January 2026. It’s been snowing like crazy. The neighbouring city got 112 centimetres in one day. Airport trains couldn’t run. I only made it to my flight thanks to my wife, who gave me a ride. The first Tokyo trip of the year could have started better.
I was in a hurry to Laputa Asagaya. They had kicked off the new year strong. Morning Show was still playing Kyu Sakamoto films. Main Program had launched a 36 film Ninkyo Yakuza Film retrospective, which was a follow up program to an earlier ninkyo program in 2023. Late Show dedicated to Toei's b-film director Yukio Noda.
My day started with Game of Chance 3 (出世子守唄) (1967). This series is notable not only for being Sonny Chiba’s only ninkyo series, but also co-starring six year old Hiroyuki Sanada in his first movie roles. Chiba and Sanada play father and son: a yakuza gambler on the run with his little son. Curiously each entry in the series belongs to a different sub-genre of yakuza films. In the 1st movie Chiba is a gambler (bakuto), in the 2nd one he becomes a street vendor (tekiya), and in the 3rd he’s a lumberjack (an unnamed genre of yakuza films featuring yakuza in physical labour such as fishery, coal mines, or railways construction).
The series is very even in quality, but there’s a catch regarding this final entry. While the first two films were a continuous story, this 3rd one is a reboot / remake that just forgets to inform the viewer of the fact. It seems to follow the 2nd film and even matches its timeline... until someone killed in the 1st movie show's up alive and the plot from the original is repeated in a new setting. That doesn’t make this a lesser of a film, however. The storyline is solid with Chiba helping poor lumberjacks fend off against greedy yakuza, the lush mountain scenery looks breathtaking (on pristine 35mm!), and there’s cinematic magic to the Chiba & Sanada tag team. The film's biggest asset however is vengeful Tetsuro Tamba seeking justice for his brother, whom our hero killed in a fair duel. This sub-plot is the epitome of ninkyo films: two honourable men pit againts each other by fate, both having justification for their actions, and both having to re-evaluate their views and loyalties in the process.
My 2nd film of the day was Osaka Chivalry: Courage of Slain Seven (浪花侠客 度胸七人斬り) (1967). Koji Tsuruta stars as a temperamental yakuza serving righteous oyabun Takashi Shimura, whose position is threatened by conspirators inside the clan. I don't have much to say about this one. It's a functional but routine ninkyo tale. Visuals stand out the most: rain, snow and dusk are all beautifully captured on film. More interesting than the film, however, is its theatrical poster. It lists several big profile supporting actors like Tomisaburo Wakayama, Shingo Yamashiro and Kyosuke Machida... none of whom are in the film! I assume there was a last moment casting change that wasn't communicated to the advertising department on time. You have to remember these Toei programmers often went from screenwriting table to theatres in less than two months...
[Another similar case is Kinji Fukasaku's Bloodstained Clan Honor (血染の代紋) (1970). There are two posters available for it, one of which credits Junko Fuji despite her not being in the film, and omits Junko Miyazono who does appear in the movie]
The day's third ninkyo film was Norifumi Suzuki's gangster comedy Chivalrous Ishimatsu of the Fish Market (任侠魚河岸の石松) (1967). This stars enka singer / actor Saburo Kitajima, whose Honor Among Brothers series (1966-1971) is actually one of the most overlooked yakuza film series from the 60s. Suzuki directed one of those, and wrote several others. Sadly this fish market yakuza comedy is a lot lighter affair. Kitajima is fun to watch and there are some highlights such as a bar brawl shot with a very long and impressive take... but the film's merits are modest. Not so much a bad movie as one that just isn't very special. I would only recommend this to Suzuki, Kitajima and ninkyo completist.
The day's last film was Yakuza Deka (やくざ刑事) (1970) in the Yukio Noda Late Show. I think it’s wonderful that in Laputa even b-film directors like Noda are granted their own retrospectives. The 10 film program included a couple of his Delinquent Boss films, the two Yakuza Deka films he directed, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs, G-String Geisha, all three The Karate films, and perhaps most interestingly the notorious Seishun toruko nikki, which was made in 1973 but not released until 1975 due to a controversy regarding the lead actress’ age.
The Yakuza Deka series was basically spun off from the TV show Key Hunter (1967-1972), which had made Sonny Chiba a big star in Japan and led him to establish JAC. In the process he ended up modernizing Japanese action entertainment with stunt heavy action unseen in Japan until then. It was his work in films and shows like Kamikaze Man, Key Hunter, Yakuza Deka, Jail Breakers, G.I. Samurai and Roaring Fire that I consider Chiba’s most groundbreaking contribution to Japanese cinema. These films also won him a fan called Jackie Chan, who’d go meet his idol in Japan and do similar stunts in his 80s films!
That being said, the 1st Yakuza Deka film is probably the worst place to start regarding Chiba’s Modern Action output. It was clearly a rushed production, probably filmed between Key Hunter episodes without enough time devoted to the action scenes. Yet, it has a certain sense of fun that makes it more enjoyable that it objectively should be. We get Chiba goofing around as a reckless undercover narc, frequently clashing with brotherly nemesis Ryuhei Uchida. There’s jokes, there's action, there's grindhouse cinema aesthetics, and Chiba even sings! I had a fairly good time watching this in 35mm in my favourite movie theater. It should be noted that of the sequels the 2nd and 3rd film are a little better, while the 4th movie is by far the best in the series and features the wildest stunts!
All of the day’s four movies screened from very good 35mm prints that looked better than these films ever have on digital. Game of Chance 3 was the best looking of the bunch, followed by the other two ninkyo films. Yakuza Deka fared a little worse with a slightly more muted print, though it still looked fine and much better than the 2K digital remaster that airs on TV. I was also glad to see a very healthy audience attendance for all four films, despite it being a weekday afternoon / evening. Game of Chance 3 in particular attracted a lot of audience, though it may have been more due to Sanada than Chiba…
Poster for Delinquent Boss: First to Fight, another film in the Yukio Noda late show.
Yukio Noda program chirashi
