is a 1977 film 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

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...

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 tw ...

Plot

Kawada Noboru is a peasant from Mikuni who becomes a yakuza in the Tomiyasu Group in

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

. He holds a letter from his boss Mr. Yasuhara promising that he would receive control of the security business for the speedboat racetrack in exchange for killing Yamada. When Kawada is released from prison in 1968 and Mr. Yasuhara refuses to make good on the deal, Kawada buries him up to his neck and forces him to relinquish control over the security business of the bike race and speedboat race run by their gang. At a branch office in

Tsuruga is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in central ...

, Yasuhara asks for help from the Kanai Group, a destructive yakuza organization based in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

working under the umbrella of the Asada Group. Their leader, Kanai Hachiro, sends an excessive amount of 50 assassins to kill Kawada and Mantani warns Yasuhara that this is part of Kanai's plan to invade and destroy Fukui. Kawada hides out in the Shiranami House with his lover Nakai Kiku, who works there. Mr. Yoshitama from Kyoto acts as a mediator and arranges a meeting between Kawada and Mr. Kubo, who has been sent by Mr. Okano of the Asada Group to offer support to Kawada in any battles with the Kanai Group, but Kawada is unreceptive. Kawada is attacked in a diner but the police arrive and stop the fight before he is killed, leaving him seriously injured. Yasuhara appoints Mantani as underboss of the Tomiyasu Group and tells him to take care of Kawada. Mantani is Kanai's sworn brother, so Kawada sees this as another means by which Osaka seeks to control Fukui. Kiku's younger sister Nobuko and brother Takashi, a yakuza in the Yanaka Group in

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

, take Kawada to their hometown of Wajima to recover. Takashi's boss Oya fears that the Kanai Group will invade if they learn of this, so he tells Takashi to move Kawada to a different location. Mantani visits and Kiku agrees to be his woman if he keeps the secret about Kawada's location. Meanwhile, Kawada begins a relationship with Kiku's sister Nobuko. Kawada attacks the Tomiyasu Group and buries a member up to his neck until he reveals that Mantani is currently at a gambling house run by the Yoshitane Group in

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 ...

. Kawada sneaks in and cuts off Mantani's hand, then kills a member of the Kanai Group who mocks him. While serving time in Hamamatsu Prison for the murder, Kawada is stabbed by Toshimoto of the Kanai Group in

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

but is saved by Takii of the Yanaka Group, who tells him that Oya, the boss of the Yanaka Group, has been stabbed and that Nakai Takashi has become head of the Kanai branch office. When Kawada is released in 1973, Takashi's superiors tell him that he will be given control of Mikuni and Kanazawa if he kills Kawada, but Kawada evades them and returns to his old office, where he finds Nobuko waiting for him. Kawada finds Mantani and apologizes to him, but Mantani beats him with his cane. Kawada then confesses to Kiku that he and Nobuko are getting married. The Asada Group fears that Kanai is going rogue and they plot to take him out. Kiku arranges a meeting between Kawada and Okano Nobuyasu, a chief in the Asada Group, and Okano agrees to secretly assist Kawada. Kawada and some men from the Yanaka Group rob the safe at one of the offices of the Kanai Group, then begin murdering members of the Kanai Group. Kawada forcefully convinces Chairman Ryugasaki in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

to lend him some powerful machine guns. Mantani's men call for reinforcements from Osaka. Yasuhara visits Kawada and asks for his assistance it taking down Mantani, who has become a puppet of the Kanai Group. Mr. Yobu calls the police to raid the Kanai Group's office in Osaka, where they arrest Kanai Hachiro for illegal weapons possession. Kawada and Okano officially swear loyalty to each other and become bonded brothers. Mantani tells Takashi that he will take him into the Asada Group if he kills Kawada. Takashi beats his sister Nobuko but she will not reveal Kawada's location so Takashi holds her hostage to lure Kawada there. When Kawada and his men arrive and rescue Nobuko, she grabs a knife and kills Takashi, then turns herself in to the police. Kiku leaves Mantani for Okano. Kawada and Yasuhara visit Mantani in his hideout where he is hiding from potential attacks by Okano and Kawada and Mantani form an alliance against Okano. Takii pays off some old members of the Kanai Group to destroy the bar where Kiku now works. Okano and Kiku assume that Mantani was somehow involved and confront him in the hospital where he is recovering from a heart attack. Mantani agrees to give control of Fukui to Kawada. Kawada brings Okano and Kiki to a field where the Kanai Group members who destroyed the club have been buried up to their necks, then one of his men drives over their heads to kill them and send a message to Okano. Okano leaves in a car and Kiku walks away in the snow.

Cast

as Kanai *

as Kawada Noboru *

Yumiko Nogawa (born August 30, 1944) is a Japanese actress born in Kyoto, Japan. She has starred in several movies, notably '' Gate of Flesh'' (1964), a Japanese erotic film, part of a trilogy of films she made with director Seijun Suzuki. Including '' Story o ...

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 ...

as Mr. Kubo *

Yoko Takahashi is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise. Career Takahashi began her ...

Takeo Chii was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1968 and 2012. Biography Chii was the youngest of eight brothers. He made his acting debut in 1968. He made his film debut with Kihachi Okamoto's '' Kill!''. Chii married actress ...

* Tatsuo Endo * Seizo Fukumoto *

Hajime Hana was a Japanese actor. He was the leader of the comic jazz band The Crazy Cats, which featured such talent as Hitoshi Ueki and Kei Tani, and which starred in a series of film comedies (such as the "Irresponsible" (Musekinin) series at Toho) and in ...

Goro Ibuki is a Japanese actor.　He is known for his parts in jidaigeki television dramas especially Kakusan in Mito Kōmon series,　but is known as part of the cast of ''Samurai Sentai Shinkenger'' as Hikoma Kusakabe. Filmography Film *'' Bohachi Bushi ...

Nenji Kobayashi is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 23rd Japan Academy Prize for ''Poppoya''. Kobayashi signed with Toei in 1961 and started his acting career with small roles. Filmography Film * '' Soshiki Bōryoku'' (196 ...

Kō Nishimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''The Bad Sleep Well'' and '' Yojimbo'', Kihachi Okamoto's ''Sword of Doom'', Yoshitaro Nomura's ''Zero Focus'', and Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp'' ( ...

as Mr. Yasuhara *

Junkichi Orimoto was a Japanese actor. Orimoto often worked with Kinji Fukasaku and Sadao Nakajima. He started his acting career at the Shinkyō theatre company in 1949. His first film appearance was in the 1952 film ''Yamabiko Gakkō'' directed by Tadashi Imai. ...

as Yanaka *

Jirō Yabuki also known as Jirō Chiba is a retired Japanese actor. His older brother is Sonny Chiba. He is known for playing the role of Kazuya Taki in the tokusatsu superhero series ''Kamen Rider''. He started his acting career at the Bungakuza theatre co ...

as Hanamaki

Reception

In his book ''Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film'', author

Chris Desjardins Chris D. (born Chris Desjardins; January 15, 1953) is a punk poet, singer, writer, rock critic, producer, actor, and filmmaker. He is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early and long-running Los Angeles punk/ death rock band the ...

writes that the film is "another ''jitsuroku yakuza'' blitzkrieg, this time set in a snowy Hokkaido coastal town where a murderously independent yakuza boss (Hiroki Matsukata) is bent on gaining tighter control of the territory. Sonny Chiba is slickly venal as an oily, smooth-talking gangster and Ko Nishimura convincing as always, as an elder boss obstinately sticking to his guns. The splendid Yumiko Nogawa unfortunately doesn’t have much to do. Filmed on actual Hokkaido locations, the stormy winter atmosphere is savage and palpably chilling, giving the cold-blooded brutality on display a teeth-chattering edge." In his Book ''Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Wrote About'', Clive Davies called the film "an absolutely first-class yakuza gangster war thriller that benefits from having the story located in the coastal town of Hokuriku."

References

External links

* 1970s crime drama films 1977 drama films 1977 films Films directed by Kinji Fukasaku Films set in 1968 Films set in 1973 Films set in Fukui Prefecture Films set in Ishikawa Prefecture Films set in Shizuoka Prefecture 1970s Japanese-language films Yakuza films 1970s Japanese films {{1970s-Japan-film-stub