Ken Takakura
Date of Birth: 16 Feb 1931
Country: Japan
Biography: Ken Takakura is a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic, honorable presence he brings to his roles. Known as the "Clint Eastwood" of Japan, 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, Shôwa zankyô-den (1965) in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai.
Total Credits at Criticker: 64 (Actor)
Biography last updated by Dunstan-xxx, and picture by whatismyname
Find more information about Ken Takakura at The Internet Movie Database
Titles you haven't rated - Actor (64)
Based on the mystery novel by Tsutomu Mizukami, the intense drama starts with a murdered dead body found at a shipwreck.
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Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. (imdb)
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A Japanese father travels to China's Yunnan province in the place of his ailing son to film a famous folk-opera star. (imdb)
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Oishi Kuranosuke, a chamberlain of the Ako-Asano Clan loses his master to Seppuku. The Asano Lord was forced to commit suicide because of his provoked attack on Lord Kira during the reception for the envoys. In the aftermath, Oishi disbands the clan publicly and at the same time recruits a crew of 47 samurai. They patiently prepare their plans for a year and a half and then storm the fortress of Lord Kira in a mission that-succeed or fail- will ultimately end in their deaths. (asianwiki)
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A fading baseball player is traded to a Japanese team and has trouble fitting into the society. (imdb)
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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.
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Two Japanese scientists, Ushioda and Ochi, develop a bond with their sled dogs while on an expedition in Antarctica. Ushioda and Ochi eventually leave Antarctica, only to return to search for the dogs inadvertently marooned there. (imdb)
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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... (imdb)
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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. (movieworld.ws)
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Base on the novel "Going Home" by Pete Hamill, the screenplay was written by director, Yôji Yamada. This film is about an ex-convict who has been release from prison and made an enounter with a young couple. They decided to travel together. On the way home, the convict recollects the past with the young couple and hopes that his wife will forgive him.
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The story of a Yakuza gangster convicted for life imprisonment, who learns that his mother is about to die and runs for an escape, to ask for forgiveness of her
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Takakura playsa cop training to be a sharpshooter for the Olympic games, he divorces his wife and abandons his daughter when he discovers she's had an affair. Later his coach is gunned down by a fleeing criminal. Years later Takakura returns to his snowy hometown and starts an affair with a middle-aged bar owner. (imdb)
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Criminals plant a bomb on a high-speed train. It will explode when the train slows down, unless a ransom is paid. (imdb)
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widow struggles to maintain a small farm in a remote area of Hokkaido, fighting the elements and raising her young son. One brutally stormy night, a stranger appears at the door looking for shelter. Though wary, the widow offers him her hospitality. He leaves, but then returns in the spring and asks for work, desiring only room and board in return... (imdb comments)
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When Oryu catches a dealer cheating in an illicit card game she makes some powerful enemies.
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Oryu, looking for accommodation from a crime group finds herself in their debt during a turf war.
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Hishakaku asks his woman, Otoyo, a former geisha, to move to Tokyo, where they are taken in by Boss Kokin. Due to his obligation the Kokin, he is involved with a gang war and is arrested. (imdb)
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Cho, leader of Kibamasa, finds out that his gang has been threatened by another one that, besides being more modern, wants to buy the gueisha that he's in love with.
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A retired yakuza Shuji (Ken Takakura), now turned fisherman, gets dragged into his past by the arrival of a woman from Osaka Keiko (Yûko Tanaka) who sets up a bar in the small fishing village, bringing her boyfriend Yajima (Takeshi Kitano) and his troubles along. Shuji seeing the bad influence Yajima has on the other fishermen, tries to sort things out the only way he knows.
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Late 60's period drama/romance film with some yakuza leanings. Junko Fuji is beautiful and graceful as Shinji, a Hakata geisha who is being pursued by a corrupt and evil coal mining baron, but ends up falling in love with an ex-yakuza (Ken Takakura) who owns a competing mine. Tensions rise between the rival mine owners with Shinji in the middle.
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A lonely gangster tries recruiting men to plunder a respected and powerful gang. (imdb)
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A prison officer hands in his resignation after his wife's death, to drive to the port where she wants her ashes scattered at sea. (imdb)
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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.(filmaffinity.com)
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The second chapter of the incredible "Show Zankyoden" series. This time Ken Takakura stars as Hidejiro Hanada, 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 and ends his obligation. After serving his time in jail, he befriends and works for the slain boss' wife and son. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution... (coolmedia)
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The karashi Botan returns in the third chapter of the incredible Show Zankoden series. This time legendary actor Ken Takakura plays Takei Shigejiro of the Shimazu family. When the boss of the Shimazu is killed, Shigejiro takes revenge and is sent to jail. Upon his release, he meets the dying widow of one of hid followers and takes her to her father, Boss Shiomasa, who take him into his family. But when Shiomasa is killed by an old enemy, Shigejiro is obligated to take revenge... (themoviedb)
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The Karashi Botan returns in the fourth chapter of the incredible Showa Zankoden series. This time legendary actor Takakura Ken plays Hidejiro, the reluctant boss of a firefighter company. They win the bidding for the construction contract of an annual festival. When a rival family, desperate for that contract, becomes treacherous and violent, Hidejiro must take brutal revenage. (japanesesamuraidvd.com)
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The fifth in a powerful series about brutality, duty and honor, staring the legendary TAKAKURA Ken. 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 taking 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... (themoviedb)
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A World War II pilot (Ken Takakura) reflects on the friendships he forged in the past. (google)
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The story rests on a rivalry between two yakuza families, Takeshi and Honma. Takeshi runs security at the bicycle racetrack but Honma wants to push them out. The city mayor sides with Takeshi and the council favors Honma. Toshiko is the daughter of the Takeshi boss, and Takakura a member of that crime family.
Takakura is a strong upholder of the yakuza code, and that's the main theme of the story. (imdb)
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The movie opens with Musashi visiting the Yagyu clan to seek instruction from the Great Lord Sekishusai, a renowned master strategist and swordsman. It turns out that Sekishusai is mighty difficult to get an audience with, denying all requests for matches. By one of the many astounding coincidences to be found in the Eiji Yoshikawa tale, Otsu has ended up working as Sekishusai's personal assistant. (lardbiscuit.com)
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Musashi has defeated and shamed the leader of the Yoshioka fencing school, and now their only chance and redeeming their tattered reputation is to kill Musashi. So they move heaven and earth to take revenge. As the vendetta mounts, Musashi takes up residence with a kind merchant named Honami. Seijuro's brother Denshichiro challenges Musashi to a duel on an evening when Musashi has already agreed (reluctantly) to accompany Honami on a visit to the local pleasure quarters. (lardbiscuit.com)
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Early on we find Musashi in a private moment with Otsu by riverside. In contrast with his tender emotions before the big fight, he now tells Otsu she cannot find happiness with a man who's done all the killing he's done. They embrace, then he pulls away and leaves her, apologizing for what he's done. (...) Wandering alone, Musashi comes across a boy named Iori whose father has just died, leaving him an orphan. (...) Musashi decides to stay and help Iori with his farming for a while (...) (lardbiscuit.com)
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A tough police detective is falsely accused of corruption, and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man. (imdb)
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It is a remake of the French film The Last Adventure (1967) about two men released from prison and one man's girlfriend (Meiko Kaji) search for gold using a diving suit. (wikipedia)
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When Omuro Yahachi of the Omuro family is selected as Mutsumikai Soke's successor, the conflict between the Kitakyushu and Wakamatsu begins. (filmaffinity.com)
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An international gang fights with other families at postwar Kobe. (thehawaiiherald.com)
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After causing problems, Ken Takahara is transferred from Abashiri to the honor factory at Tanigawa Prison. When the local yakuza gang is hired to destroy the factory, Takahara has to take violent action to save it. (imdb)
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Ryoma is a former military man who gets to know the leader of a yakuza group and begins to work with them, helping them defend themselves against other yakuza gangs. (imdb)
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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. (imdb)
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Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan. (The Movie Database)
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Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza. (rarefilm.net)
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When a young soldier is killed while trying to prevent his younger sister, Kaoru, from being sold into a life of prostitution, his commander, Col. Miyagi, tries to honor his dying wish to rescue his sister. Upon finding Kaoru at a party working as a geisha and later rescuing her from committing suicide, Col. Miyagi allows her to move in with him. Over time, the two grow close, but in spite of Kaoru's growing feelings for him, Col. Miyagi is unable to bring himself to return her love... (The Movie Database)
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A story of brotherly love amongst the men who commit a bank robbery. (thehawaiiherald.com)
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A somewhat psychic girl survives a massacre of villagers in a remote mountain village, perpetrated by one of the inhabitants who was driven mad by a fungal crop disease. She survives with the help of a skilled, sympathetic soldier but there is a complication. Later they move to a mob ruled town where the now ex-soldier receives some unwanted attention. (me)
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When Honjo is selected as Kansai district's chairman, Iwasa of the rival gang asks Itsuki to do everything possible to have Honjo step down, which puts Itsuki between a rock and a hard place. (themoviedb.org)
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The story of Tei, a female coal mine operator, who risks her life to protect the business that was passed on by late husband. (thehawaiiherald.com)
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A young leader of the Yamazaki family of Nagasaki, Takida is an A-bomb survivor. He fiercely battles violent elements in southern Japan without fear of consequences. (imdb)
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Eiji, also known as Choji, quits the shipyard to start Izakaya Choji (snack bar) with his wife Shigeko on the outskirts of Hakodate. (imdb)
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Based on a celebrated book by Kuniko Mukoda, this film directed by Yasuo Furuhata tells of a close friendship undone by love.... (TMDB)
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A thug is released after fifteen years in prison for the murder of a yakuza gang boss. Things were never going to be simple and bygones were never going to be bygones of course, but to make matters more complicated the murdered boss had a young daughter upon his death. Will it be a case of vengeance? (imdb)
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This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history. (imdb)
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Ken, son of a former samurai settles with his family in the west from Japan. Soon his family is killed in front of him by stagecoach robbers, making him aim to get revenge. Marvin, an experienced gunman, befriends Ken and becomes his mentor.
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A killer who only hits people who deserve it is tricked into killing an innocent man. He then seeks revenge against the people who employed him. (imdb)
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To fulfill a friend’s dying wish, a young sailor Kenji takes on the task of delivering an heirloom to his friend’s daughter, Harumi, who has been adopted by another family. When he arrives, Kenji soon discovers that Harumi and her adopted family are the targets of an evil gang boss. In an attempt to help them, he decides to take matters into his own hands.
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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.
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A story of a lone wolf struggling with human compassion and duty.
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The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.
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A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.
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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 'heros' are very reluctant, but they come good when they are pursued by the Japanese who are determined to prevent them returning to base. (imdb)
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Tachibana has completed his three years in prison and returns to the streets. He and his old cell mate wants a new life as ex-prisoners, but by chance they come across some jewels from a bloody bank robbery.
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Shinichi returns home to visit his mother's grave. Upon returning he finds the mess that his previous reckless behavior left behind. His old boss, Asahi, was attacked after Shinichi left and was forced to give up a lot of of his power. (imdb)
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