Akira Kobayashi

Plans to build a touristic hot spring on the island of Izu Oshima run afoul of the Kobe yakuza group, which intends to use the island as a relay base for drug smuggling.

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic Games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima.

Fourth installment of Nikkatsu's "Drifter" series, with Kobayashi Akira.

While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.

A young yakuza experiences various conflicts, tactics, betrayals, rules, etc. in the gangster world, stands out in the organization, and climbs to the top of the organization. The theatrical version of the popular video series adapted from the original work by Murakami Kazuhiko.

A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza family. When his boss gets shot, he decides to go after the plotters.

With a Kansai syndicate setting their sights on Tokyo, a former yakuza boss gets dragged back into a world of violence.

Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru Uchimoto.

Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.

Vice Admiral Takajiro Ohnishi could see that Japan's defeat in WWII was inevitable. He came to realize that the only way to force a negotiated solution was to convince the Americans that invading Japan would cause massive casualties on both sides. The cold logic of suicide attacks, where one man and one plane could kill hundreds, seemed the only solution. In one of the cruel ironies of fate, Ohnishi actually succeeded; he convinced the Americans that invading Japan would be too costly in lives. But what he could not foresee was that America had another way of ending the war.

Mid 50s: the trials and tribulations of Shinsuke Ibuki, freshly arrived in Tokyo from Kyushu.

A man who became the third boss faces off against delinquent foreigners and villains vying to rule the underworld in order to develop the port city.

A coming-of-age story about two newcomers to the world of professional baseball who compete for Rookie of the Year honors and love.

Daisuke Honda, a war photographer in Vietnam, meets Yuriko Sawanouchi, a stewardess on his plane back to Japan. After drinking with her at a Tokyo bar, he becomes involved in saving Yuriko from assassination by stylish, female ninjas. When trying to rescue Yuriko from kidnappers, Daisuke discovers a group of foreigners are hunting for a WWII-era treasure hidden on an island by Yuriko's father.

Kosuke Suzuki returns to Hakata's hometown after learning that his best friend Takehara has disappeared. Kosuke is persistently hindered by Hasebe from Omura Sangyo. Kosuke's partner Kumagoro investigates and finds out that Hasebe, who killed the head of the Muraoka clan, made Takehara disappear in order to keep him silent. The third film in the series.

The 224-minute compilation edition of Battles Without Honor and Humanity compiles these four movies: Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Deadly Fight in Hiroshima, Proxy War, Police Tactics.

Emerging from a stint in prison, yakuza lieutenant Sumukawa discovers that his gang has disintegrated. An ambitious type, he quickly hooks up with another gang who promise him a prominent position if he helps them deal with a rival family. But bonds are made to be broken, and pledges of loyalty soon give way to competition, betrayal and — naturally — retaliation.

This is Akira Kobayashi's first leading role in a gangster film in the ninkyo-eiga genre. Together with Joe Shishido, he stars in a film about the fateful clash between two men living in the world of the yakuza. The Tomoe, Takato, and Senba gangs in Ryogoku are constantly fighting over territory. Rickshaw driver Daisaku decides to protect Takato's gang for the sake of his former benefactor, Setsu, but the rival Senba gang considers Daisaku their enemy...

Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date.

Amidst Japan's postwar economic boom, yakuza factions in Osaka fight for survival when Japan's largest crime syndicate plans a hostile takeover.

Ryuji Inahara, the heir to the Atami Yamazakiya family, subsequently placed the group under the control of the influential members of the Guretai, known as the "Yokohama Four Heavenly Kings," and the Inahara group quickly expanded its influence from Yokohama to the Tokaido region. The world of yakuza then enters the era of Ryuji Inahara and Masao Tashiro, the third generation member of the Yamaga-gumi.

It is the Taisho era in Japan. A man has quit the Yakuza after five years and returned to Shikoku in order to begin his life anew as a ferryman. His boss, however, became ill and the boat is taken due to unpaid debts to the local thugs. His new life has not begun well and he is determined to rebuild the shattered business. The Yakuza, however, have added the ferry business to the rest of their portfolio of local concerns.

The series tells The story of the 1609 invasion of Ryûkyû by forces from the Japanese domain of Satsuma, an event which changed the course of Ryukyuan history dramatically.

Worried about the state under heaven and lamenting the decadence of Bushido, the shogunate daimetsuke Inuijuzaemon (Shogo Shimada) decides that the only way to reform the shogunate is to cure it by force. Led by the leader Gennosuke Inui (Asahi Kobayashi), four men and women are summoned from the national government to organize a secret investigation agency. The four of them base themselves at Azamiya, a cooking tea house in Fukagawa, and take root in a corner of the city to expose the great evil that pervades the dark side of civil society. [TV series] (C) International Broadcasting