Koji Tsuruta

The three henchmen join forces to challenge the brutal gang that is trying to control the city of Izu in Shizuoka during the early Showa period....

An early ninkyo film from before the genre had truly established its form. Koji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an...

Tokizо, the boss of the Tenmaru-gumi group, assists Kikujiro, a traveler on the run. At this time, a tender is being held to conclude a contract for...

Toru Sagara, a lone wolf assassin, is imprisoned for betraying his employer, Hanawa. After completing his sentence, he immediately takes revenge on...

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for...

A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader....

1962 Japanese movie

Shimamura is a violent street thug who joins the yakuza & is merciless & unscrupulous on his rise, lacking any sense of either duty or chivalry. When...

1954 Japanese movie

The film depicts the fate of a young yakuza boss and his father, who confront each other, not knowing that they are relatives, and become victims of...

The southern tip of Shikoku. This village, surrounded by a bay, where, according to legend, the former warriors of the Heike clan settled, is famous...

Duke Togo (codename: Golgo 13) is a ruthless assassin who's accepted a tricky assignment from an American drug syndicate. His mission is to "rub out"...

A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

It takes place in the sunset days of the yakuza in the 1970s. The postwar turmoil that created the black market and lubricated illegal business...

Makino Masahiro film starring Okada Mariko

Coming out of jail and hoping for a quiet life, Yokohama yakuza has to take the lead of his gang after the death of his boss. His small group is is...

The fourth part in the series "Code Between Brothers". The story takes place in Fukagawa, Tokyo, at the beginning of the Showa era, where five...

Jirocho and his henchmen befriend Ishimatsu, a wanderer in Mishima.

When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and...

In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets which, if revealed, would cause revolution and...

Men are being murdered by a psycho called "The Telegian," who uses a matter-transmitting device to locate his victims.

In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets which, if revealed, would cause revolution and...

The seventh chapter of the stunning Hibotan Bakuto series. Many years have passed since Oryu the Red Peony began her soul-searching journey after her...

Japanese police detective Saburo Fujioka is suspected of corruption, demoted, and sent to the city of Kojin. Kojin is the scene of fierce fighting...

A big American boss landed in Japan in search of funding sources. A lone wolf trying to stop it ends up fighting against his big brother's...

1958 Japanese movie

On the night the shogunate's treasury was breached, the guard Utsugi had already been taken down. His colleague Ryunosuke felt responsible and...

This film tells about the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Aikawa, the head of the Bureau of Military Affairs, about the beginning of the incident 2.26...

A 1950 film by director 原研吉.

In 1842, in the Umemoku Mansion within Hikone Castle, Naosuke Ii, despite the tumultuous times, was engrossed in the world of tea ceremony. His...

Ichibei is assigned by Shogun Tokugawa to prevent the sale of a Dutch ships-load of rifles to the hostile Shogun Satsuma. On his mission he meets a...

After the enactment of the Anti-Prostitution Law, the red-light district in Shinjuku lost its allure. Even the gambling den of the Ryūzaki family...

A crime film released in 1965

Urban love comedy in which Koji Tsuruta, who works for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Parks and Greenery Department, plays love shepherd to a...

A young scriptwriter with a yakuza upbringing, an iron-fire dancer, a young painter, and a pure-hearted downtown girl fall in love in Asakusa in this...

1962 Japanese movie

1961 gangster film.

Japanese crime film.

A youth drama set in the Japanese alps. Two robbers, chased by the police, escape from the youths of a university mountain club who are trapped in a...

1958 Japanese movie

A samurai is struggling to make ends meet at the end of the Edo period. He has students and, among other things, teaches them about the evils of the...

Lt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in...

1948 Japanese movie

The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in World War II. Young boys dream about becoming pilots and apply to flight...

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

With World War II is coming to its end and Japan nearing defeat, Japanese military leaders step up suicide attacks on Allied ships. Toei legend Koji...

Story of loyal sailors giving their lives for their country as human torpedoes towards the end of the War.

When the plague threatens a small town in Manchuria, a young doctor finds himself struggling to save the lives of his townspeople.

The plot opens with the hero (Tsuruta) leaving prison, having served time through taking the blame for a fellow gang member’s crime. However,...

Osaka, 1907: Asajiro lives between a rock and a hard place: he has to keep his business clean and running, tame his late oyabun’s hot-blooded...

A gang of bank robbers plan a big robbery, but they all plot to betray each other after the heist for different reasons.

Japanese war drama.

Journalist Kuroki is investigating clandestine arms sales to Southeast Asia. He discovers that the point man in an arms trade was also involved in...

A poignant story about a young couple, Setsu and Chozo, who are torn apart to save Setsu's father's restaurant.

A Japanese melodrama about three sisters, rival fashion companies, and attempted murder by overheated bathroom.

Seijiro and Shizue meet in Niigata and fall in love. Seijiro has to go back to Tokyo soon after, and they promise each other to meet again a year...

With his penultimate film, Uchida revisited one of his popular prewar titles, 1936’s Theatre of Life, an adaptation of Shiro Ozaki’s...

Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokuro, steals the money from Jibu, but after meeting...

A touching drama about a love triangle between a young architect, Koroku, and two women, Ranko and Teruko. Ranko comes from a wealthy family and is...

Upon his arrival to Dragon Island, ronin Yagi Hanzo, is propositioned by various shady individuals representing rival gangs to lend his services to...

From Hokkaido to Tokyo, hunting dog Goro embarks on a long and grueling journey to reach home. With the loss of his master who held a secret to a...

A young man hands in his notice at work and breaks up with his girlfriend in order to pursue his true nature and dream of shaping the world according...

Set in Osaka, during the devastated time of post-war Japan, this is a tale of the yakuza who set about rebuilding after the death of their Oyabun...

A man finds great camaraderie while traveling.

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

Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin.

A rural high school takes part in a mountain-climbing exercise and are caught in a sudden typhoon.

After eloping with a prostitute named Otoyo, Hishakaku takes refuge in the Kogane family’s turf. Indebted to Boss Kogane for his kindness,...

Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life,...

A story of lone wolf struggling with human compassion and duty.

Japan, 1701. A group of samurai become rônin after their lord is forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official, who will become the...

Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin.

When the aging leader of the yakuza gang Maeda-gumi decides to retire, many of the gang members have no confidence in the young man he has chosen to...

Famous enka singer Saburo Kitajima stars as Katsuji, a traveling craps artist who finds great camaraderie on the road.

The services of a wandering gambler, Seiji, are called upon to protect the turf of his loyal friend Risaburo.

Historical drama about a sleep-eyed ronin

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

A man challenges a territorial fight between gangs.

Detective Morgan and the Japanese police cooperate to unveil the truth of the mysterious death of Morgan’s friend in Arizona.

A story of Minako who struggles finding love and peace in life. When Minako’s hope for ultimate happiness, marriage to her beloved...

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...

The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.

A reformed gangster agrees to help a former yakuza member.

Yakuza boss Furuya leans more and more on his protege Takao Shoji, though Shoji has become romantically involved with Furuya's mistress, Natsue....

A gritty, noirish gangster saga.

Somewhat unique as it appears to be one of the very rare appearances of master thespian Itô in a yakuza role.

President of the territorial yakuza organization is being manipulated by a crooked leader in the military and some capitalists Ishikiri. The plan is...

Military doctor Leutenant Hanada deserts during the war in the Philippines with a local girl. The officer in command orders Lieutenant Uji to shoot...

The story of men devoted to the yakuza lifestyle and their struggles during a time of fading yakuza power.

A lone gambler tries to keep a yakuza family from taking over a festival in Kitakyushu. After away from his hometown for 13 years, Ryuji comes back...

A made man during the height of Hiroshima's yakuza turf war must maneuver through the violence and betrayal inside the criminal underworld.

As Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate nears the end of its rule, Edo North Magistrate Toyama no Kinsan is called upon to judge the most difficult case...

The Ni Family is the most well know and respected group of firefighters in the Kanto region. When their leader dies and the successor disappears,...

A bittersweet love story between yakuza Hiroshi and a married woman Reiko.

Upon his release from the prison, Hishakaku joins the Kikkyo family who is struggling to regain their turf from their rival, Domoto family. To...

Two rival gangs of gangsters clash for dominance of a neighborhood.

Sawaki is released from prison after serving eight years for murdering a rival gang leader in order to obtain the land rights to a landfill for the...

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

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

The story of Shinsuke, a young man who lives through a stormy life as a poverty-stricken coal miner. Ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his...

A yakuza member embarks on a trail of revenge for his murdered boss. Senzo, the successor of the Mita Family, searches for the man bearing a tattoo...

A young girl, Okimi, falls in love with Kiritaro, a handsome thief disguised as a wealthy young master.

A local yakuza boss of a silk farming town shows kindness to the wandering gambler Oryu by letting her stay at his residence. When a rival yakuza...

Period drama based on the novel by Saisei Murō.

A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship...

Based on the mystery novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto.

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto.

When Honjo is selected as Kansai district's chairman, Iwasa of the rival gang asks Itsuki to do everything possible to have Honjo step down, which...

A lone wolf tries to eliminate a drug-smuggling operation.

Violent Gang Re-Arms is a rousing tale of friction in yakuza and labor interactions with Koji Tsurata as a yakuza supervising a dockworker's union....

Junko Fuji returns as Oryu the Red Peony, a wandering female yakuza on a soul-searching journey after the death of her father. After collecting her...

Tokyo, 1934. The boss of the clan that controls gambling agonizes and some of his followers propose to Nakai to take his place, but he refuses the...

Taking place in Shinshu in the 1920s, Tsumakoi Okoma, while traveling to hone her gambling skills, teams up with the vagabond Tsukuba Tsuneji and...

A stage director who directs a “Mori no Ishimatsu” play time travels and becomes “Mori no Ishimatsu” himself.

Third part of Nihon Kyokakuden series is set in Kanto in 1924. Ken Takakura playing a ship's mate befriending fish shop owners harassed by yakuza.

Thriller about a gangster and an outlaw who become friends despite their different outlooks.

Gangsters are robbed of five hundred million yens.

In the 20th century, the Japanese government exploits prisoners as expendable slave laborers in a coal mine, which results in conflict between the...

Saburo Kitajima, one of Japan’s most famous Enka singers, returns in the fifth of the Kyodai Jingi series. During the early 20th century, Ryuji...

Ken Takakura stars as Ryoji one of the Aramasa family's loyal lieutenants whao takes the burden of his family being insulted by the Tanuma's family...

During the Showa era, a young yakuza survives war and injury and rises to become a clan boss with the help and respect of his sworn brothers.

Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect...

A war breaks out on the streets between rivaling Yakuza clans.

An honorable yakuza syndicate deeply rooted in Kyoto fights for survival when a new breed of gangsters threaten their very existence.

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

Japanese movie.

Hanjiro, a one eyed vagrant arrives in Okinoshima to save the town from a violent Yakuza group with the help of six handicapped guys.

A modern gang version of Chushingura, chronicling almost scene for scene the Brave 47 Ronin story, transposed from the Genroku Period to the Showa...

First ninkyo yakuza picture at Toei directed by Teruo Ishii

The tale of real-life Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho is told from his earliest beginnings as a gambler on the road as he forms his gang and sets out on...

A professional lone-wolf hitman comes to his blood brother's aid when his boss is brutally murdered by an unknown yakuza faction.

Teruo Ishii portrays the bitter conflict over the right to develop land in a gripping and humorous way. Nakagami, the head of the Kanto Joseikai, is...

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

When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a...

When master swordsman Mikogami Genshiro of the Ono fencing school returns to find that his ailing sensei has been murdered in the dead of night, he...

Detective Hanshichi (Kataoka Chiezo) solves 3 mysterious murder cases. Great story and an impressive all-star cast, a must see!

Tsunetaro Asakura AKA "Dynamite Tsune" is a talented gambler, but not infallable. After losing his Boss's money in a dice game he repays his debt by...

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

Komatsu Takioka is boss of a Yakuza group rival to Masakichi Kijima boss of the Kikuya group which supports the town vendors unlike Takioka, who will...

Part 7 in the Gambling Den series. This time Koji Tsuruta is a gambler who feels sympathetic towards a woman whose naive husband is driven to a debt...

The second part of the Gamblers series.

Part two.

Ninkyo with Kôji Tsuruta. An elderly yakuza brother tries to clear an underling’s name.

The main character Tachibana Isaburo is released from prison and discovers that his boss is dead. He is offered to become the leader of the group,...

Sixth entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series.

Tsuruta is a respected tattoo artist working with comrades Machida and Yamashiro. His former boss, who also just happens to be the master who had...

5th entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series.

Second film of Makino's Nihon Kyokakuden series set in Osaka's harbor. The series also known as "The Domain" Each a stand alone film in it's own,...

Third part in Tadashi Sawashima's Theater of Life trilogy.

Based on the original work by Shuji Hojo, Itohan Monogatari depicts the fate of a clumsy and kind-hearted woman in the Taisho era.

Gangsters Ken and Maki are rivals in the ticket-scalping game. They make an uneasy truce, but Ken wrecks the truce by agreeing to fix a boxing match...

Because of trickery, the Jinya Group has only seven days to complete a mountain road project or it will forfeit a major dam construction job to the...

Terajima, an ex-yakuza and current nightclub owner, is brought back into the world of crime when his former brother attempts a hostile take over.

8th part of the Gamblers / Bakuchi-uchi series.

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

A film about the confrontation between two yakuza groups in the brutal Miike prison, which contained 1,500 inmates. The second film in the series...

The continuing adventures of the Jirocho gang.

The third part of the story about feudal boss Jirocho and his underlings.

Hayase, a schoolteacher, assists Sakai in editing a German-Japanese dictionary. Hayase owes much to Sakai, as Sakai raised him for 13 years after...

A gang plans to steal twenty billion yen by safecracking tactics; however, they discover that one of the gang members is an infiltrating cop.

Also known as Crazy Uproar.

Having completed the first year at his new medical practice, a doctor plans to relax on his day off. However, it is not to be: on this hectic day a...

A Kansai gang is up to conquer the whole country under the mask of a patriotic group. However after an assassination their henchmen will struggle to...

Action drama about a Japanese gangster in Manchuria circa 1932, who finally joins some Chinese mountain bandits.

Historical Yakuza gangster film set the early years of the Showa era.

A movie that depicts the tragic fate of many Yokaren flight-academy pilots.

A suspense work based on the "Miyagi Incident," an attempted coup d'etat led by some officers working for the Ministry of the Defense and the General...

The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown

A Yakuza film directed by Kôsaku Yamashita

A continuation of the prior film (影法師).

1961 Japanese movie

1953 Japanese movie

Mariko is an innocent girl who grew up in the highlands of Shinshu. She moves to Tokyo to live with her father who has successfully returned to...

Saito Torajiro directed this light comic musical about the lives and loves of three cheerful, lively young men on the R University Rugby Club, Toshio...