is a

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 ...

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

made 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 ...

in 1975 and directed by

Kazuhiko Yamaguchi is a Japanese film director. Career Born in Nagano Prefecture, Yamaguchi graduated from Waseda University and began working at the Tōei studios in Kyoto. He directed a number of action movie series in the 1970s and has also helmed many TV mo ...

. It is the second installment of a trilogy of films based on the manga

Karate Baka Ichidai is a Japanese manga drawn by Jirō Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru, with the story written by Ikki Kajiwara. The story was inspired by the life of the real-life karate martial artist Mas Oyama. The manga was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazin ...

(literal title: "A Karate-Crazy Life") by

Ikki Kajiwara , known by the pen names and , was a Japanese author, manga writer, and film producer. He is known for the work about sports and martial arts, with images of heroic young men with the occasional fine details as he moves from one topic to anoth ...

, Jiro Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru.

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 ...

reprises his role from ''

Champion of Death , also known as ''Karate Bullfighter'', is a Japanese martial arts film made by the Toei Company in 1975. It was the first in a trilogy of films based on the manga ''Karate Baka Ichidai'' (literal translation: A Karate-Crazy Life), a manga bas ...

'' as

Masutatsu Oyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese ...

, the historical founder of

Kyokushin is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 by Korean-Jap ...

karate in Japan (Oyama makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the film as well). Chiba had studied

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

under the real-life Oyama for several years. True to the film's title, at one point in the course of the narrative he battles a "bear", actually a human actor in a bear costume.

Plot

Cast

Mas Oyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese ...

Eiji Gô Eiji is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Eiji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "prosperity, peace" *, "great, peace" *, "great, second" *, "eternity, next" The name can also be written i ...

Yutaka Nakajima is a Japanese actress. She appeared in more than 30 films since 1977. Selected filmography External links * * 1952 births Living people Japanese film actresses {{Japan-film-actor-stub ...

References

External links

Japanese Movie Database
* * 1975 films 1975 action films 1975 martial arts films Japanese action films Films directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi Karate films 1970s Japanese-language films Toei Company films Films scored by Shunsuke Kikuchi 1970s Japanese films {{martialart-film-stub