東映ヤクザ映画と山口組Toei's Yakuza Film Revolution and Rise of the Yamaguchi-gumi

Japanese yakuza movies have been famously represented by Takeshi Kitano over the past 30 years, but the cultural foundation from which they originated was unquestionably established by “Toei (東映)”. Toei was the driving force behind the golden age of yakuza films from 1963 to 1972, producing as many as 235 films within that decade alone and replacing the popularity previously enjoyed by samurai-centric period dramas. Toei did not merely mass-produce these films; it dominated the Japanese film industry from the 1960s through the 1970s, with the content and popularity of its yakuza movies deeply intertwined with the social context of the time. While enjoying yakuza films as mere entertainment is certainly valid, understanding the historical context in which Toei developed and continually released its prolific series of yakuza films allows viewers a deeper appreciation of Japanese cinema than anyone else. In this article, I will explore from a unique perspective the direct societal factors leading to the rise of Toei’s yakuza films, specifically examining the nationwide dominance of Japan’s largest yakuza organization, the Yamaguchi-gumi (山口組), alongside the student movements during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth.

First, it is important to note that Toei originally classified their yakuza movies specifically as “Ninkyo Eiga” (任侠映画). While the terms “Ninkyo” (任侠) and “Yakuza” (ヤクザ) are often used interchangeably, their nuanced differences make them somewhat challenging concepts to fully grasp. Previously on Shitsurae, I provided a partial historical overview of the evolution of the yakuza to aid in this understanding. The core ideology behind these Ninkyo films is the aesthetic of “Ninkyo-do” (任侠道)—a code defined by helping the weak and confronting the powerful. Koji Takada, a prominent screenwriter who supported Toei during its golden age, famously stated, “A true yakuza is one who is prepared to risk his life to punish evil beyond the reach of the law.” This encapsulates the essence of the genuinely noble yakuza, an idealized figure significantly different from today’s money-oriented or politically-driven gangs.

In other words, in a reality where common people were forced to silently endure abuses by powerful individuals who evaded justice, the figure of the yakuza who upheld his own form of justice became idealized. During the early 1960s, these “heroic yakuza” became celebrated heroes on the silver screen. This phenomenon occurred because many Japanese, still not affluent in the early days of economic growth following post-war reconstruction, were deeply drawn to this idealized image. Recognizing this societal desire, Toei found its symbol for the early 1960s in actor Koji Tsuruta. In 1963, Toei kickstarted the yakuza film genre with Tsuruta starring in “Jinsei Gekijo: Hisha-Kaku” (人生劇場 飛車角), which became a massive hit. Toei immediately saw a profitable opportunity and devised a strategy of consistently casting star actors and rapidly producing serialized films.

However, as time passed, a disconnect between the idealized heroism symbolized by Tsuruta and the realities of society began to emerge. In particular, the First Japan-U.S. Security Treaty Protests (安保闘争) from 1959 to 1960 and the subsequent social climate, along with a growing awareness of the realities within yakuza organizations, gradually raised doubts among audiences and filmmakers alike regarding whether Toei’s Ninkyo films were overly idealizing the yakuza. Post-war Japanese society, suffering from defeat and experiencing chaos, saw public order break down; gaps in the occupation-era system left many situations beyond the reach of the law, and citizens were deeply dissatisfied. The police and politicians, weakened by the postwar turmoil, had few means of protecting daily life.

In this lawless context, post-war yakuza emerged as a force to maintain public order. They established territories, maintained regional stability, protected civilian life, and held down the lawlessness of the turbulent years by force. At the time, even the police and local authorities relied on these yakuza groups, cooperating closely to facilitate Japan’s recovery from the war. But by the 1950s, as Japan gradually began recovering from wartime devastation, yakuza groups expanded their influence, frequently clashing and increasingly becoming more powerful and larger. Foremost among these organizations was the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi. Leading the Yamaguchi-gumi at this critical time was Kazuo Taoka (田岡一雄).

After World War II, Kazuo Taoka established a small organization in Kobe and was looked up to as the man who protected the town from the turmoil that threatened citizens’ lives. In 1946, he succeeded as the third-generation boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi. At that time, the organization had only about 30 members, making it a minor local group in Kobe. Taoka, who had remarkable foresight, prohibited gambling and narcotics among his members, advocating instead for them to take up socially acceptable occupations, thus distinguishing the group from traditional yakuza who relied on gambling dens and drug trafficking. Following this new direction, the Yamaguchi-gumi abandoned the old image of yakuza and diversified into fields such as entertainment and port-related businesses. Because of this shift, the Yamaguchi-gumi rapidly expanded not only its financial base but also its political influence, growing closer to prominent politicians.

However, as the organization expanded, the growing number of members gradually led to difficulties in managing subordinate groups, some of whom started to engage in gambling and narcotics—activities Taoka had explicitly forbidden. Additionally, these subordinate factions began aggressively expanding their territories nationwide in pursuit of new revenue sources. This shift occurred from the mid-1950s through the 1960s. As Yamaguchi-gumi factions, determined to conquer the nation, repeatedly engaged in violent conflicts with rival yakuza groups, they increasingly faced backlash from ordinary citizens. Historically significant, politicians such as Banboku Ono, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1952-1953), and Ichiro Kono, who occupied influential governmental positions, had shown favorable attitudes towards the Yamaguchi-gumi. However, their deaths in 1964-65 led to significant changes in Japanese politics.

With the ascension of bureaucrat-turned-politicians Hayato Ikeda as Prime Minister (1960-1964) and Eisaku Sato, who succeeded him (1964-1972), Japan underwent a dramatic shift. During this era, the bureaucratic power that had collapsed after the war began to regain strength, causing police authority to rise significantly. Eventually, police power overtook that of the yakuza, marking the beginning of a decisive decline for organized crime. Bureaucrat-dominated politics mobilized the police force aggressively to dismantle yakuza groups, placing immense pressure on the already nationally-dominant Yamaguchi-gumi. At its peak in 1963, Yamaguchi-gumi astonishingly had as many as 184,100 members.

Amid this complex situation, Toei’s yakuza film era emerged. Koji Tsuruta, the initial hero of these films, became the symbol of traditional “ninkyo” values. However, by the mid-1960s, as the bureaucratic political power structure strengthened, the Japanese public sought a new type of hero more suited to the times. In response, Toei introduced actor Ken Takakura. Takakura starred in the “Nihon Kyokaku-den” (日本侠客伝) series consisting of 11 films from 1964 to 1971, the “Showa Zankyo-den” (昭和残侠伝) series with nine films from 1965 to 1972, and notably, the “Abashiri Prison” (網走番外地) series, which had 18 films between 1965 and 1972. With these series, Takakura became the iconic top star of Japanese cinema. A major factor behind his popularity was that these films, especially during the intense student movements around the renewal of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in 1970, provided an outlet for the frustrations of young people and workers who were opposed to the established authority.

Nevertheless, with the student movement ultimately ending in defeat, the idealized images portrayed by Koji Tsuruta and Ken Takakura were no longer sufficient. The public demanded a new hero, and actor Bunta Sugawara stepped into this role. Thus, between 1973 and 1974, Toei released the influential five-part series “Battles Without Honor and Humanity” (仁義なき戦い), starring Sugawara. Notably, this series represented a shift away from the 1960s idealization of yakuza organizations, instead depicting them from a critical perspective. Toei’s golden age of yakuza films, spanning from 1963 to 1972, effectively concluded with this series, but one more important film was yet to be made—the January 1977 release, “Nihon no Don” (やくざ戦争 日本の首領).

Due to the tremendous success of the first installment, this film expanded into a trilogy by 1978. While partially fictionalized, the trilogy was essentially structured as follows: the first part focused on Kazuo Taoka and the Yamaguchi-gumi; the second part depicted the Kansai-Kanto conflict during the Yamaguchi-gumi’s national expansion; and the third part involved political and financial power brokers in the conflict between the Yamaguchi-gumi and Kanto-based yakuza groups. Notably, this trilogy featured an all-star cast of prominent actors active from prewar to postwar periods, and significantly, Kazuo Taoka’s son, Mitsuru Taoka (田岡満), served as its producer.

Although Mitsuru Taoka himself was not involved in yakuza activities, as the son of Japan’s largest yakuza leader, he entered the film industry as a producer, bringing his father’s life to the screen with Ken Takakura starring in “Yamaguchi-gumi Sandaime” (山口組三代目, 1973) and similarly, “Sandaime Shumei” (三代目襲名, 1974), both modeled after Kazuo Taoka. It is widely speculated that the president of Toei at the time, Shigeru Okada, who had close ties to Kazuo Taoka, promised to appoint Mitsuru Taoka as a producer in exchange for film rights. Indeed, during this period, yakuza film productions often saw involvement from actual yakuza groups, aiming to mitigate pressure and interference from local gangs. Naming the Yamaguchi-gumi leader’s son as the producer likely influenced other gangs to refrain from intervening.

Although Toei once defined an era with its influential yakuza films, it gradually declined due to the increasing strength of police power and the corruption within the yakuza organizations themselves, eventually mirroring the decline of the yakuza in Japanese society.