Duel in the Storm(1968)

HEAT -Incandescence- PART I(ja)

A young man named Tatsumi Karasawa suddenly rises in the criminal world of Shinjuku, Tokyo, and becomes the leader of a group of amateurs who show no reluctance to face police and gangs alike. His successes in the Tokyo underground make a chief and a yakuza boss plot a conspiracy to eliminate him.

Nerves for Victory(ja)

A young yakuza who respects obligation and humanity must face cruel and heartless turf wars leading to a fight to the death with his own brother.

Crying Freeman(en)

A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader.

Blood Vendetta(ja)

The film tells about Masayoshi, a noble Yakuza who lives by the laws of honor and humanity, and who is bound by an oath to his brother in a conflict between the Gamblers' family and the Tekiya family.

Chivalrous Man: Junkyard of Life(ja)

End of the Taisho period. In the city of Kiryu, where the wind is constantly blowing, the heads of the yakuza families of Kanhasshu (eight Kanto provinces) were to raise funds for the construction of the Chuji Kunisada monument. Responsible for the fundraiser was Jokichi from the Asami family, but Matsugoro from the Kuromatsu family, who wanted to become the greatest boss of the Kanhasshu yakuza, is trying to take over the textile market that Jokichi controls and intercept the fundraiser.

The Life of a Chivalrous Man in Suruga: Broken Swords(ja)

The second film in the "Suruga yukyoden" series, in which Shintaro Katsu plays Jirocho Shimizu. The film features Omasa, Komasa, Ocho, who will become Jirocho's wife, as well as other members of his future family. There is a particularly great swordfight near the end where Katsu and cronies attack the rival villainous yakuza clan to rescue their ailing, elderly boss. The action choreography, cinematography and editing of this sequence is quite brilliant, treading a difficult tightrope act between genuinely goofy antics and exhilirating, bloody violence.

An Ode to Yakuza(ja)

Tatematsu Minoru, a yakuza belonging to the Ishikawa group that runs the Shinjuku area, has a beautiful sister named Akane. He dreams of sending her to college and turning her into a perfect young lady. He's extremely fond of Akane. His fondness for her goes beyond how he feels about his mistress, Kanae. And yet, Akane feels alone. Now, a new tutor comes into her life that seems to have taken a liking to her...

The Superhuman Stud(ja)

Roman Porno from 1972.

Ichi the Killer(ja)

As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.

Sonatine(ja)

Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.

Game of Chance 2(ja)

Bungo is released from prison to find his son Kenichi in the care of strangers. Teruko, the woman originally looking after the boy, was forced to leave town and sell herself into prostitution. Bungo and Kenichi, in their search for Teruko, arrive in a new place and find work running a peddling stall for the upright Tatsumaki family. However, the drifting father and son soon find themselves caught up in a struggle for territory. Boss Negishi, the head of the yakuza family responsible for the death of the former Tatsumaki leader, will stop at nothing to take over the marketplace. Sickened by the injustice, Bungo takes on the rival boss knowing it might cost him his newly acquired freedom..

Women's Police(ja)

Around Ginza there is a night-city of bars and cabarets, hostesses, customers. Assisting to keep order here is Kagari (Akira Kobayashi) who specializes in the women, their problems and troubles. He has saved many a girl from blandishments of pimps, makes customers pay up and women play straight. So he is called 'the woman's police-man' and he takes his job seriously. One day, Chiyoko (Yukiyo Toake), a former hostess, comes to him. Her husband has been murdered and she wants help. The man had been a college classmate and Kagari decides to do what he can. In his investigation he overturns a whole nest of intrigue. Men he had thought irreproachable turn out to be corrupt; solid citizens are seen as the worst kind of scoundrels. Until now, Kagari has specialized in women and their problems. But, realizing the real state of affairs, he rolls up his sleeves for a good cleaning- up-at the same time discovering the murderer of his friend.

Savage City: Angel Whisper(ja)

A corrupt cop teams up with an unlikely partner to protect the city from a gang of ruthless drug addicts.

ゆがんだ月(ja)

Fate Deals the Card of Death(ja)

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 later. However, Seijiro gets jailed for five years. Unable to find him, Shizue gets married to a yakuza boss who can help her family business.

Tokyo Tribe(ja)

In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. The simmering tension between them is about to boil over into all-out war.

Dark Samurai(ja)

The film is inspired by Miyamoto Musashi who was one of the most famous Japanese ronin and warrior philosophers. This very alternate and visual interpretation of the fate of Miyamoto is brought into a mixture of contemporary Yakuza underworld and a hypnotic Samurai after-life. We flow seamlessly between through life, death, rebirth and the afterlife and challenge our traditional definition of the past, present and future. The film explores the agonizing and painful processes that go through the shattered mind of Miyamoto, as he desperately tries to hold on to the only thing he has left - The rapidly fading memories of his undying love for a woman named, Otsu. A love that for a Yakuza-Samurai is strictly forbidden and which will prove to have catastrophic consequences.

High School Jingi(ja)

The impulsive Yakuza Jouji was ordered by his boss to teach at a misfit-filled school. He now has to settle the score with a fated rival while falling head over heels for a colleague in the process.

Like a Rolling Stone(ja)

Tanaka is a yakuza who collects 'protection money' from establishments. He has just been released from jail, where he had spent eight years, and finds out that his boss wants to get rid of him. Tanaka is not an archetypal yakuza; he travels by public transport. But he does have two mistresses: Ayumi, who runs a nightclub, and Yoshie, a brothel-keeper. When Tanaka's boss ends up in hospital, second man Kurauchi exerts increasing pressure on Tanaka. Tanaka deliberately has himself wounded by a fighter to dodge several of Kurauchi's demands.

The World of Kanako(ja)

When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.