very bad for business, but one yakuza boss is running his syndicate like a ruthless conglomerate -- and thriving.

A former gang leader and lone wolf who has left the organization works behind the scenes in a new city to take revenge on a giant alliance of...

Rambler Shinji arrives in town armed with nothing but a guitar. With assistance from an old gun-for-hire friend, he sets about to stop the mob from...

Seventh in the nine-film series, "The Wandering Guitarist".

An anthology that embodies the essence of Nikkatsu action films with a stylish flair, this movie follows an aging hitman (Jō Shishido) on a quest to...

Kenichi, who lives like a stray dog among fellow gangsters, finds his love for the first time while the police are trying to catch him on suspicion...

Romantic action film set against the beautiful backdrop of Rio de Janeiro. Jiro Ibuki has decided to leave the world of the yakuza and live with his...

Japanese crime film

Japanese crime film

Koji Himuro, a brilliant gambler, was killed by his brother and lover for discovering cheating gambling. As a result, he vows never to roll the dice,...

Tetsuji Tachibana was fired as a pilot after Jim gave false testimony in an accident caused by Captain Jim's intoxication. Only Junpei Nambu, the...

1957 Japanese movie

1957 Japanese movie

Following the well-received previous film “Confrontation”, Asahi returns as the wandering drifter Manshū Tsuné, who joins forces with the...

Late Taishō period. The Shibatora family, led by Naojirō, held power over the Tomigawara area in Jōshū. After launching an attack on the Takayasu...

1965 Japanese movie

This coming-of-age drama depicts Ozaki, Takei, Minami, and Onoki, four men trained in the rugby club and brimming with intelligence and a sense of...

Goro Akitsu is a man playing poker in a bar in the port of Yokohama. He is a drifter from Kobe, Japan, who has been helping people who have left the...

Zenroku Nichigami, a charismatic con artist, is tasked with collecting a debt from the elusive Shishiro Oba. As he delves deeper, Zenroku uncovers a...

An ex-pro boxer makes his living as a drummer in cabaret.

Tsuchida Akira is a young man who recruits young hostesses around Ginza to work for other shady establishments.

Set in Toyohashi, the fifth and final installment of the ‘The Wanderer’ series sees Kobayashi Akira delve into the mystery of a friend's death.

This is Akira Kobayashi's first leading role in a gangster film in the ninkyo-eiga genre. Together with Joe Shishido, he stars in a film about the...

A gripping action film starring Akira Kobayashi, Joe Shishido, and Koji Wada. A man accused of diamond theft and imprisoned escapes during transport,...

A humorous yakuza action melodrama with gangsters, drugs and that old comedy-standby, white slavery.

Seijun Suzuki became a cinema legend in the 1960s with a handful of pop-art films. So how can you make a portrait of this iconoclastic director...