Bunta Sugawara

Acting

Bunta Sugawara

Born August 16, 1933 · Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Died November 28, 2014 · aged 81

Bunta Sugawara was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 Japanese feature films, most prevalently in Yakuza films. On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Sugawara had died from liver cancer in a Tokyo hospital on November 28, 2014 at the age of 81. (Wikipedia)

Known For

Spirited AwaySpirited Away · 2001
Spirited Away
★ 8.52001
MovieAnimationFamily
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Wolf ChildrenWolf Children · 2012
Wolf Children
★ 8.22012
MovieAnimationFamily
After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.
Tales from EarthseaTales from Earthsea · 2006
Tales from Earthsea
★ 6.52006
MovieAnimationFantasy
As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.
Star of David: Beauty HuntingStar of David: Beauty Hunting · 1979
Star of David: Beauty Hunting
★ 6.21979
MovieHorrorThriller
The life of Tatsuya, a young man of proper yet mysterious descent, whose outward respectability hides his urges for rape and torture.
The Great Yokai WarThe Great Yokai War · 2005
The Great Yokai War
★ 6.32005
MovieComedyFantasy
A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression.
Battles Without Honor and HumanityBattles Without Honor and Humanity · 1973
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
★ 7.31973
MovieCrimeAction
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
The Man Who Stole the SunThe Man Who Stole the Sun · 1979
The Man Who Stole the Sun
★ 7.41979
MovieCrimeThriller
A high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in HiroshimaBattles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima · 1973
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
★ 7.31973
MovieDramaCrime
Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.

Filmography

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Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of MurderWicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder · 1968
Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder
★ 6.71968
MovieActionDrama
The long awaited second film in the Wicked Priest series is a masterpiece of sword swinging fury as Shinkai is asked by a man on the run to bring his young son to live with his grandfather, the master of a ju-jitsu dojo during the Taisho period of the early 20th century. Shinkai then runs afoul of a gangster group using strong-arm tactics to take over the profits from local gambling. When he proves to be more than they can handle, they hire the one man who has the ability to kill Shinkai and exact revenge, Ryotatsu, the karate priest whom Shinkai blinded in the first film. This ultra-violent entry has long been considered the best movie in the series and never made its way to home video before. See a spectacular display of Wakayama Tomisaburo’s martial art expertise in this action packed film. The Holy Grail of sword movies has arrived at last! /Winterheart of CG

Ryutatsu

Bloodstained Clan of HonorBloodstained Clan of Honor · 1970
Bloodstained Clan of Honor
★ 7.41970
MovieActionCrime
The story takes place in the sunset days of the yakuza in 1965. The postwar turmoil that created the black market and lubricated illegal business opportunities was giving way to Japan Inc. A young Bunta Sugawara takes over as the oyabun of a crime syndicate in Yokohama, where he is struggling to keep operations at the port there alive. As his syndicate is eroding quickly, a major heavy industries company offers his gang the chance to chase some vagrants out of a shantytown where they are squatting on land where a factory is to be built. The job would secure steady profits for Bunta's crime ring for years to come. However, Bunta and other members of his outfit grew up in the shanty, and they would be muscling their friends and neighbors. This sets the stage for an internal struggle that complicates the violent struggle with a rival mafia organization in Tokyo.

Gunji

Furuhata NinzaburoFuruhata Ninzaburo · 1994
Furuhata Ninzaburo
★ 8.81994
SeriesDramaCrime
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.
Musashibo BenkeiMusashibo Benkei · 1986
Musashibo Benkei
1986
SeriesDrama
After being carried in his mother’s womb for three years, Benkei is born with long hair and teeth and the body of a small child. It is said that he immediately laughed and commented on the brightness of the outside world, leading local people in his native Kii (modern Wakayama) to proclaim that he is a devil. Abandoned on a mountainside, he is adopted by Dainagon, a Kyoto resident who rears him until age seven when he leaves to become a monk. Thrown out of the monastery for his violent behavior, Benkei wanders Japan in search of enlightenment, though only trouble seems to find him. After accidentally causing a temple to burn down, he decides to begin a quest to defeat 1,000 of the hated Heike samurai in battle and donate their swords to a temple. Obtaining the first 999 swords proves relatively easy but the final weapon belongs to Yoshitsune, a young boy whose appearance belies his great skill as a warrior.

Tomo