Director: Sadao Nakajima
Screenplay: Kōji Takada
Based on a Novel by: Koichi Iiboshi
Starring: Shin Saburi, Koji Tsuruta, Hiroki Matsukata, Toshirō Mifune, Kō Nishimura, Etsushi Takahashi, Asao Uchida, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba, Asao Koike, Mikio Narita, Chiezo Kataoka
Country: Japan
Running Time: 132 min, 140 min, 131 min
Year: 1977-78
BBFC Certificate: 18
Radiance Films continues to delve into the Japanese genre cinema archives to release less widely-known treats in the West. Their latest acquisition is a boxset containing Sadao Nakajima’s The Japanese Godfather Trilogy. The saga consists of Japanese Godfather (a.k.a. Yakuza senso: Nihon no Don), Japanese Godfather: Ambition (a.k.a. Nippon no Don: Yabohen) and Japanese Godfather: Conclusion (a.k.a. Nihon no Don: Kanketsuhen).
The story goes that megastar Ken Takakura had travelled to America (or possibly Hawaii) and seen Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. He came back to Japan raving about it, expressing his admiration for the film to producer Koji Shundo, in particular. Shundo and screenwriter Koji Takada went out to watch the film on this recommendation. They were also impressed, and set out to make their own Japanese take on the film.
To help ensure success, an all-star cast was assembled, and a series of novels by Koichi Iiboshi, who also wrote the magazine articles that formed the basis for the Battles Without Honour and Humanity series, were used as inspiration for the script of Japanese Godfather.
It’s difficult to sum up the narrative of this dense, three-film saga, but Radiance provide a nice ‘nutshell’ summary in their press material:
“At the dawn of the 1970s, Japan is becoming an economic superpower and the Nakajima crime syndicate extends its grasp across the nation. Politicians and corporations seek the gang’s favour to form strategic and highly prosperous partnerships, but its leaders disagree about whether to leave the old ways behind for the sake of money and respectability.”
Now, I’m a big fan of Coppola’s Godfather films (or at least the first two), and I also love a good yakuza movie, so The Japanese Godfather Trilogy seemed well suited to my tastes. Indeed, it didn’t disappoint.
One thing that helps set it apart from some of the other yakuza films of the time is how it delves into the way politics and business are also involved, as well as looking into the gang members’ home lives. The film was meant as a tragedy too, charting the end of the yakuza, or at least the traditional idea of them. Nakajima and Takada seem to suggest that the attempts to ‘legitimise’ the organisations and integrate them into business models and political institutions led to the downfall of the ‘honourable yakuza’.
Some of the aspects of the film, particularly the family side of things, certainly seem to be inspired by the Godfather films. However, Japanese Godfather veers away from that saga for the most part, keeping things in line with the traditions of the yakuza, who don’t tend to operate in quite the same way as the mafia, at least on screen.
There’s a ‘head in a bed’ scene which does feel like a bit of a rip-off from Coppola’s series, but it was reportedly based on a true account of an incident in Japan. Like with a lot of his scripts, Koji Takada based a number of the incidents and characters in the film on real-life yakuza accounts gleaned from Iiboshi’s research.
As mentioned, the series has an all-star cast. It’s a veritable who’s who of famous faces from Japanese genre movies (or at least male faces). Takakura, who helped get the project off the ground, is only in the first entry, but he makes a big impact as the dedicated clan member, Shuhei Tatsumi. He’s ‘replaced’ in the next two films by the great Toshirō Mifune, who plays the boss of a rival syndicate. Sonny Chiba only shows up in the first film too. He was almost unrecognisable to me, hidden behind a thick moustache and dark sunglasses. His character is a lot of fun though. I could ramble on about all of the cast members, as everyone brings their different skills to the table.
Two of the cast members play two different characters between films, which is a little confusing. That was common in Toei movies at the time, but it’s more disorientating than usual here, as the stories do flow into one another, unlike some other series, where each film is more standalone.
Otherwise, most of the higher-level family members and the actors that play them remain the same throughout the series. However, each film in the series introduces a new couple of characters, with at least one of these being female each time. They’re usually outsiders drawn into the yakuza world or low-level members of the clan who get involved in higher-level issues. I found that these subplots added some of the more emotionally affecting beats to the films. Indeed, there are some truly tragic moments that help the series rise above many of its peers.
The character arc I found the most interesting though, and is one of the elements that provides a strong link between the three films, is that of Yasuo Ichinomiya. He’s a doctor, played by Etsushi Takahashi, who marries one of the daughters of the Nakajima Don, Sakura. Ichinomiya is not initially a member of the yakuza clan, but he gets increasingly more involved in their activities as the films move on.
As with a lot of Japanese films of this era, the series is finely crafted, with some well-conceived compositions. The score is highly effective too, with some particularly funky cues in the second film.
Unlike the Godfather Trilogy, the Japanese equivalent manages to maintain a consistent level of quality throughout the series, though I wouldn’t say any entry quite reaches the heights of the first two of Coppola’s efforts. The first of the Japanese Godfather Trilogy is a solid, compelling entry, the second takes it in an increasingly bleak direction, and the third, whilst feeling quite busy and wordy in the first half, builds to a suitably dramatic conclusion.
So, overall, The Japanese Godfather Trilogy is a rich, compelling and expertly crafted saga that holds its own against its American counterpart.
Films: 
The Japanese Godfather Trilogy is out on 23rd February on region A&B Blu-Ray, released by Radiance Films. The films look good, with natural grain structure and colours. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how they look. They sound good too, for films of that era.
BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES
– High-Definition digital transfers of each film on three discs, on Blu-ray for the first time ever
– Uncompressed mono PCM audio
– Archival interview with Sadao Nakajima (2020, 33 mins)
– Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (2025, 16 mins)
– New interview with scriptwriter Koji Takada (2025, 29 mins)
– Trailers
– Newly improved English subtitle translations
– Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
– Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Akihiko Ito and Tom Mes plus archival writing by cinematographer Toshio Masuda
– Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
There’s a half-hour interview with Sadao Nakajima on one of the discs. He talks about his working relationship with Koji Tsuruta. They fell out for 10 years after making an earlier film together, but the producer of Japanese Godfather was keen to bring the actor onboard, so the pair had to reconcile their differences.
Writer Koji Takada also talks about the film. This is a great interview, as it covers the inspiration behind the production and some of the characters. He talks about how real-life yakuza accounts were used for some elements. Towards the end, he also expresses his feelings about the series as a whole.
Finally, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri talks about the series and Sadao Nakajima, who tutored him at film school. Nakajima supported him when he made his own films later, so Kumakiri speaks fondly of the filmmaker. He goes on to give his thoughts on the series too. It’s another strong piece.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, unfortunately.
Overall, Radiance must be applauded for continuing to bring fantastic titles like this to our attention that might otherwise have been forgotten. The extras complement the films nicely too, so it’s a set that I’d highly recommend to fans of Japanese cinema.
Disc/package: