is a 1995 Japanese film. It was directed by

Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese people, Japanese filmmaker, film producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, Film director, director, cinematographer, art director, production designer and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad ...

, who also stars in the film along with his brother Kōji Tsukamoto and Kahori Fujii. The film had its premiere in September 1995 at the

Turin Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

in Italy.

Plot

The film tells the story of a Japanese door-to-door insurance salesman, Tsuda Yoshiharu, who takes up boxing after a chance meeting with a former high school friend, Kojima Yakuji. Tsuda is shown to be under immense stress due to having to support both himself and his fiancée, Hizuru, who quit her job after they became engaged. One day, Hizuru invites Kojima into Tsuda's apartment. Kojima comes onto Hizuru, who rejects him. Still, Tsuda finds out and becomes enraged at Kojima, but Kojima beats Tsuda badly and humiliates him in front of Hizuru. Hizuru is intrigued by the animalistic Kojima, and, after a confrontation in a restaurant with Tsuda, breaks up with him and moves in with Kojima. She also starts to pierce herself and get tattoos. She wants to box, but is denied that life by the surprisingly cowardly Kojima, who says she is a scary freak of a woman. Tsuda still has feelings for Hizuru, and he keeps trying to win her back, leading to a confrontation where they bond by beating each other's faces to a pulp (Tsuda ends up badly mutilated in the process). In the end, Kojima and Tsuda have a sparring match in their boxing club, in which leads Kojima beats Tsuda to near death. Afterwards, Kojima goes on to fight a real boxing match while Tsuda is in the hospital being treated for wounds to his eye. Meanwhile, Hizuru has gone overboard with the piercings and has implanted several metal bars in her body. Kojima wins the match, but he has been pushed past his limit and his face is shown to be unrecognizable because of injuries. His face breaks apart while he is celebrating his victory, suggesting fatal wounds. Hizuru is shown to be in a field, where she attempts to rip out her various piercings but ends up bleeding to death. The final scene shows Tsuda standing in front of an apartment building, the pupil of his eye now missing.

Cast

* Kahori Fujii as Hizuru *

as Tsuda Yoshiharu *

Kōji Tsukamoto Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

as Kojima Takuji *

Naomasa Musaka Naomasa (written: 直政, 直正, 直方, 尚正 or 尚政) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' * ...

as Hase, trainer *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. Jac ...

as Ohizumi, trainer *

Koichi Wajima Koichi Wajima (輪島功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed light-middleweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles from 1971 and 1974, he regained the titles in January 1975 that included ...

as Shirota, gym owner *

Tomorowo Taguchi is a Japanese actor, film director and musician. After leaving Dokkyo University without graduating, he started to earn his living as an illustrator, writer and pornographic cartoonist. He joined a theatre called Hakken no Kai in 1978 and he ma ...

as the Tattoo Master *

Nobu Kanaoka Nobu Hospitality, LLC is an American company founded by Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, and Meir Teper in partnerships with Drew Nieporent as an Operator with Myriad Restaurant Group. Background In 1987, Nobu Matsuhisa moved to Los Angeles ...

as a Nurse

Release

''Tokyo Fist'' premiered in September 1995 at the

in Italy. It received theatrical release in Japan on October 21, 1995.

Reception

In Japan, ''Tokyo Fist'' was placed on some publications best of the year list, including ''

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 ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

* * * 1995 films 1995 horror films Japanese horror films 1990s Japanese-language films Films directed by Shinya Tsukamoto Films scored by Chu Ishikawa Japanese boxing films 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub