Takeshi Kitano, also known as Beat Takeshi in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host.
Tadanobu Satō, better known by his stage name Tadanobu Asano, is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Mamoru Arita in Bright Future, Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi, Kenji in Last Life in the Universe, A man in Survive Style 5+, Ayano in The Taste of Tea, Temujin in Mongol, Captain Yugi Nagata in Battleship, Lord Kira Yoshinaka in 47 Ronin and Hogun in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the Marvel Comics character. In 2016, he appeared as the Interpreter in Martin Scorsese's Silence. Three years later, he portrayed Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi in Roland Emmerich's Midway (2019). He portrayed the thunder god Raiden in the 2021 film Mortal Kombat.
Saburo Ishikura is a Japanese actor that has acted in several movies directed by Beat Takeshi. He has also appeared in a few of Takeshi's recent films which include Zatoichi (2003) as Boss Ogi and Asakusa Kid (2002).
Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period. He first appeared in the 1948 essay Zatoichi Monogatari (座頭市物語), part of Shimozawa's Futokoro Techō series that was serialized in the magazine Shōsetsu to Yomimono.
Keiichi Suzuki is a Japanese musician, singer, and record producer who co-founded the Moonriders, a group that became one of Japan's most innovative rock bands. He is known to audiences outside Japan for his musical contributions to the video games Mother (1989) and EarthBound (1994), both of which have been released on several soundtracks. More recently, he has composed film scores including The Blind Swordsman: Zatōichi (2003), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Uzumaki (2000), Chicken Heart (2009), as well as Takeshi Kitano's Outrage trilogy.
Junji Sakamoto is a Japanese film director.
Michiyo Okusu is a Chinese-born Japanese actress. She has been nominated for four Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 1981 Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role prize for her performance in Zigeunerweisen. She began her career as a film ingenue using the stage name Michiyo Yasuda, under which she scored major early successes with films such as A Fool's Love and numerous love stories and "samurai" period piece dramas.
Yoshio Harada was a Japanese actor best known for playing rebels in a career that spanned six decades.
Zatoichi is a 2003 Japanese Jidaigeki action film, directed, written, co-edited by and starring Takeshi Kitano in his 11th directorial venture. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman.
Kanako Higuchi is a Japanese actress. Her credits include film, television, and radio dramas, stage, commercials, and voice roles.
Katsumi Yanagishima, also credited as Katsumi Yanagijima, is a Japanese cinematographer.
The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori and starring Shintaro Katsu as Zatōichi the blind swordsman, a character created by Kan Shimozawa. The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is the second entry in the popular, long-running Zatoichi series.
Naomi Fujiyama is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 25th Hochi Film Award and at the 22nd Yokohama Film Festival for Face.
Katsuo Nakamura is a Japanese actor. Nakamura is a former Kabuki actor as well as his older brother Kinnosuke Nakamura. His first film appearance was in the 1955 film Furisode Kenpo. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 5th Japan Academy Prize and at the 6th Hochi Film Award for Kagero-za, Buriki no kunsho, and Shikake-nin Baian.
Daiei Film Co. Ltd. was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing not only artistic masterpieces, such as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953), but also launching several film series, such as Gamera, Zatoichi and Yokai Monsters, and making the three Daimajin films (1966). It declared bankruptcy in 1971 and was acquired by Kadokawa Pictures.
Zatoichi and the Doomed Man is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Kazuo Mori and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.
BAC Films is a French film production and distribution company. Based in Paris, the company was founded in 1986 by Jean Labadie, Éric Heumann, and Stéphane Sorlat. Capital shares of the company were re-allocated in 1988 when Vivendi took 10% followed by a 20% stake in the capital of the company, which allowed BAC Films to make major and ambitious acquisitions.
Yoshinobu Nishioka was a Japanese jidaigeki production designer, art director, producer and set decorater from Asuka, Nara Prefecture who won three Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction.