Kōji Mitsui
Actor · 1910 – 1979 · Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Mitsui Koji ( March 6, 1910 - April 20, 1979 ) was a Japanese actor. His real name was Mitsui Hikohide. After the war, he played an active role as a supporting actor in films directed by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu . His former stage name was Mitsui Hideo. Changed his stage name to Mitsui Koji in Ozu's Hen in the Wind (1948) . His role as the playboy Kisaburo in Kurosawa Akira 's The Lower Depths (1957) won him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 12th Mainichi Film Awards and the 8th Blue Ribbon Awards, solidifying his status as a supporting actor. After going freelance in 1960, he worked not only in films but also in television dramas and on stage, but after undergoing surgery for a stomach ulcer in 1971, his health deteriorated and he scaled back his acting career. He died of heart failure on April 20, 1979 at a hospital in Kamakura. He was 69 years old.
Movies24
Movie8.4DramaCrimeA Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Movie8.2DramaAspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Movie8.2DramaThrillerA vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
Movie8.0DramaActionIn feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Movie8.1WarDramaAfter handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
Movie7.7CrimeDramaIn this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.
Movie7.1DramaOn a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father and son designing a dream house, a young woman brutalized at home, drunks, schemers, and saints of small kindnesses. Kurosawa crafts a ragged mosaic of hardship, fantasy, and flickers of grace that keep people moving forward.
Movie7.5DramaA theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.
Movie7.3DramaA dying businessman intends to will ¥200 million to his three illegitimate children, but his associates scheme to take advantage of the situation.
Movie7.8WarHistoryThe Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.
Movie7.3DramaHistoryFollowing the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.
Movie7.5DramaRomanceA young salaryman and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he embarks on an extramarital affair.
Movie6.9DramaA celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.
Movie7.1DramaResidents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.
Movie7.3CrimeDramaThree robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.
Movie7.0DramaShuhei Horikawa, a poor schoolteacher, struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, despite neither money nor prospects.
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MovieComedyIn a provincial Japanese town, an entrepreneurial sanitation collector is drawn into the world of local politics, only to discover that the prosperity he helped create will benefit everyone but himself.
Movie7.0HistoryCrimeThe tale of a feudal swordsman who cynically takes no responsibility for anything, relegating it to others, and then taking the credit.
- MovieDrama
A tale of melancholy centered on a couple of engineers at a power plant in the north and a pure romance with a female engineer.
Movie7.1DramaTokiko patiently awaits her husband's return from WWII when her four-year old son falls ill. She takes him to the doctor but has no means of paying, so she resorts to prostitution. A month later, her husband returns to find his desperate wife, who tells him the truth. Together, they must deal with the consequences.
Movie7.2DramaWarA group of rank-and-file soldiers are jailed for crimes against humanity, themselves victims of a nation refusing to bear its burdens as a whole.
Movie9.0DramaComedyA group of hustling peddlers swindle rural towns with fake goods, facing betrayals, close calls, and constant setbacks as they chase survival and dream of a better future.
MovieDramaA seafaring man who hates women and a barmaid who hates men… drawn together and torn apart by a strange twist of fate… a melodrama of passion and intensity.