Beloved Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He has appeared in over 200 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film Branded to Kill (1967). In Japan, he is also known by the nickname "Joe the Ace" (エースのジョー Ēsu no Jō) for his popular role in the Western Fast-Draw Guy (1961).

KNOWN FOR

The Files of the Young Kindaichi
2001
Kimi no na wa
1991
Flower & Snake II
2005
Key Hunter
1972
Neo Chinpira 2: Zoom Goes the Bullet
1991
Pro Hunter
1981
Detective Office 5: Another Story
2005
Wind, Clouds, and Rainbow
1976
Big City: Days of Struggle
1976
Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet
1990
Prime Minister of Yuhigaoka
1978
Blitz!! Strada 5
1974

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
254
2026
Twist & Shoot: Mister Suzuki
as Self (archive footage)
2012
The Final Judgement
as Lao Porto
2011
Mobile Detectives: The Movie 3
2010
A Night in Nude: Salvation
as Naoki Yamagami
2009
The Code
as Detective 500
2007
Mobile Detectives: The Movie 2
2007
Kisaragi
as Ooiso Long Beach Host
2007
Switching – Goodbye Me
as Yoshinosuke Yoshida
2006
A Surgeon Named Hitman
2006
Proud Ambition 2
2006
Proud Ambition
2006
Proud Ambition 4
2006
Proud Ambition 5
2005
Detective Office 5
as 500
2005
Flower & Snake II
as Takayoshi Tooyama
2005
Proud Ambition 3
2005
Shin Japan's Don 4
2005
Shin Japan's Don 5
2005
Shin Japan's Don 6
2005
Detective Office 5: Another Story
as Chief 500
2005
Detective Office 5: Another Story
2004
Class Reunion
2004
Shin Japan's Don: Waves
2004
Shin Japan's Don 2: Ruthless
2002
Yakuza Jihad
2001
Drowning Fish
as Ace no Jo
2001
Shibuya Midnight War Dark Street
2001
The Files of the Young Kindaichi
as Fujio Tashiro
2000
Debt King Part VII: Millennium
2000
Heisei Kin'yudo: Muruhi no Onna
1999
Hometown
1997
To Love
as Chinen
1997
Remembering the Cosmos Flower
1996
The Trap
as Jo Shishido
1995
The Stairway to the Distant Past
as Jo Shishido
1995
Fukushu no Teio
as Kazunari Inaba
1995
Tough Cop 2 - HEART CRASH
1994
The Most Terrible Time in My Life
as Joe
1994
Turning Point
as Hashizume
1994
Mahjong Demon 3: Extraterritorial Mahjong
1994
Tough Cop - Ginza Police
1993
JACK KNIFE Wolves' Bet
1993
Bored Hatamoto: Letter of Death
1992
The Setting Sun
1992
8 Man - For All Lonely Nights
as Dr. Tani
1992
The Gambler
as Joe of Aces
1991
The Killers
1991
God's Pinch Hitter
1991
The Notorious Bored Samurai 6
1991
Neo Chinpira 2: Zoom Goes the Bullet
as Junichi Mizuta
1991
Danger Point: The Road to Hell
1991
Kimi no na wa
as 角倉勘次
1990
Codename 348 Female Detective Sashiba
1990
Run the Beast
1990
Nozomi Witches
as Ryotaro's father
1990
Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet
as Junichi Mizuta
1989
Red Crow and the Ghost Ship
as Captain
1989
You'll Fall For Me
1988
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
as Tokuji Hayakawa
1988
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
as Noritsugu Hayakawa
1988
This Heartbeat
1987
Fugitive Alien
as Captain Joe
1987
Star Force: Fugitive Alien II
as Captain Joe
1987
The Beauty in the Black Mask
as Takeo Sato
1986
Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast
as School Principal
1986
Leave My Girl Alone
as Bar Owner
1986
Take It Easy
1986
Katayoku dake no tenshi
1985
I'm All Yours
as Priest
1985
Caribe: Symphony of Love
as Shunsuke Saichu
1985
Yakyuukyou no Uta
1984
Sukanpin Walk
as Tatsuya Sekikawa
1984
Again
1983
Our Wedding
1982
I Are You, You Am Me
as Kouzou Saitoh
1982
Fossilized Wilderness
1981
Edo Porn
as Jyuppensha Ikku
1981
Blue Jeans Memory
1981
Pro Hunter
as 菊島雄三
1980
Nurse's Husband
1980
The First Catch
1980
Hashire! Nekketsu Keiji
1979
Necchu Jidai: Keiji Hen
1978
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
as Tominoichi
1978
Star Wolf
as Captain Joe
1978
Prime Minister of Yuhigaoka
1977
The Alaska Story
as George Oshima
1977
A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness
as Cop
1977
Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye
as Black Jack
1977
High Seas Hijack
as Chief Engineer Kosai
1977
Ore no sora
as Genjiro Yasuda
1977
Gambling Code and Feuds
as Katsuya Sekikawa
1977
Dazzling Cops
1976
The Sea of Genkai
as Sawaki
1976
Wind, Clouds, and Rainbow
as Gendō
1976
Big City: Days of Struggle
1975
Conflagration
as Chief Engineer Kosai
1974
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1
as Hachiro Tachibana
1974
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
as Katsutoshi Otomo
1974
Center of Tokyo
as Hyodo
1974
Blitz!! Strada 5
as Takamura Terujiro / Jupiter
1973
None But the Brave
1973
Kigeki: koko kara hajimaru monogatari
1973
The Hard Core Criminal
1972
New Hoodlum Soldier Story: Firing Line
1972
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
1972
The Witty Samurai
1972
Key Hunter
1971
Bad Girl Mako
as Yasuoka
1971
Go As Messy As Messy Can Be
as Mujitori
1971
New Shameless School
as Gebageba
1971
Okusama wa 18 sai: shinkon kyoshitsu
1971
A Man's World
1971
Blood for Blood
as Naoto Tezuka
1971
Monk's Paradise
1970
Greatest Boss of Japan
1970
Profile of a Boss' Son
1970
Charming Men
as Kobe Saburo
1970
Shameless School: Health Check in the Nude
as Macaroni
1970
Shameless School: Tackle Kiss
as Macaroni
1970
Shameless School
as Macaroni
1970
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
1970
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
1970
Kikeki: onna mo tsurai wa
1969
The Cleanup
1969
100 Gamblers
1969
Exiled to Hell
1969
Women of the Night - Butterfly Flower
1969
Yabanjin no Nekutai
1969
Chivalrous Pride
1969
The Rough One
as Imano's Bodyguard
1969
Yakuza Wanderer: Villainous Livelihood
1969
Biographies of Killers
1969
Ex Convict: Sword Storm
1969
Thirteen Times a Loser
as Seiji Okitsu
1968
Retaliation
as Hino
1968
魔性の女
1968
Stardust Wharf
1967
A Colt is My Passport
as Shuji Kamimura
1967
Branded to Kill
as Gorô Hanada
1967
Velvet Hustler
1967
Massacre Gun
as Ryûichi Kuroda
1967
The Aftermath of War
1967
Asia-Pol
as George
1967
The Return of the Filthy Seven
1967
My Sweetheart
as President Shishido
1967
Burning Clouds
1967
Outlaw's Gold
as 三鬼鉄
1966
Love Eternal
1966
Your Life
1966
Asiapol Secret Service
as George Eaton
1966
Love and Desire in the Night Mist
1966
The Dragon and the Tiger
1966
Cat Girls Gamblers: Abandoned Fangs of Triumph
as Kokichi Yamaguch
1966
Blood Shed
as Seiji
1965
Murder Unincorporated
as Jiro (Joe of Spades)
1965
The Dragon of Macao
as Aizu
1965
Inochi Shirazu no Rokudenashi
as Tornado George / Jouji Tatsumaki
1965
Kenjū burai jō nagare-sha no mure
1965
Modern Yakuza: Chivalry
1965
Three Stray Dogs
1964
Tale on Tokai Chivalry
1964
Cruel Gun Story
as Togawa
1964
Quick-Draw Joe: Sand Dune Duel
as Joe of Aces
1964
Gate of Flesh
as Shintaro Ibuki
1964
Tiger of the Sea
1964
Jinsei Gekijo
1964
Nukî uchi ryuji - kênju no otâ
1963
Notorious Bastard
as Tatsumaki Takeji (Tornado Joe)
1963
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards!
as Hideo Tajima
1963
Youth of the Beast
as Jôji 'Jo' Mizuno
1963
Detective Bureau 2-3: A Man Weak to Money and Women
as Hideo Tajima
1963
Red Shoes and a Good-For-Nothing
1963
Hell Festival
as Tetsu the Otter
1963
Tale on Kanto Chivalry
as Masa from Kanto
1963
Chivalrous Outlaw
1962
Kimagure tosei
1962
Nuki uchi fūraibō
1962
The Frozen Plains
1962
Solo Traveler
1962
Last Round
1962
Jūdan no arashi
1962
Traces of Lead
1962
Glass-Hearted Johnny
as Jô
1962
Danger Pays
as Jôji Kondô
1962
Mexico Drifter
1961
Quick Draw Outlaw: Man of the Great Plains
1961
Joe of Aces: Give and Take
as Eiji Yano (Joe of Aces)
1961
I'll End in Hell
as Joji Dan
1961
Quick Draw Joe
as Joe the Ace
1961
The Crimson Plains
as Joji Sakuma
1961
Crimson Pistol
1961
The Rambler under the Southern Cross
1961
Joe of Aces: Gambling for a Living
as Eiji Yano (Joe of Aces)
1961
Gun of Nosappu
1961
Gambler in the Sea
1961
Pacific Porters
1960
The Wild, Unruly Drifter
1960
Return of the Vagabond
1960
The Rambler Rides Again
1960
The Rambler on a Pearl Farm
1960
The Rambler in the Sunset
1960
The Drifter from the Sea
1960
Volcano Wind
1960
Ryuji, the Gun Slinger
as Gin of the Colt
1960
The Gun Like Lightning
as Goro
1960
The Man with a Sinister Laugh
as Ken
1960
The Guitarist and the Rancher
1960
Tales of a Gunman: The Man Without Tomorrow
as Jo of the Colt
1960
The Cards Will Tell
1959
Zattō ni hikarume
1959
Who is in the Background?
1959
The Rambling Guitarist
as George
1959
Tokyo no Kodoku
1959
The Human Cyclone
as Masa
1959
Gun Number Zero
1959
Wounded Beast
1959
Mighty Rules
1959
Machi ga nemuru toki
1959
Merciless Bullet
as Yukie's lover
1959
We Live Today
1959
Crime Reporter
as Fujimoto
1958
Rusty Knife
as Shimabara
1958
Voice Without a Shadow
as Hamazaki
1958
The Boy Who Came Back
as Kajita
1958
Taiyō o buchi otose
1958
Orera wa nagashi no ninkisha
1958
Breasts and Bullets
1958
死の壁の脱出
as Jiro Asaoka
1957
Small Rats of the Edo Town
as Hidematsu
1957
Kawakami Tetsuji, No. 16
as Masaki Yoshihara
1957
The Naked Woman and the Gun
1957
The Champion
as Boxer Ishiyama
1957
Temptation
as Goro Yasui
1957
Muhō Ichidai
1956
Cell No. 8
1956
Frankie the Milkman
as Zenkichi Matsubara
1956
The Happy Dancers
1956
Kingorô no omawari-san
1956
Called to the Stand
1956
Kanshō fujin
1956
Shiawase wa doko ni
as Tetsuo Shimura
1956
Confession
1956
Seishun wo warera ni
as Takai
1956
This Is Home
1955
Ofukuro
1955
The Doctor
1955
Tsukiyo no kasa
1955
Policeman's Diary
as Patrolman Yabuta
1955
The Maid's Kid
1955
His Highness Surabaya
as Applied Atomic Energy Research Institute Worker with a Tohoku Accent
1954
My Pistol Is Quick
as Airplane Passenger
1954
Women's House
as Okada (employee of Inogawa's company)
1954
The Black Current
as Newspaper Reporter