Ken Takakura

Profile

Ken Takakura (高倉健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai. A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films. Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Full list of TV and Movie credits for Ken Takakura, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia. Born : 16th-Feb-1931

Movie Credits

The Longest Tunnel

After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife.
Released : 16th-Oct-1982

Black Rain

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
Released : 22nd-Sep-1989

The Yellow Handkerchief

The story is about a convict released from prison for an old murder who is thinking about returning to his ex-wife and his former life. If she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.
Released : 30th-Sep-1977

47 Ronin

Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal followers (now Ronin, masterless Samurai) dedicate their lives to avenging his death.
Released : 22nd-Oct-1994

Never Give Up

Special forces officer Ajisawa leaves his paramilitary group to take care of his newly-adopted daughter, Yoriko: the sole survival of a bloodbath for which he is responsible. Years later, Ajisawa is forced to return to the scene of the tragedy for his new job as a claims adjuster where he is subsequently arrested for his suspected involvement. But the threat of jail time is the least of his worries as his former organization comes gunning for him.
Released : 7th-Oct-1978

The International Gang of Kobe

In 1947, in Kobe, Japan, a local street gang fights for their survival when its turf is overrun by United States occupation forces and international gangs.
Released : 14th-Oct-1975

The Yakuza

Harry Kilmer returns to Japan after several years in order to rescue his friend George's kidnapped daughter - and ends up on the wrong side of the Yakuza, the notorious Japanese mafia.
Released : 21st-Dec-1974

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles

Takada, a Japanese fisherman has been estranged from his son for many years, but when the son is diagnosed with terminal cancer his daughter-in-law, Rie, summons him to the hospital. Through a series of obstacles and relationships, he is brought unexpectedly closer to both an understanding of himself and of his son.
Released : 22nd-Dec-2005

The Kamikaze Guy

An elaborate criminal tango based around treasure hidden during WWII.
Released : 4th-Jun-1966

The Bullet Train

A Japanese bullet train is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if the train slows below 80 km/h, unless a ransom is paid. Police race to find the bombers so the train crew can learn how to defuse the bomb.
Released : 5th-Jul-1975

Antarctica

Two Japanese scientists, Ushioda and Ochi, develop a bond with their sled dogs while on an expedition in Antarctica.
Released : 23rd-Jul-1983

Mr. Baseball

Jack Elliot, a one-time MVP for the New York Yankees is now on the down side of his baseball career. With a falling batting average, does he have one good year left and can the manager of the Chunichi Dragons, a Japanese Central baseball league find it in him?
Released : 1st-Oct-1992

Railroad Man

A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railroader. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.
Released : 5th-Jun-1999

Red Peony Gambler

Ryuko was raised by her father, a gambler named Senzo Yano in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after her mother died when she was little. When she turned 18 years old, her father was attacked and killed by a stranger in alley. Ryuko then dissolves her yakuza family, and, carrying the wallet left by the killer, she sets out on a journey to avenge her father's death. Five years later, she wanders the nation, known only as! Red Peony Oryu who has a red peony tattooed on her shoulder and has the defiance and courage of a man. She meets Katagiri - a loner gambler, Kumatora - boss of a family in Shikoku, and Otaka - female boss of the Doman Family in Osaka. With their help, she finally catches up with the man who murdered her father.
Released : 14th-Sep-1968

An Outlaw

Assassin Nanjo goes on a solitary mission to take revenge on the man who trapped him into a complicated drug deal.
Released : 5th-Apr-1964

Manhunt

A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.
Released : 11th-Feb-1976

A Distant Cry from Spring

The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.
Released : 15th-Mar-1980

Man of the World 2

An upstanding young man’s racy adventure filled with conspiracies and love.
Released : 13th-Jul-1960

Golgo 13

Live-action adaptation of the hit manga. Golgo 13, also known by the pseudonym Duke Togo, is a professional assassin. His age and birthplace are unknown and there is no consensus in the worldwide intelligence community as to his true identity. Most of his jobs are completed through the use of a customized, scoped M16 rifle. Golgo 13 is contracted to kill Boss Goa, the head of a worldwide crime syndicate responsible for drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.
Released : 29th-Dec-1973

Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game

The third chapter of the ‘Red Peony Gambler’ saga depicts the happiness and sadness of Red Peony Oryu’s life as she seals her femininity with a red peony tattoo and lives in world of chivalry and honor of the yakuza. This story takes place in the middle of the Meiji era in Nagoya. Oryu is wandering the country, training herself to reinstate her family name. With a written recommendation from Kumatora, she appears at the door of the Nishinomaru family. At the same time, the family is preparing for the gambling competition at the Netsuda Shrine Festival, which they have been hosting for generations. Meanwhile, the crooked Kinbara family is plotting to take over the competition. And now Oryu is forced to get involved in the struggle…
Released : 1st-Feb-1969

Brave Red Flower of the North

An exciting tale of action on the distant northern island of Hokkaido around the beginning of the 20th Century starring two of the biggest names in Yakuza film history, Fuji Junko and Takakura Ken. Since the death of death of her father, Yuki who has traveled from her home in the southernmost part of Japan must fight corrupt local officials seeking to fill her late father's post. As her life is in danger a mysterious rifleman, played by Takakura Ken watches from the shadows. Can she finish the work her dear departed father started in an untamed land?
Released : 9th-Jan-1970

Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro

The fifth and final installment with the build up of the epic battle between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. With all the familiar characters making appearances: Otsu (Musashi's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi (still doggedly trying to defeat Musashi), and even the return of Priest Takuan (the man responsible for his journey towards enlightenment). But most of all, the boastful, long-haired and long-sworded Sasaki Kojiro.
Released : 4th-Sep-1965

Mount Hakkoda

Two infantry regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army—210 men overall—tackled Mt. Hakkoda in the winter of 1902 to prepare for war with Russia.
Released : 4th-Jun-1977

Station

A detective goes out of his way to crack the case of a serial killer who specialises in murdering police officers.
Released : 7th-Nov-1981

Buddies

Based on a celebrated book by Kuniko Mukoda, this film directed by Yasuo Furuhata tells of a close friendship undone by love.
Released : 3rd-Nov-1989

A Fugitive from the Past

Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.
Released : 15th-Jan-1965

Dearest

The posthumous wish of Eiji's wife is for her ashes to be scattered in the ocean near her hometown. Eiji also learns that his wife letter for him at the post office before she died.
Released : 25th-Aug-2012

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4

Fierce war breaks out when Shujiro’s rival clan attempts to sabotage his lucrative construction business.
Released : 8th-Jul-1967

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo

Hidejuro is sent to prison after killing the boss of a rival family. After being released, he discovers that his family has scattered and he is taken in by a company of quarry workers, whose boss has a strict code of non-violence. When the rival family tries to take over the company and kills their boss, Hidejuro must choose between his promise of non-violence and his yakuza code of revenge...
Released : 6th-Mar-1969

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny

Young yakuza Shujiro Hanada goes to prison after losing his cool in a rigged gambling game and slashing a few other players. When he's released in 1927, the world has changed. His sister died in the Great Kanto Earthquake and his father is also gone. His brother Jukichi invites him to stay at his in-laws and works in their family pub. He lies low, helping his blind mother-in-law and slowly developing a relationship with Ikuye, the hostess who helped him before his arrest. But trouble lurks when the resident gang decides to show its strength.
Released : 22nd-Sep-1970

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2

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, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution.
Released : 13th-Jan-1966

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf

Yakuza families clash over a lucrative fishery business.
Released : 9th-Jul-1966

Demon

Shuji was once a feared member of the Yakuza crime syndicate, but he's reformed his ways, abandoned his old life and left the city for a small coastal fishing town where he's become an honest fisherman.
Released : 31st-Aug-1985

Brutal Tales of Chivalry

After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in Enko area.
Released : 1st-Oct-1965

The Bullet and the Horse

A number of recently released prisoners become involved in a racket with a rancher who is a rival to a neighboring landowner and wants to use the convicts to seize his ranch. The rancher does not know, however, that he had years before killed the parents of one of their number.
Released : 23rd-Apr-1966

Abashiri Prison

Abashiri Prison is located in the coldest place in Japan. Two men, handcuffed together have escaped from the prison, one a yakuza, the other a petty criminal, and although they hate each other they must work together if they are to evade capture in this harshest of climates.
Released : 18th-Apr-1965

Wolves, Pigs & Men

Sabu and his pals hold a pauper's funeral for Sabu's mother. His brother Jiro arrives home, fresh out of jail, and Sabu pointedly states that Jiro is not invited. Jiro meanwhile is planning a big job - steal 40 million in cash and drugs, and he invites Sabu and gang to act as decoys, for 50,000 each. The sting is a success, but the double-crossing starts almost immediately. Sabu discovers how little of the take they were promised and hides the stash. Jiro and his slimy partner pressure the kids to fess up. Meanwhile, their respectable elder brother Ichiro is being leaned on by the town's big boss, whose money it was.
Released : 26th-Aug-1964

All Rascals

Ishihama is planning a casino robbery with his wife and mother-in-law. They meet a man named Tsuneda who is planning the same robbery and agree to work together.
Released : 21st-Mar-1962

The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang

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, Tsuruji, a beautiful yet tough geisha, becomes the boss. But will she be able to confront a yakuza gang trying to take over the area?
Released : 4th-Mar-1972

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love

A story of lone wolf struggling with human compassion and duty.
Released : 27th-Oct-1971

Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san

Daughter of a lumber shop in Edo strives to protect her family business from the competitor.
Released : 22nd-Oct-1961

No Advice Taken

A comical love story between two college students — Hitomi, a strong-willed girl, and Shogo, a handsome, earnest and poverty stricken man.
Released : 3rd-Jan-1958

Winter's Flower

Kanno is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!
Released : 17th-Jun-1978

The Firefly

Japanese film icon Ken Takakura, who has starred in over 100 films, stars in this elegiac look at war and remembrance. Hideji Yamaoka (Takakura) was a suicide pilot during the war who somehow survived Japan's surrender. After decades of working as a fisherman in Kumamoto, a provincial seaside city in southern Kyushu, Yamaoka remains reluctant to discuss his wartime experiences with anyone, much less an intrusive reporter looking for a feature story. Then a series of events shake Yamaoka to the core, forcing him to re-evaluate his past.
Released : 1st-May-2001

The Domain

The feud between two rival delivery companies, Kibamasa and Okiyama, heats up as the head of Kibamasa falls ill.
Released : 13th-Aug-1964

The Homeless

Two inmates are simultaneously released from jail, but go their separate ways, only to cross paths again in the nearest brothel. There they make the acquaintance of a would-be prostitute. They help her escape and decide to guide her on her quest for sunken contraband somewhere off the coast.
Released : 9th-Oct-1974

Too Late the Hero

A WWII film set on a Pacific island. Japanese and allied forces occupy different parts of the island. When a group of British soldiers are sent on a mission behind enemy lines, things don't go exactly to plan. This film differs in that some of the 'heroes' are very reluctant, but they come good when they are pursued by the Japanese who are determined to prevent them returning to base.
Released : 20th-May-1970

Prison Boss

Rival gangs fight over ownership of bicycle race track.
Released : 18th-Apr-1968

Choji Snack Bar

Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.
Released : 12th-Nov-1983

The Day the Sun Rose

Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration.
Released : 23rd-Nov-1968

The Path of the King

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 replace him. A fight for the succession begins.
Released : 6th-Mar-1971

TV Credits

あにき

Eiji - The series tells about the life of construction foreman Eiji and his sister. Both have a love interest: she has a boyfriend, and he has a young girl. The sister is thinking about marriage, and the brother has too strict principles to recklessly rush into the abyss of passion.
Released : 7th-Oct-1977

SMAP×SMAP

Bistro Guest - SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking. Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.
Released : 15th-Apr-1996

チロルの挽歌

Tateishi Jiro - In the past, it was bustling with coal mines, but due to the closure of the mine one after another, the city of Nupuka no Shiki in Hokkaido is currently suffering from depopulation. The mayor, Yamagata, is trying to revitalize the city by proceeding with the construction of the theme park "Tyrolean World" with capital participation from the Kanto Electric Railway in Tokyo. Tateishi, the head of the engineering department of the Kanto Electric Railway, is assigned to Hokkaido, leaving his daughter Aki in Tokyo to be responsible for the construction and operation of Tyrolean World. There he meets Kikukawa, whom Tateishi had dissuaded from committing suicide in the past. Soon complicated triangle forms, beetwen Tateishi feeling responsible for Kikukawa, his wife and Kikukawa himself, trying run from the situation.
Released : 11th-Apr-1992

これから～海辺の旅人たち～

- Through the lives of people aging in a seaside retirement home, the drama depicts the aging process that comes to everyone.
Released : 21st-May-1993

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