Akiji Kobayashi
Akiji Kobayashi (小林昭二, Kobayashi Akiji, September 6, 1930 – August 27, 1996), sometimes credited as Shōji Kobayashi, was a Japanese actor. He attended Nihon University College of Art, but withdrew before completing his degree and joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1949. He made his film debut with Satsujin Yogisha in 1952.
He is best known in the West for portraying the role of Captain Toshio Muramatsu in the 1966-1967 television series, Ultraman. From 1983-84, he appeared in the popular television detective series Seibu Keisatsu. His other notable television role was Tōbei Tachibana ("Oya-san") in several series of the Kamen Rider franchise. He was one of Kon Ichikawa's favorite actors, appearing in 12 Ichikawa films. His final film appearance was Yatsuhaka-mura as Head of a Factory directed by Kon Ichikawa in 1996. He was the official dubbing artist of John Wayne and Richard Crenna. Kobayashi died of lung cancer in Yokohama on August 27, 1996, ten days before his 66th birthday.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 1.0874 |
| Birthday | 1930-09-06 |
| Place of Birth | Yodobashi ward, Tokyo, Japan |
| Also Known As | Shōji Kobayashi, |
1994
47 Ronin
7.417/24
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 fo...
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47 Ronin
1965
Kwaidan
7.734/471
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money wit...
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Kwaidan
1972
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril
7.252/159
Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.
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Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril
1991
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
6.945/275
The Futurians, time-travelers from the 23rd century, arrive in Japan to warn them of the nation's destruction under Godzilla. They offer to help erase...
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Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
1963
Youth of the Beast
6.953/95
When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.
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Youth of the Beast
1995
Getting Any?
5.736/89
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.
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Getting Any?
1992
Godzilla vs. Mothra
6.917/240
Mothra's dark counterpart, Battra, emerges to eliminate humanity on behalf of the Earth. Two tiny fairies called the Cosmos offer their help by callin...
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Godzilla vs. Mothra
1972
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
7.358/197
Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must eliminate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Sh...
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Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
1962
Foundry Town
7.8/10
Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.
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Foundry Town
1965
Pleasures of the Flesh
5.8/32
After committing murder, businessman Atsushi is blackmailed into keeping a suitcase of embezzled money. What follows is a descent into lustful, reckle...
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Pleasures of the Flesh
1976
The Kagestar: The Movie
8/1
The superhero The Kagestar fights the monsters of the Satan Empire.
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The Kagestar: The Movie
1974
Five Riders vs. King Dark
6.167/6
During a motocross practice, Keisuke Jin is ambushed by two Myth Cyborgs created by a secret organization that's attempting to control Japan, G.O.D. (...
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Five Riders vs. King Dark
1971
Go Go Kamen Rider
5.8/5
The Shocker Organization sends two of its Inhumanoids to destroy an atomic plant, but their plan is foiled by an invisible barrier that surrounds the...
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Go Go Kamen Rider
1972
Kamen Rider vs. Shocker
6.167/6
Professor Daidōji has developed a gravity machine called the GX Device. Unfortunately, Shocker wants it; so they attack the professor and destroy his...
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Kamen Rider vs. Shocker
1973
Kamen Rider V3 vs. Destron Mutants
6/5
A physicist named Tetsuo Okita discovers a new mineral called "Satanium," which is more powerful than uranium and emits destructive effects to anyone...
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Kamen Rider V3 vs. Destron Mutants
1976
The Inugami Family
6.987/38
When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pittin...
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The Inugami Family
1979
Immortal Kamen Rider Special
9/3
A TV special, centered on introduction of Skyrider.
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Immortal Kamen Rider Special
1970
This Transient Life
7.417/48
Near a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an as...
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This Transient Life
1992
Run, Melos!
6.346/13
The movie tells the story of Melos, a Greek country man that gets arrested and accused of conspiracy against the king. He gets three days to travel to...
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Run, Melos!
1977
Lullaby to Kill
6.6/15
Kôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old unsolv...
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Lullaby to Kill
1971
Mandala
5.871/31
Two university students from Kyoto decide to swap partners and spend the night in an isolated motel. However, one of the couples is attacked. Desperat...
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Mandala
1975
Hanuman and the Five Kamen Riders
6/5
With an unquenchable thirst for the blood of virgin women, the wicked King Dark enslaves the brilliant Thai scientist Dr. Wisut to create an army of m...
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Hanuman and the Five Kamen Riders
1993
Kogarashi Monjirō Returns
7.5/2
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Kogarashi Monjirō Returns
1989
The Men Who Made Ultraman
10/1
A biographical dramatization about the production of the original Ultraman, the beloved classic special effects fantasy series from Eiji Tsuburaya.
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The Men Who Made Ultraman
1969
The Curse of the Ghost
6.8/5
About 1786 the doings of a demented lord results in many masterless samurai, including Iyemon (Kei Sato) who is used to luxury and cannot adjust to th...
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The Curse of the Ghost
1979
Akio Jissoji's Ultraman
8/8
Akio Jissoji's Ultraman is a 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Akio Jissoji. It is a compilation film made up of scenes from Jissoji's ep...
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Akio Jissoji's Ultraman
1990
Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars
8/7
A series of serial murders occurred in a historic ruins where a TV crew is shooting a documentary.
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Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars
1971
Return of Ultraman: Terror of the Waterspout Monsters
6/3
A theatrical release of The Return of Ultraman episodes 13-14. It was released on December 12, 1971 as part of the Toho Champion Festival along with...
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Return of Ultraman: Terror of the Waterspout Monsters
1997
Master Swordsman Hirate Miki - Duel in Tone
0/0
Zoushu Hirate was the acting master of Chibashusaku Dojo in the Hokushinitto style. His wife was dead and had drunk a lot every day. For the sake of m...
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Master Swordsman Hirate Miki - Duel in Tone
1979
The Tale of Jean Valjean
5.143/7
In 19th century France, an escaped convict seeks redemption while caring for a young woman whose mother he once protected, and aligning himself with a...
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The Tale of Jean Valjean
1971
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 5 - The Mystery of the Skull Wife
0/0
Fifth film of "Mysterious Thirteen Nights" series.
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Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 5 - The Mystery of the Skull Wife
1962
Harakiri
8.461/1275
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a plac...
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Harakiri
1989
Black Rain
7.595/137
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic b...
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Black Rain
1963
Intruders
0/0
A salaryman living alone in a small apartment is visited by complete strangers, a large family with grown-up sons and a daughter, who take over his ap...
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Intruders
1959
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
8.2/231
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He al...
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The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
1990
Like the Clouds, Like the Wind
6.9/19
Ginga is a simple—yet energetic—country girl, living with her father far from the capital city of the empire in ancient China. When she learns of an o...
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Like the Clouds, Like the Wind
1982
The Longest Tunnel
10/1
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...
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The Longest Tunnel
1980
Shogun Assassin
6.9/196
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to...
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Shogun Assassin
1986
Death Shadows
6.3/15
Three men sentenced to death are spared and changed into “shadows executioners”, a group of ruthless ninja working for mysterious high ranking officia...
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Death Shadows
1996
Ultraman Zearth
7.25/12
Ultraman Zearth hails from The Land of Pikari in Nebula Z95. He has a big red face and dislikes dirt, and will go to great lengths to wash it off his...
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Ultraman Zearth
1978
Queen Bee
7.6/8
To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating ba...
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Queen Bee
1967
Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature
7.111/9
The film consists of re-edited material from the original television series Ultraman. Episodes 1, 8, 26, and 27 were used for the film. They were narr...
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Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature
1989
Ultraman: Terror on Route 87
6.5/2
Theatrical version of episode 20 of Ultraman (1966 TV series). An enormous bird-monster is attacking motorists on Route 87. The Science Patrol discove...
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Ultraman: Terror on Route 87
1972
Daigoro vs. Goliath
5.5/6
An inventor and his family try to raise funds to feed a giant monster named Daigoro so that he doesn't shrink. Meanwhile, a meteor lands into the sea...
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Daigoro vs. Goliath
1963
Fight of the Gamblers
6/1
Ryuji Oshima, a gambler, kills Saiga in self-defense, and considering himself unfit to lead men, secludes himself in a temple to atone for his misdeed...
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Fight of the Gamblers
1975
Kamen Rider Amazon: The Movie
6.667/3
The Kamen Rider Amazon movie is a theatrical version of episode 16, Garander's Tokyo Sea of Flames Operation!!, depicting Gengoro Beastman's attempt t...
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Kamen Rider Amazon: The Movie
1972
Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell
7/6
Takeshi Hongo and FBI agent Kazuya Taki fake their deaths when they are attacked by Shocker soldiers during a motocross race. They disguise themselves...
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Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell
1973
Kamen Rider V3: The Movie
6.667/3
During a battle against Destron's forces, Shiro Kazami helps a priest who has been attacked by the evil organization's kaijin Hasami-Jaguar. Little do...
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Kamen Rider V3: The Movie
1973
Internal Sleuth
7.5/4
When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.
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Internal Sleuth
1977
Island of Hell
6.2/5
A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.
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Island of Hell
1993
Kamen Rider SD: Strange?! Kumo Otoko
6.6/136
"Kamen Rider SD: Strange!? Kumo Otoko" is an animated OVA based on the gag manga Kamen Rider SD: Hurricane Legend. This cute and comedic short movie f...
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Kamen Rider SD: Strange?! Kumo Otoko
1981
Lonely Heart
7.5/2
A police procedural surrounding murder at a bookstore and the private lives of the cops trying to solve the case.
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Lonely Heart
1969
Prison Break
7/1
Set up to be the patsy by a rival gang, Furuta Makoto attacks the yakuza boss he thinks is responsible for his father’s murder. He then learns it was...
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Prison Break
1982
Karate Cop
9/1
A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.
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Karate Cop
1975
Kamen Rider Stronger: The Movie
7.25/4
Waniida from Black Satan attacks a young boy and long-time Kamen Rider ally Tōbei Tachibana, but Kamen Rider Stronger and Electro Wave Human Tackle ru...
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Kamen Rider Stronger: The Movie
1986
Desperate Pursuit
10/1
In the desert of Egypt, Kurata, the CEO of the Japanese corporation Tokokaihatsu, is killed by a sniper. After the news reaches Japan, the CEO's lawy...
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Desperate Pursuit
1976
All Together! Seven Kamen Riders!!
7.5/2
The special opens with Tachibana Tōbei taking some children to a Kamen Rider roadshow. Just as he's reminiscing about all the heroic modified humans h...
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All Together! Seven Kamen Riders!!
1979
Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle
6/4
A 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Tsuburaya Productions, consisting of re-edited material from the original television series Ultraman....
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Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle
1982
Suspicion
7/9
A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes...
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Suspicion
1980
Koto: The Ancient City
7/3
Chieko (Momoe Yamaguchi) has been raised as the only child of parents who run a dry goods store. When Chieko was a middle-school student, she learned...
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Koto: The Ancient City
1979
The House of Hanging
6.2/4
This time, Kousuke investigates a murder in a hospital. The murderer leaves misleading evidence to divert Kousuke's attention on the case. Suspicion a...
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The House of Hanging
1972
Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice
6.205/56
Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. H...
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Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice
1977
Utamaro's World
5.556/9
Utamaro was an artist who lived in Edo (which was later to become modern-day Tokyo) in the late 18th century. This film, which has a complex and wide-...
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Utamaro's World
1981
The Black Hood
0/0
A horse-riding samurai fights villains.
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The Black Hood
1991
Noh Mask Murders
6.333/6
The patriarch of a bickering family announces his retirement, stirring competition about who will succeed him as a leading practitioner of Noh theater...
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Noh Mask Murders
1983
The Makioka Sisters
7.44/50
This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid...
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The Makioka Sisters
1972
The Pirates of Buban
6.5/6
By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the...
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The Pirates of Buban
1966
The Birth of Ultraman
6/2
In this recorded stage debut of the original Ultraman, self-proclaimed world's number one kaiju tamer, Eiji Tsuburaya introduces Ultraman, the Science...
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The Birth of Ultraman
1996
Gamera 2: Advent of Legion
7.4/133
A strange meteor lands in Japan and unleashes hundreds of insect-like "Legion" creatures bent on colonizing the Earth. When the military fails to cont...
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Gamera 2: Advent of Legion
1981
Yuki
7.3/9
Up in Heaven, Yuki’s grandparents decide that, having turned thirteen years old, she must go down to Earth to a village that is torn by bandits and in...
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Yuki
1985
The Empty Table
6.857/7
One year after the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a terrorist kidnapping, which resulted in multiple deaths, all the other p...
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The Empty Table
1972
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
7.376/255
Official Shogunate executioner Ogami Itto has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man w...
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Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
1982
Ten Duels of Young Shingo: Chapter 2
10/1
Brings Shingo face to face against Yagyu Tajima, the Shogun’s fencing instructor in a match that could save a domain near Osaka. Meanwhile Shogun Yos...
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Ten Duels of Young Shingo: Chapter 2
1986
Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma
8/1
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Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma
1996
Revive! Ultraman
5.8/5
The film is composed of stock footage from the original Ultraman television series with additional newly filmed content, and it served as an “epilogue...
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Revive! Ultraman
1989
Afternoon When Flowers Fell
8/1
A widowed restaurateur is faced with scandal after discovering her late husband had a child out of wedlock. Hearing that two criminals had attempted t...
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Afternoon When Flowers Fell
1973
The Woman Who Calls for Corpses
0/0
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The Woman Who Calls for Corpses
1967
The Return of the Filthy Seven
9/1
A 1967 crime film
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The Return of the Filthy Seven
1979
The Shogun Assassins
5.4/10
This is a film about a real person. Sanada Yukimura fought a war against Tokugawa Ieyasu.
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The Shogun Assassins
1982
Lady on 6th Street: Taste of Honey
2/1
The night in Ginza was shimmering with neon lights. A grand celebration was being held for the seventh anniversary of the club "Ayako." Among the cele...
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Lady on 6th Street: Taste of Honey
1966
The Father of Ultra Q
0/0
Akio Jissoji's documentary on the production of Ultra Q. Interview with series creator Eiji Tsuburaya.
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The Father of Ultra Q
1996
The 8-Tomb Village
6.8/4
A band of samurai warriors places a curse on a family fortune thus frustrating the heir 4 centuries later.
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The 8-Tomb Village
1966
The Pornographers
7.3/60
A former Buddhist monk turned erotic filmmaker, Subuyan lives with hairdresser Haru and her two teenage children. Shooting two skin flicks per day, he...
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