Ken Ogata

Ken Ogata

Born: July 20, 1937
Died: October 5, 2008
in Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Ken Ogata (緒形 拳 Ogata Ken, 20 July 1937-5 October 2008) was a Japanese actor.

Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama. He won the award for best actor at the 26th Blue Ribbon Awards for Okinawan Boys.

In television, his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The network tapped him again for the role of Fujiwara no Sumitomo in the 1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 Ōgon no Hibi, and returned to the lead as Ōishi Kuranosuke in Tōge no Gunzō, the 1982 Chūshingura. Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in Taiheiki (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji).

Mr. Ogata died on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama "Kaze no Garden" (Garden of the Winds), filmed in the rural Furano area of northern Japan. In his final role, Ogata, himself 71 years of age, played a doctor involved in the end-of-life care of elderly patients.

His sons Kanta and Naoto Ogata are actors. NHK selected Naoto for the starring role of Oda Nobunaga in the 1992 Taiga drama Nobunaga King of Zipangu; Kanta played Inaba Masakatsu in Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000).

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Movies for Ken Ogata...

Title: Garden of the Wind
Character: Teizo Shiratori
Released: October 9, 2008
Type: TV
The lead, Dr. Sadami Shiratori worked in the operating room at a famous Tokyo hospital was around death on a daily basis. His own father, Teizo Shiratori is also a doctor, called Grandfather as he raised the estranged children of his wayward son, he practiced medicine in a small town on Hokkaido, Japan’s most northern island. His practice was limited only to terminal patients…in their own homes. He cared for them and helped both them and their families prepare for the ‘final journey’.
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Bōshi
Title: Bōshi
Character: Shunpei Takayama
Released: August 2, 2008
Type: Movie
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Kitaro and the Millennium Curse
Title: Kitaro and the Millennium Curse
Character: Nurarihyon
Released: July 9, 2008
Type: Movie
Young women disappear one after another in drizzling rain. They all hear the “cursed song” of the Cage Song before they vanish into thin air. Kitaro and his friends investigate these mysterious cases when they meet Kaede Hiramoto, a high school girl who finds herself involved in this mystery. With the help from the librarian of Yokai Library, they find out that the curse was caused by an evil Yokai that was released from 1,000 years of sealing. To save Kaede, they are to gather the 5 ancient musical instruments and perform the ritual to seal the evil Yokai again, which has to be done within 48 hours!
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Love and Honor
Title: Love and Honor
Character: Magohachiro Kibe
Released: December 1, 2006
Type: Movie
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
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Granny Gabai
Title: Granny Gabai
Character: Tofu shop owner
Released: June 2, 2006
Type: Movie
Gabai Granny is based on the bestseller Saga No Gabai Baachan (Gabai Granny from Saga), which is penned by comedian Shimada Yoshichi as he recounts his childhood memories of growing up under the care of his grandmother.
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A Long Walk
Title: A Long Walk
Character: Matsutaro Yasuda
Released: April 1, 2006
Type: Movie
A lonely retired girl's High School Principal who's lost his wife to alcoholism moves to an old apartment in a country town. There he forms a relationship with a neglected little neighborhood girl.
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A Hardest Night!!
Title: A Hardest Night!!
Released: October 22, 2005
Type: Movie
A celebration of the ancient art of Japanese rakugo, roughly translated as “comic storytelling”. The film is interspersed with numerous funerals and wakes, songs, dances, and often disgustingly crude jokes.
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The Samurai I Loved
Title: The Samurai I Loved
Character: Maki Sukezaemon
Released: October 1, 2005
Type: Movie
A young samurai stuck at the bottom of the hierarchical order attempts to rescue his childhood sweetheart from an evil clan lord after learning of a plot to kill her and her infant child. Bunshiro Maki is a skilled swordfighter who's lethal with a blade, yet still can't rise through the ranks of the system. After his father is accused of plotting against his clan and forced to commit ritual suicide, his longtime love Fuku is sent to Edo to become the clan lord's concubine. A few years later, Fuku has bore the clan lord a son. When Maki learns that the clan has hatched a plan to kill Fuku and her son to secure succession to the throne, he recruits two childhood friends to help thwart the diabolical plot.
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Miracle Banana
Title: Miracle Banana
Character: Takashi Yamamura
Released: October 1, 2005
Type: Movie
Sachiko Mishima a young Japanese woman get sent to Haiti as a dispatch member for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She thinks she is going to the holiday resort of Tahiti by mistaking Tahiti for Haiti). While in Haiti with the help of a Japanese craftsman she learns paper can be made from bananas. She embarks on a mission to create paper for the Haiti residents to help them.
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Title: Ruri's Island
Character: Yuzo Nakama
Released: April 16, 2005
Type: TV
Ruri, having been abandoned by her mother to a foster care facility, lives a life of reckless abandonment. When Nakama Yuzo, a kind man but for a trigger-happy temper, runs into Ruri he realizes that perhaps she's the child he's been looking for. Yuzo lives in Hatomijima, a small insland in Okinawa where the population is 49 and the average age group is 61. There are no children. The island has only one school - a primary school. If a child is not enrolled in the school, it will be closed. As a result, society will abandon the island and in a few years, it will cease to have any inhabitants. To save their island, the locals decide to bring in a foster child. Ruri is their candidate, and with her she brings the hope of the island's survival.
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Journey Along the Silk Road
Title: Journey Along the Silk Road
Released: January 1, 2005
Type: Movie
Actor Ken Ogata takes you on an archaeological journey down the legendary Silk Road, the ancient trading route between China and the West. Also explored are the controversial claims of French scholar Paul Pelloit, who posited the existence of another route for the Silk Road across great stretches of desert. This remarkable documentary provides a fascinating glimpse into a rarely explored region, opening a window onto the past.
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The Hidden Blade
Title: The Hidden Blade
Character: Chief Retainer Hori
Released: October 30, 2004
Type: Movie
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
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Last Quarter
Title: Last Quarter
Character: Doujima
Released: September 25, 2004
Type: Movie
Do you believe in love after death? On the eve of her 19th birthday, Mizuki (Kuriyama) doesn't have a lot to celebrate about. Her mother recently committed suicide, her stepfamily bothers her, her boyfriend has been cheating on her and her best friend has betrayed her. Hurt and disillusioned, Mizuki runs from everything and is drawn by some unknown force to a dilapidated estate. Deep within the house Mizuki discovers the mysterious Adam (Hyde), playing a hauntingly familiar melody on the guitar. Melancholy and full of secrets, it seems that Adam, and the house, have a strange, irresistible link to Mizuki. Can Mizuki's boyfriend and a couple of well-meaning schoolchildren uncover the secret of what happened 19 years ago and free Mizuki before the last quarter of the moon falls?
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Izo
Title: Izo
Character: Swordsman
Released: September 7, 2004
Type: Movie
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
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The Man Who Wipes Mirrors
Title: The Man Who Wipes Mirrors
Released: September 3, 2003
Type: Movie
Tsutomu Minagawa is set to retire; the organized business life, a perfectly normal family living in a two-story house with a garage, the once unstoppable routine is about to close down forever. However, Tsutomu's last day changes him forever, as a car accident leads to his new purpose and sets him on a mission to clean every traffic mirror in Japan in order to save lives.
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Time Limit
Title: Time Limit
Released: June 25, 2003
Type: Movie
Mizusawa (Takenouchi Yutaka), an explosives expert, is arrested and charged with a string of bank robberies. Because he is a flight risk, Detective Kayama (Ogata Ken) is assigned to transport Mizusawa to Shizuoka for questioning. On the way, Kayama receives word that the hotel where his wife and daughter are attending a party has been rigged with a time bomb. Being a "by-the-book" kind of cop, Kayama refuses to abandon his job and return to help his family. Meanwhile, the hotel is swarming with police and the bomb squad who are searching for the bomb and the culprit. Time is almost up. Mizusawa claims that he is the only who who can deactivate the bomb.
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11'09''01 September 11
Title: 11'09''01 September 11
Character: Villager (segment "Japan")
Released: September 4, 2002
Type: Movie
Filmmakers from all over the world provide short films – each of which is eleven minutes, nine seconds, and one frame of film in length – that offer differing perspectives on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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Title: Prince Shotoku
Character: Soga no Umako
Released: November 10, 2001
Type: TV
In the late 6th century the leaders of the Yamato Dynasty had no clear plan for the creation of a unified state. Battles still raged among various warrior clans. Shotoku Taishi, second son of Emperor Yomei, strived to create a new nation out of this chaos. NHK captures this great man from a time in history rarely depicted on screen, in a story of epic proportions. Shotoku Taishi is known mainly through legends and myths and has been viewed as more god than man. The elaborate and colorful costumes of the time and the beauty of ancient Japan enhance this fascinating historical drama.
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Man Walking on Snow
Title: Man Walking on Snow
Character: Nobuo Honma
Released: January 1, 2001
Type: Movie
Mashike, a city on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Nobuo Honma is a 63-year-old sake producer. He has lived with Yasuo since his wife died two years ago. Yasuo is his youngest son to whom he has entrusted his trade. Every day Nobuo goes for a walk which leads him to a fish-breeding center, located in the mountains. He fills his loneliness by attentively observing the development of thousands of little fish poured into the pool. The second anniversary of his wife's death approaches. Nobuo insists on the presence of Ryoichi, his elder son whom he hasn't seen for a long time. Nobuo and his two sons, along with their partners, gather for the commemoration. Unspoken feelings resurface and clash with each other.
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Film Noir
Title: Film Noir
Character: Client
Released: November 4, 2000
Type: Movie
The movie is absurd, and a thoroughly original take on the morale in Japanese society. The images are beautiful, and the people are as cold as the snow that surrounds them. The take on Melville's "Samoraï" from -67 is obvious, but Kobayashi turns the image around and portrays the killer as the weakest person in the movie - haunted by his demanding wife and the moaning contractor, who is one of the most mysterious characters ever portrayed in a movie.
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Autumn Blossoms
Title: Autumn Blossoms
Released: October 30, 1999
Type: Movie
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The Central Quicksand
Title: The Central Quicksand
Released: August 4, 1998
Type: Movie
A tremor struck the Information Industry Bureau of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The prosecution arrested a local contractor on suspicion of bribery, and then the brunt was directed to the Information Industry Bureau. The interviewee was Akihiko Kurahashi (Shinobu Tsuruta), the leader of the non-carrier group. Previously, Kiichiro Yamada (Ken Ogata), a clerk who lived next door in the government building, couldn't help but sympathize with Kurahashi, who had succeeded in his career.
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Title: Gift
Character: Yujiro Kishiwada(岸和田 裕二郎)
Released: April 16, 1997
Type: TV
Gift is a drama that aired on Fuji TV. It first aired in Japan from April 16, 1997 to June 25, 1997 every Wednesday. It features music by Bryan Ferry and Howard Jones. It raised several issues in Japanese society, due to its casual use of a butterfly knife and its resulting violence.
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Title: Mouri Motonari
Released: January 5, 1997
Type: TV
The 36th NHK Taiga Drama is Mori Motonari. This series chronicles the life of Mori Motonari, a warlord of the early 1500s who stood at the vanguard of the Warring States era. All Japanese school textbooks contain the Mitsuya no kyokun, Mori's famous lesson to his three sons that teaches that while one arrow is easily broken, three arrows together cannot be broken. In 1997, 500 years after his birth, NHK dramatizes Motonari's rise from a chief of the region of Aki (now Hiroshima) to a daimyo who rules over ten provinces of the Chugoku region. Motonari was 64 years old and already the patriarch of a powerful dynasty about the time Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen appeared on the scene. And even after his death, the Mori family figured prominently in Japanese history. His grandson Terumoto became a loyal Toyotomi vassal. Defeated at the Battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu confiscated most of his lands, leaving him only with Suwo and Nagato, later known as Choshu. But 260 years later, the Mori got their ultimate revenge, leading the imperial forces against the Tokugawa in the Meiji Restoration.
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Title: 橋の雨
Released: July 19, 1996
Type: TV
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Title: Hachigatsu no Love Song
Released: July 1, 1996
Type: TV
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Gonin 2
Title: Gonin 2
Character: Toyama Masamichi
Released: June 29, 1996
Type: Movie
Five women snatch one billion yen in jewellery from the yakuza, while construction manager Toyama burns for revenge against the mobsters who raped and caused the death of his wife. Before long, the yakuza and Toyama arrive at the women's hideout.
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Title: SMAP×SMAP
Character: Skit guest
Released: April 15, 1996
Type: TV
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.
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Title: SMAP×SMAP
Character: Skit Guest
Released: April 15, 1996
Type: TV
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.
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Title: ナニワ金融道
Character: 金子 高利
Released: February 16, 1996
Type: TV
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The Way of Osaka Financing 1
Title: The Way of Osaka Financing 1
Released: February 16, 1996
Type: Movie
A special drama starring Masahiro Nakai of SMAP, which was aired on Fuji TV six times from 1996 to 2005. The original is a comic of the same name by Yuji Aoki. The script was written by Ryoichi Kimizuka of "Bayside Shakedown", and it is a comical and fast-paced work. Tatsuyuki Haibara (Masahiro Nakai), a young man who joined Naniwa's financial company, Imperial Finance, is "the best financial company in Osaka" while witnessing the sadness, thickness, and warmth of human beings who are at the mercy of money. It is impressive to follow the figure of aiming for. By arranging attractive female guests, themes that tend to be raw, such as debt and debt collection, can be made to look friendly and gorgeous. His senior who leads Haibara, Kuwata (Kaoru Kobayashi), and other astringent men are also a must-see.
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Goodbye Japan
Title: Goodbye Japan
Released: September 2, 1995
Type: Movie
Yukihiko's first film.
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The Pillow Book
Title: The Pillow Book
Character: The Father
Released: September 1, 1995
Type: Movie
A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.
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Title: Furuhata Ninzaburo
Released: April 13, 1994
Type: TV
Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
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Title: Stewardess's Sweetheart
Released: April 12, 1994
Type: TV
This romantic tale involves a co-pilot who aspires to become the pilot of a new Boeing 747-400, and the stewardess he loves. Suddenly, the wife he had believed dead reappears.
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Title: 動く壁
Released: January 21, 1994
Type: TV
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Kokkai e ikô!
Title: Kokkai e ikô!
Released: May 1, 1993
Type: Movie
A close look at the inner workings of Japan's political underbelly.
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Succession
Title: Succession
Character: Daisaku Kadota
Released: August 29, 1992
Type: Movie
A former stockbroker-turned-yakuza must make sure his alcoholic boss is up to the task of swearing in the next leader of their syndicate.
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The Dream of Russia
Title: The Dream of Russia
Character: Koudayu Daikokuya - captain
Released: June 25, 1992
Type: Movie
Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash.
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Title: Ai wa Doda
Released: April 17, 1992
Type: TV
Although Shuichi has lost his wife, there is no lack of female influence in his life. He has three daughters who are eligible for marriage, and an assortment of women friends and lovers that has earned him the reputation of being a playboy. But the real love interest in his life is his female boss. How he and his daughters work out their romantic adventures provides both entertainment and enlightenment in the challenges of finding true love.
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My Soul Is Slashed
Title: My Soul Is Slashed
Character: Shutaro Ishikawa
Released: June 1, 1991
Type: Movie
A hospital accidentally gives a man Count Dracula's blood while trying to save his life. A year later, he's back from the dead, trying to right the wrongs of his life while trying to resist the urge to become a vampire.
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Goodbye Mama
Title: Goodbye Mama
Released: April 20, 1991
Type: Movie
A successful office lady, who has made herself sexually available to a doctor, has her routine disrupted when her former boyfriend's son appears in her life. She is not connected to the boy, but his father has been in an accident.
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Heat Wave
Title: Heat Wave
Character: Police
Released: February 9, 1991
Type: Movie
Rin Jyoshima lost her father to death-by-gambling; years later, she's grown up in the Kosugi household and has fallen victim to gambling herself.
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Rainbow Kids
Title: Rainbow Kids
Character: Inspector Daigoro Igari
Released: January 15, 1991
Type: Movie
A wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place.
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Shingo's Ten Duels
Title: Shingo's Ten Duels
Character: The narrator
Released: January 1, 1990
Type: Movie
The classic tale of the shogun's illegitimate son Aoi Shingo is told in three parts as he strives to become the greatest fencer in Japan, while his father Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune seeks to reunite with his lost son. When the secrets of Shingo's birth are revealed to him, it sets off a series of events that bring him to cross swords with members of the shogun's inner circle in a series of duels that could change the destiny of Japan.
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Company Executives
Title: Company Executives
Released: June 10, 1989
Type: Movie
A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away.
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Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
Title: Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
Released: February 4, 1989
Type: Movie
Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.
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Shogun's Shadow
Title: Shogun's Shadow
Character: Igo Gyobu
Released: January 14, 1989
Type: Movie
A shogun's eldest son must do whatever it takes to survive a series of attempts on his life. He receives much-needed aid from seven warriors who are led by a strong leader.
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The Peacock King
Title: The Peacock King
Character: Jiku Ajari
Released: December 10, 1988
Type: Movie
Coerced by the evil Witch Raga, Ashura, the Hell Virgin, attempts to unlock the four Earth holes that lead to the Gates of Hell. Together, Raga aims to control the Earth. However, two monks skilful in magical powers set off on a journey to the cities to obstruct Ashura from unlocking the gates and stop Raga. Otherwise, not only will control of the Earth be at stake, but the King of Hell will resurrect and darkness will overcome the world.
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A Chaos of Flowers
Title: A Chaos of Flowers
Character: Kan Yosano
Released: October 1, 1988
Type: Movie
Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.
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Oracion
Title: Oracion
Character: Senzo Wataumi
Released: July 23, 1988
Type: Movie
Set on a quiet ranch in Hokkaido. One day, a colt is born from a legendary bloodline. It is given the name Oracion or "prayer". When Oracion is grown, a factory owner buys the horse. Will he be the key to solving the man's problems? Based on the novel by Teru Miyamoto.
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Tokugawa Ieyasu – TBS Warlord Special
Title: Tokugawa Ieyasu – TBS Warlord Special
Released: July 12, 1988
Type: Movie
From his early days as Matsudaira Motoyasu through his rise to the most powerful man in Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa Shoguns, this is the story of the man who truly unified Japan under one ruler. Tokugawa Ieyasu is quoted as saying: “People carry burdens through life as they travel a long road. Never rush” “If you think of privation as normal, you’ll be contented. If you know only about winning and losing, harm may fall upon you. Being inferior is batter than being superior.” These writing reflected the beliefs and military strategy of Ieyasu, a man before his time who was destined to take over the entire country in order to ensure the safety of his children.
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Memories of You
Title: Memories of You
Released: March 5, 1988
Type: Movie
University student Akira meets the lovely 14-year-old Yumi, whom he had tutored years ago. Her mother is told by her doctor that the schoolgirl has leukaemia and has only 6 months to live.
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Totteoki no Seishun
Title: Totteoki no Seishun
Released: January 6, 1988
Type: Movie
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Tokyo Bordello
Title: Tokyo Bordello
Released: June 13, 1987
Type: Movie
A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. The owner of the brothel has hopes to make her a great new addition which will attract the richest of customers. But after several months of training, she tries to flee Yoshiwara when the time has come for her to take her first customer...
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Zegen
Title: Zegen
Character: Iheiji Muraoka
Released: June 2, 1987
Type: Movie
At the time between the World Wars, Japan is involved in empire-building throughout East and Southeast Asia. After a brief career as a low-level military adventurer, Iheiji sets up chains of brothels throughout Asia. As Japan's power in the region grows, so does Iheiji's prosperity and patriotism.
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House on Fire
Title: House on Fire
Character: Kazuo Katsura
Released: April 12, 1986
Type: Movie
In the 50s, the complicated life of a popular writer who must share his life with his family, his numerous mistresses and his work
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Tracked
Title: Tracked
Character: Tokichi Sakane
Released: October 26, 1985
Type: Movie
When a fugitive begins a romance with the woman hiding him from the law, it becomes uncertain whether he will ever escape the shadow of his heinous crimes--or the detectives hot on his trail.
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Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Title: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Character: Yukio Mishima (segment "November 25, 1970")
Released: May 15, 1985
Type: Movie
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.
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Oar
Title: Oar
Character: Iwago Tomita
Released: January 15, 1985
Type: Movie
Drama about the difficult relationship between a former wrestler, his wife and their adopted children.
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Jugyo Sankan no Onna
Title: Jugyo Sankan no Onna
Character: Kyohei Tasaka
Released: April 28, 1984
Type: Movie
One spring, Tasaka, an elementary school teacher, receives a new class of first graders. While taking the children's attendance, Tasaka is surprised to see a call girl he once had an encounter with standing among the parents in the back of the classroom. According to the school's files, her name is Yukako Sawada, and her child Eisaku has no legal father. The next day, Eisaku gives Tasaka a letter from Yukako asking to meet at the hotel where they first met, and Tasaka sets out with an uneasy feeling...
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Ana
Title: Ana
Character: Toru Mori
Released: March 13, 1984
Type: Movie
A double suicide happens in Morioka in Iwate Prefecture. The two were employees of rival real estate companies. A prosecutor who senses a setup exposes the truth.
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The Catch
Title: The Catch
Character: Fusajiro Kohama
Released: October 29, 1983
Type: Movie
A young man tries to overcome the hostility of his girlfriend's father, a tuna fisherman, by getting the father to teach him the trade's secrets.
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The Geisha
Title: The Geisha
Character: Katsuzo
Released: September 10, 1983
Type: Movie
Yokiro was the most successful Geisha house in Western Japan during the first half of the 20th century and remains open to this day. At its peak, it was home to over 200 geisha, however behind the fabulous facade, there were many battles - between family members, men and women, and with the Yakuza. Momokawa was sold to Yokiro at age 12, and despite being the top geisha, her many complicated relationships provide unending challenges throughout her glamorous but turbulent life.
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Okinawan Boys
Title: Okinawan Boys
Released: September 10, 1983
Type: Movie
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The Ballad of Narayama
Title: The Ballad of Narayama
Character: Tatsuhei
Released: April 29, 1983
Type: Movie
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
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The Dropout
Title: The Dropout
Character: Seiji Ohtaki
Released: October 2, 1982
Type: Movie
Detective Seiji Otaki is determined to find the psychopathic killer of a young woman who was ostensibly a student but in reality a high-priced prostitute. Even though he has been taken off the case for beating up a suspect, he refuses to let it go and recruits his mistress to act as a decoy for the killer. Her involvement turns out to be a fatal mistake, and when her husband gets out of prison, Detective Otaki is in worse trouble than ever.
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Title: Toge no Gunzo
Character: Yoshio Oishi
Released: January 10, 1982
Type: TV
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Edo Porn
Title: Edo Porn
Character: Hokusai
Released: September 12, 1981
Type: Movie
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.
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Samurai Reincarnation
Title: Samurai Reincarnation
Character: Musashi Miyamoto
Released: June 6, 1981
Type: Movie
After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.
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The Phantom Thief Nezumi Kozo and the Tattooed Judge
Title: The Phantom Thief Nezumi Kozo and the Tattooed Judge
Character: Toyama no Kin-san
Released: April 24, 1981
Type: Movie
Magistrate Toyama no Kin-san is ordered to catch the phantom thief Nezumi Kozo, who is robbing daimyo and wealthy townspeople. Under the name of Nezumi Kozo, there is a small wholesaler Jiro. And once Toyama and Jiro, when they were young, were comrades who spent all their time gambling and having fun with women in the Yushima Tenjin area...
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Why Not?
Title: Why Not?
Character: Furukawa
Released: January 8, 1981
Type: Movie
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
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The Wicked
Title: The Wicked
Released: June 28, 1980
Type: Movie
A selfish playboy uses rich women to pay off his debts. Divorcing his wife and marrying the woman he loves throws him into a spiral of destruction.
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Virus
Title: Virus
Character: Prof. Tsuchiya
Released: June 26, 1980
Type: Movie
Scientists in Antarctica desperately try to find a cure to a military virus that was released in a plane crash and has wiped out the rest of the world.
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Shadow Warriors: Hattori Hanzo
Title: Shadow Warriors: Hattori Hanzo
Character: Koga Shiro Samurai
Released: February 23, 1980
Type: Movie
The tale takes place around 1650, after the death of the third Tokugawa shogun, when ronin were expelled from Edo, the military capital. During the political instability following the death of Iemitsu Tokugawa, Hanzo's Iga ninja clan battles against the Koga clan as various factions vie to seize power. The child shogun Ietsuna is kidnapped but turns out to be hidden under (or over) everyone's noses in a castle turret which is reinforced by a comic book villain, the fire-spitting black ninja. The good ninja has to get through all the traps & save the child.
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Title: Akai Arashi
Released: November 30, 1979
Type: TV
a romance drawn under the theme of "As long as human beings have love, as long as they live thoroughly for love, they will never be unhappy."
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Vengeance Is Mine
Title: Vengeance Is Mine
Character: Iwao Enokizu
Released: April 21, 1979
Type: Movie
A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.
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Title: Ashura no Gotoku
Released: January 13, 1979
Type: TV
Kuniko Mukōda's masterpiece, a poignant and subtle portrait of the jealousy and suspicion that secretly swirl behind seemingly peaceful family relationships.
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The Demon
Title: The Demon
Character: Sokichi Takeshita
Released: October 7, 1978
Type: Movie
When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.
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Title: Ōgon no Hibi
Character: Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Released: January 8, 1978
Type: TV
Luzon Sukezaemon is a merchant who imports vases from the Philippines. The vases are highly valued as tea utensils and he makes a huge profit. This was the first taiga drama to concentrate on the lives of commoners and the reviled merchant class of the Tokugawa period. It documents the rise and fall of the merchant city of Sakai, as seen by its most famous resident, the semilegendary Luzon.
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Mount Hakkoda
Title: Mount Hakkoda
Character: Corporal Murayama
Released: June 4, 1977
Type: Movie
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.
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The Castle of Sand
Title: The Castle of Sand
Character: Kenichi Miki
Released: October 19, 1974
Type: Movie
Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.
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The Last Samurai
Title: The Last Samurai
Character: Nakamura Hanjiro
Released: September 20, 1974
Type: Movie
The film follows the story of Sugi Toranosuke, a ronin, who returns to his home town of Edo many years after his attempted suicide as a sickly child. Rescued and adopted by a master swordsman, he has grown into a master swordsman and a very kind gentleman. The time is around 1868 the year that the nails were finally put into the coffin containing the feudal system that nurtured and sustained the samurai. Sugi is confused and unsure about what is happening but his teacher wants him out of the chaos of the multiple power struggles between the various clans.
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Professional Killers – Assignment by Night
Title: Professional Killers – Assignment by Night
Character: Baian Fujieda
Released: February 16, 1974
Type: Movie
Three assassins take on a band of thieves who specialize in murder.
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Professional Killers – Assassin's Quarry
Title: Professional Killers – Assassin's Quarry
Character: Baian Fujieda
Released: September 29, 1973
Type: Movie
An assassin is mistaken for a doctor and threatened by a band of masterless warriors, but they realize their mistake and retreat into the darkness. Days later, he is asked to kill the doctor's brother. What secrets are these men hiding?
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Title: Professional Killers
Character: Baian Fujieda
Released: September 2, 1972
Type: TV
A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
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Title: 必殺仕掛人(TVシリーズ)
Released: September 2, 1972
Type: TV
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A Woman Called En
Title: A Woman Called En
Released: May 29, 1971
Type: Movie
Set at the end of the feudal period. A woman spends most of her early life in prison, incarcerated by political opponents of her father. When she is released at the age of 44, the power struggles of her clan continue to disturb her life and the man whom she loves.
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Lady with Seven Faces
Title: Lady with Seven Faces
Character: Scholar
Released: June 21, 1969
Type: Movie
A lovely female thief, and disguise artist, has a great passion for her next big job which she sets up with her right-hand man: She intends to steal 500 million yen of ill-gotten money from the safe at Nitto Textiles
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Samurai Banners
Title: Samurai Banners
Character: Hatanaka Buhei
Released: March 1, 1969
Type: Movie
Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big?
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Farewell, My Beloved
Title: Farewell, My Beloved
Released: February 21, 1969
Type: Movie
During the early days of the war a young student, Makito (Kazuo Funaki), falls in love with Yuko (Mayumi Ozora), the widow of a naval officer. She, however, is living with the memories of her husband and it is her younger sister, Yumiko (Nana Ozaki), who grows fond of the student. Then, one day, a young naval officer, Tadayuki (Ken Ogata), a friend of her late husband, comes to see the widow and she becomes attracted to him. Though Makito is inspired to study for the navy, he is much upset when he learns that Yuko and Tadayuki are to marry.
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The House of Wooden Blocks
Title: The House of Wooden Blocks
Released: October 30, 1968
Type: Movie
On his return from school, young Ichiro finds his father in bed with his adopted sister, Namie. Enraged, he decides to outdo his father in terms of immoral behaviour.
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The Sex Check
Title: The Sex Check
Released: June 1, 1968
Type: Movie
Ken Ogata plays Shiro Miyagi, a sprinter with Olympic aspirations whose dreams were shattered by WWII. A broken man, he leads the dissolute life of a gigolo until a chance meeting with a fiery young athlete named Hiroko (Michiyo Yasuda). Realizing that she has talent as a sprinter, Miyagi sees a second chance at Olympic glory in becoming her coach. Following Miyagi’s unconventional, military-style training, Hiroko sets a record for the 100-meter dash, but her greatest hurdle proves to be a “sex check” which all professional athletes must pass.
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Title: Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Character: Musashibo Benkei
Released: January 2, 1966
Type: TV
The chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of Japan. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. His older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate.
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Title: Taikouki
Character: Toyotomi no Hideyoshi
Released: January 3, 1965
Type: TV
Based on the life of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (February 2, 1537 – September 18, 1598) a Sengoku period daimyo who unified Japan.