is a

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

directed by

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...

and starring

Akira Kobayashi is a Japanese actor and singer. His nickname is . Biography Kobayashi attended Meiji University but left before graduating. He became an actor at Nikkatsu and made his film debut with "Ueru Tamashii" directed by Yuzo Kawashima in 1956. He so ...

Chieko Matsubara is a Japanese actress from Nagoya, 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 th ...

, Daizaburo Hirata and Hiroko Itō. It was a programme picture produced by the Nikkatsu Company to fill out the second half of a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with Shohei Imamura's ''

The Insect Woman is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Shōhei Imamura. It was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival, where Sachiko Hidari won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award. It was also awarded numerous national film prizes. Plot ...

''. The film was based on a novel by Taiko Hirabayashi and had been previously adapted to the screen as '' Song from the Underworld'' (1956) by Suzuki's mentor,

Hiroshi Noguchi is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Noguchi was born in Sakai, Ibaraki on February 25, 1972. After graduating from Komazawa University, he joined Kyoto Purple Sanga is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. ...

. The story involves Katsuta, a

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 ...

member who falls in love and is torn between '' giri'' (duty) and ''

ninjo NinJo is a meteorological software system. It is a community project of the German Weather Service, the Meteorological Service of Canada, the Danish Meteorological Institute, MeteoSwiss, and the German Bundeswehr. It consists of modules for moni ...

'' (humanity). The

Kanto Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...

of the title refers to a large plain on which

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 ...

is located.

Plot

Three schoolgirls are infatuated with a

, Katsuta, of the Izu Clan. They meet another yakuza, "Diamond" Fuyu, of the rival Yoshida clan. As he gets a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

, two of the girls become squeamish and run off but Hanako, the best friend of the daughter of Sota Izu, boss of the Izu clan, stays to watch. She is intrigued with the yakuza world. Fuyu takes her to an illegal gambling den where Tetsu, a dealer, takes a liking to her. The police raid the den and Hanako is arrested but let off with a warning. Later, Tetsu runs into Hanako on the street and convinces her to help him pull a variant of the

badger game The badger game is an extortion scheme or confidence trick in which the victims are tricked into compromising positions in order to make them vulnerable to blackmail. Its name is derived from the practice of badger baiting. The trick was part ...

, a scam in which, with the promise of sex, she is to lure a man to a hotel room where Tetsu will extort money from him by threat of

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

. The scam fails when the man chases Testu off and Hanako is left stranded with the man. Katsuta chances upon Tatsuko, a

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

who he had encountered four years earlier when he had exposed her and her partner in a scam. Her partner had slashed him across the face in their escape and he bore the resulting scar in fond remembrance of her. Word that Hanako has gone missing reaches Katsuta and he inquires as to her whereabouts from Tetsu who feigns ignorance. They search for her without success and end up at a hotel. Katsuta suspects a gambling game there is fixed, but Tetsu insists on partaking and Katsuta follows. He again meets Tatsuko whose husband, Hachi Okaru, is winning the game by looking at the cards in the reflection of a cigarette case. When the others leave Okaru challenges Katsuta to a game and wins again by cheating. Diamond, who was in hiding with Tatsuko, his sister, emerges and demands to know what happened to Hanako, but Katsuta cannot tell him. Katsuta and Tatsuko fight their feelings for one another. Tensions rise between the Izu and Yoshida clan and Sato Izu begins to suspect Katsuta of disloyalty. Katsuta murders a group of rude gambler parlor attendees. Realizing he has nothing left to lose, he slays his way to a rival boss, demanding he give his fealty to Izu. When Izu is killed by Fuyu making Katsuta's earlier actions moot, Katsuta states his actions were nonetheless honorable.

Cast

as Mitsuo Katsuta *

as Tokiko Izu * Daizaburo Hirata as "Diamond" Fuyu * Hiroko Itō as Tatsuko Iwata *

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 ...

as Hanako Yamada * Chikako Shin as Matsue Ichikawa *

Taiji Tonoyama was a Japanese character actor who made many appearances in films and on television from 1939 to 1989. He was a close friend of Kaneto Shindo and one of his regular cast members. He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company Ki ...

as Sota Izu *

Toru Abe was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1944 to 1985. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Toru 1917 births 1993 deaths Japanese male film actors 20th-century Japanese male ...

as Dairyu Yoshida *

Keisuke Noro Keisuke (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese general *, Japanese mixed martial artist *, Japanese footballer * ...

as Tetsu Bikkuri *

Yūnosuke Itō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1947 to 1979. Career Itō made his film debut at Toho in 1946, and although mostly a prominent supporting actor—playing memorable figures such as the novelist in Akira Ku ...

as Hachi Okaru

Production

The Nikkatsu Company assigned ''Kanto Wanderer'' to contract director

. It was his first ''

ninkyo eiga 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 ...

'', or chivalry film. It was also a programme picture, a quickly made, low-budget film, designed to be screened after Shohei Imamura's ''

''. ''Kanto Wanderer'' was based on a serial written by Taiko Hirabayashi published in the

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

, Suzuki's mentor,In the Japanese studio system,

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

s joined a group under an individual director, or mentor, and rarely left that group unless the director died or they were dismissed. They were expected to learn the inner workings of the studio and the habits of their mentor as they advanced through a three-tiered system and were eventually promoted to

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. The system began to break down through the 1950s and 1960s and had ended by 1975. had previously adapted the story as '' Song from the Underworld'' (1956). Suzuki was apprehensive about remaking a film by Noguchi but his producer

Kenzō Asada is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

assured him that it was better a former assistant directed it. Suzuki accepted the assignment on September 24, 1963, and began

location scouting Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work t ...

the same day. The studio also assigned

matinée idol Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre movie star, stars who are adored to the point of Flattery, adulation by their Fan (person), fans. The term almost exclusively refers to adult male actors. Matinée idols often tend ...

and

to the lead roles. Suzuki and his collaborators had more sway with the remaining parts. They suggested many actress for the role of Tatsuko Iwata, such as

Yoshie Mizutani Yoshie is both a Japanese surname and a Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: ; Family name *, Japanese professional wrestler ; Given name *, Japanese tenor singer *, Japanese actress and singer *, Japanese popular pop singer- ...

and

Yukiji Asaoka was a Japanese singer and an actress from Chūō, Tokyo. She was the daughter of a famous Japanese painter of shin hanga style prints, Shinsui Itō, and her second husband was actor Masahiko Tsugawa. Asaoka was in the Takarazuka Revue from 1952 ...

, but all were turned down. Suzuki argued frequently with the studio on the subject. The studio suggested Minako Osanai, a famous television star, but Suzuki warned them against it as he felt her small face would not carry over to the large screen format. Two days before filming was scheduled to begin, art director

Takeo Kimura was a Japanese art director, writer and film director. Beginning his career in 1945 he art-directed well over 200 films. He was one of Japan's best known art directors, most famously for his collaborations with cult director Seijun Suzuki thr ...

suggested Hiroko Itō to Suzuki and she was selected. Shooting began on October 5, on location in

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

. Kobayashi appeared on set wearing what Suzuki later described as Brezhnevian artificial eyebrows. A dismayed Asada told Suzuki, "Tell Akira to cut that out." Suzuki suggested they leave them so as not to immediately antagonize Kobayashi and the eyebrows remained. Since the film was to be shown immediately following the main feature, and Suzuki felt that all Nikkatsu films followed the same formula (the lead falls in love, kills the bad guy and gets the girl), he familiarized himself with ''The Insect Woman's'' actors, director and his approach and then approached similar scenes from a different angle in ''Kanto Wanderer''. Filming was completed on November 10. The music was completed on the 12th and the

dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...

was done over the 13th and 14th.

References

External links

* * *
Kanto Wanderer
' at the

Japanese Movie Database The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...

{{Seijun Suzuki 1963 films 1960s crime films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Seijun Suzuki 1960s Japanese-language films Nikkatsu films Yakuza films 1960s Japanese films