Joe Shishido
Beloved Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He has appeared in over 200 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film Branded to Kill (1967). In Japan, he is also... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
Nûdo no yoru: Ai wa oshiminaku ubau
Jiro (Naoto Takenaka) is a man who can do anything for you for a price. Part odd jobs man and part private eye he takes on tasks as simple as clearing out storage lockers to tracking down lost items. That's what he's asked to do by a beautiful young woman (Hiroko Sato) who shows up at his warehouse living space one afternoon.
Eitoman - Subete no sabishii yoru no tame ni
After Tokyo police officer Yokoda is killed in the line of duty, his chief decides give Yokoda's body to Dr. Tani for use in a secret scientific experiment: Yokoda's brain will be transplanted into a super-powered robot body, making him into an unstoppable policeman of the future.
Teito monogatari
The reincarnation of a 10th century Japanese general haunts 1920's Tokyo.
Star Force: Fugitive Alien II
In this second film compiled from a Japanese TV serial, Captain Joe, the marauder Ken and their crew set off to destroy an alien super-weapon, face off with Ken's vengeful ex-lover Rita and confront the leader of the marauding Star Wolves.
Fugitive Alien
An alien is pursued as a traitor by his own race because he refuses to kill humans.
Tenkôsei
9th-graders Kazuo and Kazumi take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
Hokusai manga
The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.
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.
Hishu monogatari
A rookie golfer must cope with the stress of fame after a marketing executive transforms her into a sports celebrity.
Genkai-nada
Two yakuza, one of whom frequently reflects on an uncomfortable past taking advantage of Korean women, meet a stowaway on Japanese soil from across the Genkai Sea.
Jingi naki tatakai: Kanketsu-hen
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 their thirst for power.
Shima wa moratta
Fresh out of prison, yakuza lieutenant Jiro Sagae is recruited by a new gang to help defeat a powerful rival family in this bloody, stylish crime film that inspired Japanese yakuza films of the '70s.
Minagoroshi no kenjû
Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is a mob hitman who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers, hot-headed Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and aspiring boxer Saburô (Jirô Okazaki), the trio escalate their mob retaliation to all-out turf war where no one will stop until one faction emerges victorious.
Koruto wa ore no pasupooto
The melancholy, homely Kamimura is a hit man who takes a job to kill a mob boss who's gotten greedy..
Koroshi no rakuin
After botching his latest assignment, a third-ranked Japanese hit man becomes the target of another assassin.
Toba no mesu neko: sutemi no shôbu
Yukiko is on her way to meet Boss Gunji. Judging by her appearance, no one would suspect that this beautiful young woman, sitting quietly in a suburban train, is the only woman able to beat the best professional players in Japan; or that she is wearing the tattoo of the man that loved her and died for her...
Nikutai no mon
In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results.
Kenjû zankoku monogatari
Businessmen arrange the early release from prison of Togawa, serving time for taking revenge on the truck driver whose carelessness confined Togawa's sister, Rie, to a wheelchair. They want Togawa to hijack an armored truck loaded with 120 million yen; their leverage is to promise him money for surgery for Rie.
Yajû no seishun
To infiltrate a criminal organization responsible for the death of one of his colleagues, the Detective Tajima adopts the behavior of of a brutal thug and plays opposing yakuza bosses against each other.
Kutabare akutô-domo - Tantei jimusho 23
Tajima is a private detective in charge of his own company, Detective Bureau 2-3. When warring criminal gangs go overboard by robbing U.S. military munitions, Tajima steps in to stop what the cops can't.
Yabai koto nara zeni ni naru
Joe, Okita, and Serizawa hear of the armed robbery of a truck carrying one billion eighty million yen's worth of Mint paper. Knowing that the thugs will now need a counterfeiter to make the bogus bills, they each decide to cash in on it by selling them the idea that they need Sakamoto, the best counterfeiter in Japan.
Gitaa o motta wataridori
The 1st film of the famous "Wataridori" (The Rambler) series from Nikkatsu. Enter Shinji Taki, the young rambler with his light-colored guitar. He arrives in Hakodate. Of course he solves the problems in the town while encountering the sinister rival, gunman George.
Sabita naifu
Two friends who witnessed an organized crime murder are threatened by the local mob into keeping quiet.
Kagenaki koe
Asako, a former telephone operator once heard the voice of a murder suspect which has continued to haunt her. Years later her husband invites his boss, Hamazaki, over for dinner and she realises his voice is suspiciously like that of the killer. Before she can investigate further, Hamazaki is found dead and her husband becomes the prime suspect…
Fumihazushita haru
Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past.