Movies: Haruo Tanaka

The story of a couple, a spoiled son and a down-to-earth girl, in Osaka in the early Showa era. The film won the prestigious Blue Ribbon awards for best director, best actor (Morishige) and best actress (Awashima), and the Mainichi Concours award for...

Three humorous love stories set in rural Japan....

Jidai-geki by Kiyoshi Saeki...

A Japanese artist (Ikebe), who had won the favor of the Cambodian royal family when he rescued their daughter during World War II, returns and falls for the now-grown princess, though neither realizes the other's identity....

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....

Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of h...

An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life. Notable for its exquisite framing ...

Lonely youth Shinji meets Hatsue, a pretty pearl diver, on the beach and the two fall in love. But Shinji has a rival for Hatsue's affections, Yasuo. Yasuo spreads unpleasant gossip about his rival, and Hatsue's father forbids her to see Shinji. But ...

Masahiko Koseki, a judo master, gets in several fights as a result of protecting a young woman. Despite his success, Koseki is expelled from his judo school because of his propensity for street fighting. He goes to work for a gangster named Joji, but...

Hidejiro is a wandering yakuza with a ‘karashi botan’ (Chinese lion and peony) tattoo. Owing a favor to the Soda Family, he kills the boss of the rival Sakaki Family. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hideji...

Taisuke is kind-hearted but overall lacks ambition. Taizo is smarter, but given to fits of emotion and impulsive violence. The samurai brothers fight against corruption in a castle....

Young Lord Takenaka stands to succeed his father until a series of violent actions lead his retainers to think that he has gone mad with blood-lust. Never offering any explanation, he continues his seemingly unprovoked attacks until he is sent away ...

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Shozo is plagued by the needs of his ex-wife and his current one, but prefers the company of his cat....

One of Japan's most enduring stories is the true-life yakuza boss Jirocho of Shimizu and his gang as they took over the Tokaido Highroad and went on to everlasting fame. Many of the gang members have become household names although their backgrounds ...

A 1943 film....

This is one of the many films based on the legend of Chuji Kunisada, a wandering gambler and a defender of the weak in the Edo period. In other words, he was the Japanese Robin Hood. In this film Kunisada (Chiezo Kataoka) arrives to a small town terr...

During the Warring States era, Hozoin Kakuzenbo and Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, being best friends, spend their days acquiring skills of the spear, sword and martial arts. Hozoin loses a series of matches with master swordsman Kozumi Ise-no-kami. Bitterly ...

Saheita, the final heir of a once rich and respectable family, can't refuse the many villagers that come to him for favours and money, even though he is on the brink of bankruptcy. Around town he is better known by his nickname Mr. Shosuke Ohara....

Playhouse employees Okimi and Otoshi become involved in an undercover officer’s investigation of a gang when they accidentally walk in on a drug deal taking place at their theater....