, also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood-li ...

series produced by

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist

Kōichi Iiboshi was a Japanese journalist for ''Yomiuri Shinbun'' and author. Career Iiboshi graduated from Seventh Higher School Zoshikan (now Kagoshima University) and from Faculty of Law, Kyoto University. He was the vice copy chief of the social news divisio ...

that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

Kōzō Minō, the films detail yakuza conflicts in

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

. Five films directed by

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

and starring

Bunta Sugawara was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 200 feature films. Dropping out of Waseda University, he worked as a model before entering the film industry in 1956. After years of work, Sugawara finally established himself as a famous actor at the ...

as Shozo Hirono, who was based on Minō, were produced between 1973 and 1974. They were both critically and commercially successful and popularized the subgenre of yakuza film called '' Jitsuroku eiga'', which are often based on true stories. Fukasaku directed an additional three standalone films under the ''New Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' title between 1974 and 1976. Three more films by different directors were produced in 1979, 2000 and 2003.

Sources

The ''Jingi Naki Tatakai'' series of articles written by

that began in magazine in 1972, are rewrites of a manuscript originally written by while he was in prison. Minō led his own yakuza family associated with the Yamamura-gumi before being arrested in 1963. While incarcerated in

Abashiri Prison is a prison in Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture that opened in 1890. The northernmost prison in Japan, it is located near the Abashiri River and east of Mount Tento. It holds inmates with sentences of less than ten years. Older parts of the prison ...

he wrote his memoir and upon being released in 1970, retired from the yakuza life. His memoir tells the story of what is commonly called the , that took place between 1950 and 1972. Several yakuza groups were involved, the most well-known being the

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations i ...

and

Kyosei-kai The is a yakuza group based in Hiroshima, Japan. History The Kyosei-kai was formed in May 1964 from seven yakuza clans united by bakuto Tatsuo Yamamura. the Minō-gumi became the Hirono family, the Tsuchioka-gumi became the Doi family, the Yamaguchi-gumi became the Akashi family, the

Honda-kai The Honda-kai (本多会) were a Japan, Japanese yakuza gang active in Kobe in the middle of the 20th century. Without surprise, they re-emerged in Seattle in 2020. Kumicho George Washington] The Honda-kai was a "bakuto" gang, mainly devoted to i ...

became the Shinwa Group, and the Kyosei-kai became the Tensei Coalition.

Screenplays

Kazuo Kasahara, screenwriter of the first four films, told Toei he could work with the incidents in

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan ...

, but not the events that followed in

Hiroshima City is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ha ...

because they were too complicated and the studio agreed. He developed the original film around the story of yakuza

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

Tetsuhiko Sasaki, who rebelled against future Kyosei-kai leader Tatsuo Yamamura and was killed. Sasaki became the character Tetsuya Sakai. Because he did not know the whole story yet as Iiboshi's articles were still being published and did not want to make another ensemble piece like the first installment, for the second film '' Deadly Fight in Hiroshima'' Kasahara decided to tell the dramatic story of hitman Mitsuji Yamagami. Yamagami became the character Shoji Yamanaka. With the successful release of the first film, Toei demanded that Kasahara finally write about the Hiroshima war and split it into two films; ''

Proxy War A proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors, one or both of which act at the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a pr ...

'' and '' Police Tactics''. The writer had purposely avoided that part of the story for the first two installments, not only because he was daunted by all the names and relationships that were presented in a complex way, but also because he would have to write about the Yamaguchi-gumi and was concerned about the agreements he made to the people involved in the incidents. On a visit to Kure, Kasahara met the mother of Masahiro Ōnishi, who was the model for Hiroshi Wakasugi in the first film. She told him her son could finally rest in peace thanks to the movie. The writer then created the ''Proxy War'' characters Takeshi Kuramoto and his mother after this encounter. The '' Final Episode'' is the only film in the

pentalogy A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- '' penta-'', "five" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are r ...

not written by Kasahara. Instead the screenplay was written by Koji Takada. Kasahara was supportive of Takada, giving him all the research materials he had created for the first four films. However, he said there was not enough material for a fifth film and Takada admitted the research ended up not being very useful for his story. Takada said this was because the characters had to become a "respectable" organization throughout Western Japan by the end. Kasahara suggested not to use the character played by Kinya Kitaoji because it was based on a real yakuza boss that Takada met in Hiroshima (Kyosei-kai leader Hisashi Yamada), but Takada disregarded the advice. Takada said that the real yakuza later saw the film and caused problems with the studio.

Actors

Fukasaku biographer and film expert Sadao Yamane and

Kenta Fukasaku is a Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter. He is the son of film director Kinji Fukasaku and actress Sanae Nakahara. Biography He made his writing debut in the popular Japanese cult film '' Battle Royale'', which his father directed. He wrote ...

both agreed that the series does not focus on specific lead actors, but is an ensemble piece with the supporting actors energizing it. The stars are narrative characters, with the low-ranking yakuza that are endlessly killed off the real focus of the movies. Kazuo Kasahara claimed he envisioned

portraying the character Tetsuya Sakai while writing and later learned that Sugawara had already been cast in the role. However, he said the day before shooting Sugawara was instead cast as Shozo Hirono (based on Minō) and

Hiroki Matsukata , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor. He was the son of ''jidaigeki'' actor Jūshirō Konoe and actress Yaeko Mizukawa and has a younger brother, Yūki Meguro, who is also an actor. With ex-wife actress Akiko Nishina he had t ...

took over as Sakai.

Nobuo Kaneko was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yatsuko Tanami. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1950 and 1993. Career Kaneko was a versatile character actor, playing roles ranging from comedic buffoons to hardened yakuza bosses. He is es ...

is the only other actor to portray the same character across all five films; playing Yoshio Yamamori based on Tatsuo Yamamura, who became the first leader of the Kyosei-kai. A group of bit actors and drinking buddies dubbed the portrayed many different small and physical roles throughout the series.

Takuzo Kawatani was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 56 films between 1967 and 1995. He was most famous for playing villains. Selected filmography Film * ''Zoku ô-oku maruhi monogatari'' (1967) * '' Eleven Samurai'' (1967) * ''Bakuchi-uchi: Nagurikomi' ...

and

Hideo Murota was a Japanese actor who specialized in playing villains and tough guys. In 1957, he signed a contract with Toei Studio and appeared in over 1000 films. He won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Yokohama Film Festival for his role in '' Shi ...

being the most prominent members. Kawatani, Masaru Shiga and non-Piranha Army member

Seizō Fukumoto (3 February 1943 – 1 January 2021) was a Japanese actor. Biography He started acting at age 15 in Kyoto, the capital of Japanese cinema. A specialist in film and television jidaigeki set in the Edo period, he most often played a rōnin, but in ...

competed to see who could have the most over the top death scenes. In group scenes, they would hide in the back during rehearsals, only to move to the front during the actual take. Shiga said that Fukasaku was the only director they treated as equals. Upon filming on-location in Kure, many yakuza, including those used as models for characters in the film, gathered on set. They gave advice to both the director and actors; decades later,

Tatsuo Umemiya was a Japanese actor, ''tarento'', and businessman. He was represented by the agency Pickles. His daughter is model and ''tarento'' Anna Umemiya. The son of a doctor, Umemiya gave up a medical career to debut as a Toei New Face at the Toei Stu ...

stated that he felt sorry for actors playing yakuza today because they "don't have the chance to get to know real yakuza the way we did." Producer Koji Shundo himself was formerly a yakuza before getting a job at Toei.

Filming

Set in post-war Japan, Fukasaku drew on his experiences as a child during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity''. At fifteen he worked with other children in a munitions factory that was regularly bombed. The director recalled "even though we were friends working together, the only thing we would be thinking of was self-preservation. We would try to get behind each other or beneath dead bodies to avoid the bombs.... I also had to clean up all the dead bodies.... I'm sure those experiences have influenced the way I look at violence." Using

hand-held camera Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...

zoom lens A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (see prime lens). A true zoom lens, also called a parfocal lens, is one ...

es and natural lighting to create a "gritty, chaotic look," the director showed his generation's struggle to survive in the post-war chaos. The

shaky camera Shaky camera, Mekas, Jonas. "A Note on the Shaky Camera." '' Film Culture'', issues 24-27, 1962. shaky cam, jerky camera, queasy cam, run-and-gun or free camera is a cinematographic technique where stable-image techniques are purposely dispensed w ...

technique has since become a trademark of the director. Toei producer Masao Sato remarked that unusually Fukasaku shot the films in Toei's

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

studio, despite being under contract to Toei

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He also stated that the entire filming process for the first movie was short, hectic and chaotic, taking only 35 to 40 days. Actor Takashi Noguchi said that although Fukasaku would be given a one-month deadline, he always went over it, taking 50 or 60 days. There were also a lot of night shoots, with any work after 10pm earning the Toei crew significant overtime pay. The assistant director on ''Proxy War'' and ''Police Tactics'', Toru Dobashi, claimed that Fukasaku was not as sharp in the mornings, napping while the crew prepped, usually only filming the first take in the afternoon. He said that the director's peak work hours were between 2 and 3am. Dobashi remarked that Fukasaku was very hands-on, taking part in location scouting and costume selection. While he let the actors choose their costumes, he needed to know the reason why and would have lengthy discussions with them on how it helped their character's development. The series' action director Ryuzo Ueno said that for on-location shooting, he suggested to Fukasaku that they rehearse in studio beforehand. This way the citizens seen on film are giving realistic reactions to the street fights. After the second film, the anti-crime unit of the police in Hiroshima said they would not support on-location shooting. The production team for the third movie had a hard time filming in

Etajima , also called , ''Nomijima'', ''Nomi Island'', or is an island in Hiroshima Bay located in southwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The mess with island name originates from the ancient (and possibly legendary) strait at now town . Geography Th ...

with the officials saying they "gave the wrong impression of Hiroshima by depicting violent incidents that never happened." Kasahara responded by stating that he did not write any fictional violent acts, all of them were real. Ueno recalled that Kawatani almost died filming a scene in the second film where he is pulled behind a boat with his hands tied together. The actor went against Ueno's advice and insisted his hands actually be tied. After almost drowning, he did it Ueno's way. Shiga claimed that Sugawara was not as skilled as the Piranha Army in staged fights and would accidentally hit them for real. Dobashi described an incident filming a night scene in ''Proxy War'', where

Tsunehiko Watase (July 28, 1944 – March 14, 2017) was a Japanese actor known for portraying Rintaro Kano in ''Keishicho Sosa Ikka 9 Gakari'' ("Homicide Team 9"). He won the award for best supporting actor at the 2nd Japan Academy Prize for '' The Incident'' an ...

performed a dangerous stunt himself in a single take that was filmed on a

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

Eyemo The Eyemo is a 35 mm motion picture film camera which was manufactured by the Bell & Howell Co. of Chicago. Background Designed and first manufactured in 1925, it was for many years the most compact 35 mm motion picture film camer ...

to be blown up to

35 mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on f ...

later. However, it was later discovered that the Eyemo had no film in it and the scene had to be shot over after pleading with the location's residents.

Reception and legacy

''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' was a box office success and made Sugawara a star and Fukasaku an A-list director. The first installment earned its distributor $4.5 million at the box office, making it the eleventh highest-grossing film of the year. The second and third films ranked twelfth and thirteenth for the same year, respectively, while the last two both ranked in the top ten of 1974. On ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

''s annual list of the best films for the year of 1973 as voted by critics, the first film placed second, ''Proxy War'' placed eighth and ''Deadly Fight in Hiroshima'' thirteenth. At the 1974 ''Kinema Junpo'' Awards; the first installment won the Reader's Choice for Best Film (''Deadly Fight in Hiroshima'' was fourth), Bunta Sugawara received Best Actor, and Kazuo Kasahara received Best Screenplay. In 2009, the magazine named it fifth on an aggregated list of the Top 10 Japanese Films of All Time as voted by over one hundred film critics and writers. Previous editions of the list had the series at number twenty-two in 1995 and eighth in 1999, tied with ''

Twenty-Four Eyes is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Sakae Tsuboi. The film stars Hideko Takamine as a schoolteacher named Hisako Ōishi, who lives during the rise and fall of Japanese national ...

''. In 2011, ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named it number one on their list of The 25 Best Yakuza Movies. Yamane believes ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' was popular because of the time of its release; Japan's economic growth was at its peak and at the end of the 1960s the student uprisings took place. The young people had similar feelings to those of the post-war society depicted in the films. The Fukasaku biographer and film expert also stated that for the rest of his career Fukasaku was approached many times by producers to create movies similar to ''Battles'', but always turned them down wanting to move on to films he found interesting.

Mark Schilling Mark Schilling (born 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, translator, and author based in Tokyo, Japan. He has written for ''The Japan Times'', ''Variety'', and ''Screen International''. Biography Schilling began working for ''The Japan ...

wrote that many Japanese commentators cite the films' extensive use of the Hiroshima

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

as fresh, because it was not heard in many mainstream films at the time. The success of the ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' series popularized the subgenre of yakuza film called '' Jitsuroku eiga'' or "actual record films", often depicting events based on true stories. Prior, movies about yakuza were known as '' Ninkyō eiga'' or "

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...

films" and set in pre-war Japan.

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

's Noel Murray states that Fukasaku's yakuza instead only "adhere to codes of honor when it's in their best interest, but otherwise bully and kill indiscriminately." Dennis Lim of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' writes "Fukasaku's yakuza flicks drain criminal netherworlds of romance, crush codes of honor underfoot, and nullify distinctions between good and evil."

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

called ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' a "violent saga awash in blood, betrayal, treachery and aggression". Describing the first two films as following Hirono as he forms ties with doomed friends who try to live up to the yakuza code, giving viewers something to care about in "what would otherwise be a completely nihilistic series of rotten deals and betrayals", Erickson wrote that by the third film Fukasaku and his writers veer into political territory; he interpreted the yakuza captains using their underlings as proxies in their fights as an allegory for what America and the Soviet Union did in the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Kyle Anderson of the

Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast (The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium conte ...

referred to the series as "the fastest, most frenetic, least apologetic gangster pictures ever made." He noted how the onscreen text giving the victim's name and date of death after each murder, coupled with the handheld photography, give the films a "newsreel style that draws the viewer in."

Sequels

Toei convinced Fukasaku to create three more films between 1974 and 1976 under the names '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity'', '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head'' and '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss''. These standalone films feature many of the same actors, but all playing new characters. This series was followed in 1979 with ''

Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Eiichi Kudo. Although originally planned as the first entry of a new series in the ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' franchise, ''Aftermath'' turned out to be a lone entry and Toei refers to the film as a ...

'', directed by

Eiichi Kudo was a Japanese film director. Kudo directed 30 films between 1956 and 1998. His notable films are ''13 Assassins (1963 film), 13 Assassins'' (1963) and ''The Great Killing'' (1964). He joined the Toei Company, Toei film company in 1952 and made ...

, which features all new actors aside from Matsukata. In 2000, a film directed by

Junji Sakamoto is a Japanese film director. Career After working as a set assistant or assistant director under such filmmakers as Sogo Ishii and Kazuyuki Izutsu, he made his directorial debut in 1989 with '' Dotsuitarunen'' (earning the Directors Guild of Ja ...

was released under the title '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity'', also known as ''Another Battle'', but with no direct similarities to Fukasaku's series. A sequel to this film, titled or ''Another Battle/Conspiracy'', directed by Hajime Hashimoto, followed in 2003, with a soundtrack by

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra , commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike t ...

& Sembello.

Stage adaptations

A theatrical

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

adaptation of ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' ran at

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

's Kinokuniya Hall from October 24 to November 2, 1974.

's friend

Yoshiyuki Fukuda is a Japanese playwright, screenwriter, and director. Remembered as one of the founding figures of the ''Angura'' ("underground") theatre movement in Japan, Fukuda also served as chairman of the Japan Directors Association from 2003 to 2007. Ear ...

was a fan of the films and asked the actor if he would perform in a stage adaptation, to which Kaneko agreed. Based on the first two parts of the original film, Kaneko produced the play with the Mārui Theatre Company, which he presided over, while Fukuda and

co-directed. It marked Fukasaku's debut in theater. Kaneko reprised his role of Yoshio Yamamori,

took over as Shozo Hirono,

Toru Minegishi is a Japanese video game composer known for his work on Nintendo games, most notably in ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Splatoon'' series. He was raised in a musical family and developed an interest in video games and their music from an early ag ...

played Tetsuya Sakai, and Harumi Sone played Uichi Shinkai. Other actors from the ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' film series who also appeared in the play include

Shingo Yamashiro was a Japanese television and film actor. Biography Yamashiro, who was originally from Kyoto, Japan, was born , but used Shingo Yamashiro as his stage name. He made his film acting debut in 1957. Yamashiro starred in the television series '' H ...

Reiko Ike is a Japanese actress, singer, and entertainer. She is best known for her roles in the genre of action/erotic movies known as ''pink films''. Ike also released an album of songs in 1971, ''Kōkotsu No Sekai''. After a drug-related arrest, and an ...

Mikio Narita was a Japanese actor. He was most famous for playing villains. He often worked with Kinji Fukasaku. Narita graduated from Haiyuza Theatre Company acting school and joined Daiei Film. His career as a screen actor started in 1963. His film debut ...

, and

Sanae Nakahara Sanae Nakahara (Japanese: 中原早苗; July 31, 1935 – May 15, 2012) was a Japanese actress from Tokyo. She starred in over 80 films and television shows, the most prominent being her role in the films Lady Snowblood (1973), Yagyu Clan Conspi ...

. The play was a commercial failure, incurring a deficit of ¥2 million. In 2019, female pop idol group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

performed at

Hakata-za The is a kabuki theatre in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, located near the Nakasu-Kawabata Station. It was originally constructed in 1996. Overview The Hakata-za is a multipurpose theater that can be used in all theater genres, such as k ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

from November 9–24. It was written by Daisuke Kamijyo, and directed by

Shutaro Oku is a Japanese film and stage director. Biography Shutaro Oku was born in 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. From 2000 to 2009, Oku directed many theatrical films, notably ''The Labor Cop'', ''Japanese Naked Tribe'', ''Aka-sen'', ''Cain's Descendant'', and ...

. There were two different cast lineups; the first performed the play from opening day until November 14, while the second took over on November 16 and continued until closing day. Yamamori was portrayed by

Meru Tashima is a Japanese singer and idol. She is a former member of the idol group HKT48. Biography In 2011, Tashima took part in the 10th generation auditions for the idol group Morning Musume. She passed 3 rounds and advanced to the final, but was not ...

and Makiko Saito, Hirono by

Yui Yokoyama Yui may refer to: People * Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress * Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places * Yui, Sh ...

and

Nana Okada is a Japanese singer and actress, represented by Avex Asunaro. She is a member of the girl group AKB48 and a former member of STU48. She has been a fixture in AKB48's major single lineups since 2016 and is considered one of the best singers in ...

, Sakai by

Tomu Muto is a Japanese idol and singer, and a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She is a member of AKB48's Team K. She is an alumna of Seijo University, where she studied economics and also earned her postgraduate degree, as well as a certif ...

and

Miru Shiroma is a Japanese singer and model. She is a former member of Team M of the Japanese idol girl group NMB48. Career Shiroma passed NMB48's first-generation auditions in September 2010, debuting on 9 October 2010 at Tokyo Aki Matsuri. Her stage ...

, and Shinkai was played by Yui Oguri and Chihiro Kawakami.

Notes

References

{{Battles Without Honor and Humanity Crime film series Japanese film series