Chieko Matsubara (born 6 January 1945) is a Japanese actress. She is best known for her roles in Tokyo Drifter (1966) and the Outlaw series. Spotted at a beauty contest sponsored by the Nikkatsu studio, Matsubara made her debut in 1961 at age 16 in Yoru no chōsensha. Matsubara won popularity and became one of the representative actresses of the Nikkatsu. She appeared in over 100 films at Nikkatsu.
Drama · Romance
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
7.52002
Thriller · Crime
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
7.11966
Action · Crime
Businessmen arrange the early release from prison of Togawa, serving time for taking revenge on the truck driver whose carelessness confined Togawa's sister, Rie, to a wheelchair. They want Togawa to hijack an armored truck loaded with 120 million yen; their leverage is to promise him money for surgery for Rie. Togawa consents and plans the heist with three others. The plan is solid, but it doesn't go smoothly. Togawa must improvise, there are traitors somewhere, and double-crosses mount. Can Togawa escape with enough money to help his sister and ensure a passage out of Japan?
6.71964
Drama · Action
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.
6.81966
Crime · Drama
Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
8.22016
Drama
Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010 spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced that the series will be aired in several other countries, for example Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
9.12010
Crime · Action
Goro had grown up in the yakuza world. As an active member of the Mizuhara family crime syndicate, he expressed his loyalty by always putting himself in the forefront of every battle. Violence never bothered him. However, after being sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing a rival gang’s hit man, he becomes disenchanted with the Yakuza life style. Goro is determined to start anew, but karma catches up. His two closest friends are murdered by his ex-boss. He is left with two options: to kill or be killed.
6.71968
Family · Drama
Mari and Humi learn from their mother that their father has dementia on his 70th birthday. They help prepare their mother for his farewell and prepare themselves for the emotions to follow.
7.02019
Drama · Romance
Married couple Aiko Tsumari and Ayumu Muko live a happy and peaceful life. Aiko is bit naive, while Ayumu works as a not so popular novelist. One day, a letter arrives for Ayumu. Because of this letter, the couple become estranged...
5.92013
Crime · Drama
Handsome young Katsuta tries to follow the yakuza code, but even his boss doesn't believe in it. Diamond Fuyu is less ethical, and allows the idiotic Tetsu to trick a schoolgirl he fancies, Hanako, into a type of bonded prostitution. Because of gang conflict, the Izu family (to whom Katsuta belongs) has their last gambling den taken over, and he seeks revenge. This brings him back into contact with a former lover who is also a card trickster - she is also Diamond Fuyu's sister, and is now married to Okaru-Hachi, who has mastered a clever card cheating trick called Okaru, which involves the deft use of mirrors.
6.61963
Drama · Romance
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
7.52002
Thriller · Crime
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
7.11966
Action · Crime
Businessmen arrange the early release from prison of Togawa, serving time for taking revenge on the truck driver whose carelessness confined Togawa's sister, Rie, to a wheelchair. They want Togawa to hijack an armored truck loaded with 120 million yen; their leverage is to promise him money for surgery for Rie. Togawa consents and plans the heist with three others. The plan is solid, but it doesn't go smoothly. Togawa must improvise, there are traitors somewhere, and double-crosses mount. Can Togawa escape with enough money to help his sister and ensure a passage out of Japan?
6.71964
Drama · Action
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.
6.81966
Drama · Action
The eighth sequel of the series by the successful “Fukasaku and Bunta” collaboration revolves around the men of a lesser organization that are constantly bullied by the upper organization and “bleed in vain” in gang wars.
Crime · Action
Goro had grown up in the yakuza world. As an active member of the Mizuhara family crime syndicate, he expressed his loyalty by always putting himself in the forefront of every battle. Violence never bothered him. However, after being sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing a rival gang’s hit man, he becomes disenchanted with the Yakuza life style. Goro is determined to start anew, but karma catches up. His two closest friends are murdered by his ex-boss. He is left with two options: to kill or be killed.
6.71968
Family · Drama
Mari and Humi learn from their mother that their father has dementia on his 70th birthday. They help prepare their mother for his farewell and prepare themselves for the emotions to follow.
7.02019
Drama · Romance
Married couple Aiko Tsumari and Ayumu Muko live a happy and peaceful life. Aiko is bit naive, while Ayumu works as a not so popular novelist. One day, a letter arrives for Ayumu. Because of this letter, the couple become estranged...
5.92013
Crime · Drama
Handsome young Katsuta tries to follow the yakuza code, but even his boss doesn't believe in it. Diamond Fuyu is less ethical, and allows the idiotic Tetsu to trick a schoolgirl he fancies, Hanako, into a type of bonded prostitution. Because of gang conflict, the Izu family (to whom Katsuta belongs) has their last gambling den taken over, and he seeks revenge. This brings him back into contact with a former lover who is also a card trickster - she is also Diamond Fuyu's sister, and is now married to Okaru-Hachi, who has mastered a clever card cheating trick called Okaru, which involves the deft use of mirrors.
6.61963
Action · Crime
A young yakuza in love with the girl who's to marry his clan oyabun, kidnaps the girl before fleeing with her. In Tokyo, he hides under the identity of a worker while the young woman becomes a waitress in a restaurant.
Crime · Action
Goro Fujikawa (Tetsuya Watari) was indebted to Mitsugimoto. Sawada, a low rank yakuza with a gambling problem owed Mitsugimoto three million yen. This equation can only lead to one answer. Mitsugimoto needs to pay and Goro's coming to collect.
6.81968
Crime · Action
Goro (Tetsuya Watari) wants to put his dark past behind. He heads to Hirosaki City to offer his condolences to Yumeko and to reunite with Yukiko (Chieko Matsubara), but finds that Yumeko is fatally ill. Although Yukiko was taking care of her, she is pressed for money. Goro wants to help and knows that there is only one way to come up with fast money.
7.01968
Action · Crime
A street war breaks loose between two rival gangs in the Kansai region of Japan. Goro is in the middle of action. Through a knife fight against Sueo, a high profile gangster from Busou-kai, Goro notices a familiar face approaching him from amidst the chaos - his girlfriend, Yuri. Goro had sent her to safety, but she had returned, aching to see him. Caught between Goro and his enemy knife, she reunites with her love - the price was her life.
6.51968
Crime · Drama
Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
8.22016
Drama
Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010 spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced that the series will be aired in several other countries, for example Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
9.12010
Crime · Drama
Yū Amagi is a slightly eccentric detective who has been assigned to the Twelfth Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division from the Lost and Found Centre. The Twelfth Section is called the "graveyard of detectives" and ridiculed as the "banishment room where hardened detectives who cannot be fired are sent." Its assembled detectives Kōsuke Samura, Takumi Yamashita, Keita Nagasawa, Tamaki Mizuta, and Masatoshi Katagiri are elite and yet oddballs. Amagi appears fixated with time which seems to have no relation with a case. Raising questions about the timelines of the perpetrator and victim derived from the estimated time of death, time of crime, time of alibi, and time limit, he searches for the meaning of "blank time" which arises from this. He obsesses over the weight of every minute and second of time because of some incident.
7.42015
Drama
Sono toki Heartwa Nusumareta is a 5 part drama that aired on Fuji TV. It first aired in Japan from November 19, 1992 to December 17, 1992. It features a theme song by Yumi Matsutoya.
5.31992
Drama
In 1924, a time when both steam engine trains and early Showa Era's first train stations are just beginning. In the waiting room of Asumoe Station, a small country station, a passenger finds an abandoned baby and rushes to tell the station master, Tokiwa Jiro. The news quickly spreads and soon friends of Tokiwa's along with other townsfolk are saying that this baby must be a gift, it is Tokiwa's recently departed beloved wife reborn as a baby.
8.51999
Drama
8.02019
Drama · Romance
A 7 year love story between Ryota Hayama and Koharu Uemura from their first date to eventual marriage. Ryota and Koharu are high school students. Ryota is indifferent to people and says very little. Koharu is not afraid of to speak her mind and she has a bright personality. Since a game of rice bag jump, they begin to date. They date at a fast-food restaurant, realize they love each other at a family restaurant and finally swear their love on a dining table with white rice.
6.02017
Drama · Comedy
Asako, a comic book artist in her early forties, is devastated by the death of her precious cat, Saba, which kept her company for over 15 years, as her assistant Naomi watches on with concern. Naomi is a young woman in her early twenties, who has her set of worries about love and future. Then one day, Asako meets a new cat, Gu Gu, which brings new joy and vitality to her life. What is more, she finds potential for love in a man named Seiji. Like Asako, Naomi, too, embarks on a new life plan.
6.62008
Crime · Action
Goro has always been a lone wolf. When he arrives at an industrial city in Keihin, there is certain restlessness in the air. The Iriezaki family and the Kanto Touyu-kai were in the midst of a territorial dispute. Goro was quick to notice, but had no intent to take sides. At a department store nearby, he sees an elevator lady being harassed by a couple of hoodlums. Goro decides to intervene. Unbeknownst to him, the hoodlums are Touyu-kai members – and the girl has strong ties with the opposing family.
6.91969
Crime · Action
On a cold winter day, Goro Fujikawa (Tetsuya Watari) and Masahiko murder the mob boss of Meishin-Kai. The deed costs them time in prison, but Goro had no shred of regret. When Goro is released 2 years later, Masahiko is dying in prison hospital and entrusts his last wish; "find my sister and take care of her." Goro leaves as a free man with a mission, but soon finds that he might have been better off in jail.
6.61968
Action · Crime
Two brothers seek revenge on the yakuza responsible for the death of their father.
5.81964
Drama
Drama is afoot at Shirobara Middle School when the bold Henmi Ryoko transfers into Class A, 9th Grade. She immediately picks a fight with, Masuda, the head of the preparation committee. The girls' battle for control of the gang soon grows out of control as it sweeps up the entire school. Brawls. Seduction. Yakuza. And more!
5.41970
Drama · History
A samurai Sakunosuke gets an order from clan chamberlain to kill another samurai who is married with his own younger sister. As a loyal samurai he has to accept the mission even though he has inner conflicts.
7.22011
Drama · Romance
Mitsu works in a factory and has a crush on Tsutomu, a young man she met on the Tokyo streets. One day the two go out, and after some deception, Tsutomu manages to have his way with her. Coming from a broken home, he is frightened by love, so he cruelly allows her to wake up alone. A month passes and a more grown-up Tsutomu returns. The lovers joyously reunite and move in together. All is blissful until both notice a strange sore on Mitsu's arm. The doctors diagnose it as leprosy. Without telling Tsutomu, Mitsu checks into a leper sanitarium. Hanging out with society's pariahs gives her much insight. She discovers the old lepers to be wonderful people. In turn, Mitsu becomes their source of joy and renewed hope. Still, she misses her Tsutomu. One day, the doctors inform her that they erred and that the sore is not leprosy. Happily she heads back to her true love until she realizes with a guilty pang that to return to him would mean unhappiness for her newfound friends
6.71997
Drama
The movie is centered around five friends as they end up spending the summer of 1962 shackled up together in a tiny studio apartment in Tokyo. The five friends are Eisuke - the manga artist, Shoichi - the singer, Ryuzo - the novelist, Kei - the painter and Yuji – the 5th wheel (?). The friends spend the summer in pursuit of their own ideals of personal freedom - being able to do what they want. In the process of pursuing their dream they learn firsthand that however ideal it may seem, its not as easy as they think.
5.02007
Crime · Action
Ryu (Akira Kobayashi) sets foot on the Yokohama port with a suitcase filled with 300 thousand dollars. He was sent by a jewelry company in Hong Kong to retrieve a certain diamond that was stolen from them. The "Himalayan Star" is worth couple hundred million yen and unbeknown to Ryu, it now lays in the hands of Aizu (Jo Shishido), the infamous ”Pirate of the Tokyo Bay."
8.01965
Drama
A couple flees Tokyo, their family and friends. The girlfriend is a member of a rock band. She is dating the man, but friends and family are against it compelling her to move away. They stay at an inn in an area in which they know no one. One inn employee finds out about their dilemma and introduces them to a local farmer who offers them work and a home.
2.02004
The reign of the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the Edo period, was notable for the “Ooka Sabaki” which supported the Kyoho Reforms that Yoshimune advanced. Yoshimune goes beyond status and the position he has been thrust in, to join with Edo magistrate Ooka Tadasuke and the Western medicine doctor Sakakibara Iori in order to promote the creation of a world for the common people of Edo. These three men deepen exchanges with the magistrate’s office and the townsfolk, uphold justice and struggle to keep order in Edo…
7.52013
Drama
Mr. (Tamura) and Mrs. (Kuroki) Yamaguchi are an old-fashioned middle-aged couple with two children about to become independent. As they prepare for the daughter's (Kato) upcoming wedding to Mr. Yamaguchi's work underling (Omori), they find that the love they themselves experienced at the time of their marriage isn't really there anymore. The wedding planner (Hada), becomes smitten with Mr. Yamaguchi when he begins to meet her often for conversations, and she eventually seduces him into bed, creating a rift in the middle-aged couple. At the same time, their college-student son (Tsukamoto) falls in love himself with a nurse (Nishida) who is much older than he is and has a little daughter, to boot. They will have to fight for their love to be accepted by his parents... -DramaWiki
3.02004
Drama
Mifuyu is a high school student. Her mom suffers from a severe illness, which causes Mifuyu to spend most of her time taking care of her and doing housework. She doesn't think about her future after high school. Mifuyu's mom dies, her dad brings his girlfriend to their house and kicks Mifuyu out. Mifuyu goes to the home where her mom's cousin lives, in a high-class residential area in Tokyo.
7.02017
Drama
Natsuko is going back to the advertising agency she worked for before taking maternity leave and is shocked to learn that she is not the creative director any more but instead, she is put in charge of the Sales Development. Unmotivated, Natsuko finds she has her work cut out for her, and she has trouble balancing her job responsibilities with her home life, so she hires Miyuki, a babysitter. Unfortunately, Miyuki’s presence eventually works to tear her marriage apart.
7.02016
Drama
Since his wife's death from illness, Oki Eisuke (Utsui Ken) has been working as a lawyer at the Oki Law Office, raising his high school-aged daughter, Kaori (Hayashi Norie). His late wife's father, Kimura Genkichi (Ban Junsaburo, Matsumura Tatsuo), a former Metropolitan Police Department detective, is in charge of accounting, while Ono Toshiko (Nakahara Rie) is in charge of typist and secretary. Also among the investigators are Sakamoto Ryu (Nakamura Masatoshi), who claims to be serving a two-year prison sentence, and Suzuki Masao (Okita Hiroyuki), who is on probation. These are the members of the firm that Eisuke trusts. A die-hard feminist, Eisuke throws himself wholeheartedly into the cases of female clients, regardless of legal fees, but...
9.01981
Mystery
When Ryoko, a ballerina turned disco dancer, gets entangled in a murder and a stolen 10 million yen, she must race against time to uncover the truth and return to her hometown.
8.01980
Drama
It tells about the women's view on love and marriage through the love affair of three women. Ayako, a rampant college student; OL Takako who works for a magazine company and Kimie, who attends the dressmaking school training to be a homemaker. The trio who graduated from the same high school moved to Tokyo from Akita, and they start living together in a rented house at Denenchofu, however.....
1966
Drama
The drama takes place in the 28th year of the Meiji Era. After their victory in the First Sino-Japan war, the whole of Japan is celebrating. Against this backdrop, lives a girl named Kiyoko, who is the daughter of a samurai family. Although boasting samurai bloodlines, the Kudo family live modestly and is much respected by all who knew them, especially since the patriarch, Tadachika, runs the elementary school in the village. However, all these changed, when one day, Kiyoko's father is accused of embezzlement and is arrested and imprisoned. Soon, Kiyoko is labelled as the daughter of a corrupt teacher and her entire family is ostracized. As much as she would like to rescue her father, Kiyoko finds herself helpless and she turns to her childhood friend, the village doctor Yuma Souta. Both Souta and Kiyoko grew up together and are as close as brothers and sisters. Wanting to help Kiyoko, Souta goes to beg Shibuzawa Yahiko for help.
2013
Drama · Crime
Kawashima Toshio (Utsui Ken), an assistant professor at a university medical school and an excellent surgeon, becomes mayor after his father-in-law falls ill. The evil hand of organized crime, cleverly disguised, has begun to take hold in the city. Toshio, who has risen up to protect the citizens, is beset with family problems, including the mysterious departure of his beloved wife Yukiko (Hama Mie) from home and the resulting delinquency of his beloved daughter Mayumi (Saito Tomoko). Carrying this heavy burden, Toshio fights with the help of Nagai Masayuki (Kanda Masateru), a young newspaper reporter with whom he has a deep connection. However, in the midst of this struggle, an eerie truth about his missing wife's scandalous past and the shadow of a certain man begin to appear like a mirage...
1978
