Best movies about the Yakuza

The Yakuza are essentially the Japanese Mafia, a hierarchical organisation characterised by underground crime, black market trading, extreme subservience and prideful violence.

We’ve listed below some of the best Yakuza movies you should watch.

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30 The Outsider, 2017

After World War II, an American POW stays in Japan and works his way through the rituals and hardships of the yakuza to become a member of the crime organization.

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29 Dead or Alive (DEAD OR ALIVE: 犯罪者 | Deddo oa araibu: Hanzaisha), 1999

A yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world.

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28 The Blood of Wolves (孤狼の血 | Koro no chi), 2018

Hiroshima Police detective Ogami Shogo and his partner Hioka Shuichi are investigating the disappearance of a company’s employees amidst an escalating yakuza turf war in 1988. Blood, shooting and death is everywhere. At the same time, there is a suspicion that the former man has his own ties to the thugs. Certainly many of his methods and actions are thuggish, violent and should be illegal.

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27 Dead or Alive 2 (DEAD OR ALIVE 2 逃亡者 | Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha), 2000

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good… much to the upset of the crime syndicates.

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26 Gendai yakuza: hito-kiri yota (現代やくざ　人斬り与太), 1972

A yakuza, who has an untamed rage and lack of respect for authority, finds himself leading the remnants of the gang he once belonged to in order to secure an area of their own.

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25 Sympathy for the Underdog (博徒外人部隊 | Bakuto gaijin butai), 1971

The film’s main character, Masuo Gunji, is an honorable old-school yakuza boss whose gang is driven out of Yokohama by a powerful rival from Tokyo. After serving ten years in prison, Gunji reunites with the few men still loyal to him and sets out to rebuild his old organization. However, after setting up a lucrative bootlegging operation in Okinawa, the yakuza family from Tokyo that was responsible for their previous downfall and Gunji’s imprisonment comes to the island planning to seize control of the territory. Gunji and his men are soon forced to engage in an epic battle for their lives.

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24 First Love (初恋 | Hatsukoi), 2019

Leo is a young boxer, successful but unable to show emotion. He has a fight scheduled and is sure that he will win. Instead, his opponent knocks him out. This triggers a chain of unpleasant events involving drugs, corrupt cops, the Yakuza, a female assassin – and Monica, an escort that he must rescue. It’s one hell of a night for Leo.

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23 Shinjuku Triad Society (新宿黒社会 チャイナ マフィア戦争 | Shinjuku kuroshakai: Chaina mafia sensô), 1995

Amidst a Chinese and Japanese mafia war, a lawyer for the Chinese mob finds a rift forming between him and his corrupt police office brother.

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22 Graveyard of Honor (新・仁義の墓場 | Shin jingi no hakaba), 2002

A barkeeper saves a Yakuza boss’ life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However his fear of nothing soon causes problems.

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21 Boiling Point (3-4×10月 | 3-4 x jûgatsu), 1990

Two members of a Japanese junior baseball team get mixed up with the local yakuza. After their coach is severely injured by the gangsters, the two boys set off to Okinawa to purchase a gun in order to get revenge. While in Okinawa they get befriended by a psychotic yakuza outcast who is planning a revenge of his own.

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20 Why Don’t You Play In Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い | Jigoku de naze warui), 2013

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress’s career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

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19 Ichi the Killer (殺し屋1 | Koroshiya 1), 2001

As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.

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18 Gozu (極道恐怖大劇場　牛頭　ＧＯＺＵ | Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu), 2003

A yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.

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17 Graveyard of Honor (仁義の墓場 | Jingi no hakaba), 1975

A look at the life of renegade yakuza, Rikio Ishikawa, particularly the years from 1946 to 1950 when his violent antics get him in trouble with his own clan, Kawada, and then with the clan of his protector, Kozaburo Imai. In these years, he can rely on Chieko, a young Tokyo courtesan who gives him shelter. He’s banished to Osaka, where he picks up a drug habit. Through it all, he keeps his friends and enemies off balance with unpredictable behavior – and he seems indestructible.

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16 Under the Open Sky (すばらしき世界 | Subarashiki Sekai), 2020

A middle-aged former yakuza is released from prison after thirteen years where he was placed for murder. He is struggling to adapt to society and freedom, find a job and communicate normally, but he is also preoccupied by the quest for his mother from whom he was separated as a child. He finds allies in his search for his parent and a place in mainstream society, but the process is not seamless or smooth.

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15 Minbo (ミンボーの女 | Minbo no onna), 1992

A grand old Japanese hotel is trying to get a prestigious contract as the site of a summit meeting of important foreign officials. Unfortunately, this hotel is quite popular with the Yakuza and is a favorite target of theirs for extortion. They employ a variety of schemes to con the hotel out of ‘hush-money.’ The hotel needs to rid itself of the Yakuza and finally begins to fight back by hiring Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer who is an expert at dealing with these criminals on their own terms. This film by Juzo Itami combines action with farce, as an all-out war ensues.

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14 Beyond Outrage (アウトレイジ ビヨンド | Autoreiji: Biyondo), 2012

As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West.

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13 Crying Freeman, 1995

A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader. They soon realise the fatal mistake of underestimating the deadly skills of the Crying Freeman.

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12 Outrage (アウトレイジ | Autoreiji), 2010

The plot concerns a struggle for power amongst Tokyo’s Yakuza clans, today just as likely to be playing the stock market as shaking down pachinko parlors, over which the Sanmo-kai clan holds sway in the face of constant betrayal and ever-changing allegiances. The Sanmo-kai chairman learns that his henchman Ikemoto has struck an alliance with the drug-dealing Murase family, and is not best pleased, to say the least. The ensuing retaliation triggers an orgy of killings, territorial invasions and score settling while law enforcement officers are too corrupt to intervene.

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11 The Yakuza, 1974

American private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend’s kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.

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10 Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者 | Tôkyô nagaremono), 1966

After his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him.

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9 Youth of the Beast (野獣の青春 | Yajû no seishun), 1963

Joe Shishido plays a tough guy with a secret agenda. His violent behavior comes to the attention of a yakuza boss who immediately recruits him. He soon tries to make a deal with a rival gang a starts a gang war. His real motivations are gradually revealed as we find out how this all ties in with the murder of a policeman shown at the beginning of the film.

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8 Pigs and Battleships (豚と軍艦 | Buta to gunkan), 1961

In post-war Japan, people are working hard, but never so much more than the Yakuza. In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together… too bad her family has agreed to sell her to the highest bidding Yank in Japan.

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7 Violent Cop (その男、凶暴につき | Sono otoko, kyôbô ni tsuki), 1989

Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results. While investigating a series of drug-related homicides, Azuma discovers that his friend and colleague, Iwaki, is supplying drugs from within the police force. After Iwaki is murdered and Azuma’s sister is kidnapped, he breaks all the rules to dish out his particular form of justice.

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6 Battles Without Honor And Humanity (仁義なき戦い | Jingi naki tatakai), 1973

During the violent chaos of post-War Japanese black market, a young gangster called Shozo Hirono has to keep up with the rapid shifts of power between unscrupulous bosses.

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5 Brother (ブラザー | Burazā), 2000

A Japanese Yakuza gangster is exiled to the United States. Takeshi settles in Los Angeles where his younger, half brother lives and finds that although the turf is new, the rules are still the same as they try to take over the local drug trade.

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4 Pale Flower (乾いた花 | Kawaita hana), 1964

A gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.

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3 Sonatine (ソナチネ), 1993

A world-weary yakuza in Tokyo is assigned to take his clan to Okinawa to help settle a dispute between two factions. He’s suspicious of the assignment, but he goes, and within a couple days, his role remains unclear and several of men are dead. He retreats to a house on a remote beach to wait. The first night there , he rescues a young woman from an assault, and they develop a playful relationship. Over time, it becomes clear he’s been set up, sent to Okinawa so that others can take over his lucrative territory. As his clan dwindles, he plans a revenge. But, what if he’s successful? What is there to life anyway?

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2 Drunken Angel (醉いどれ天使 | Yoidore tenshi), 1948

After a battle with rival criminals, a small-time gangster is treated by an alcoholic doctor in post-war Japan. The doctor diagnoses the young gangster’s tuberculosis, and convinces him to begin treatment for it. The two enjoy an uneasy friendship until the gangster’s former boss is released from prison and seeks to take over his gang once again. The ailing young man loses his status as gang boss and becomes ostracised, and eventually confronts his former boss in a battle to the death.

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1 Fireworks (花-火 | Hana-bi), 1997

Nishi is a cop whose wife is slowly dying of leukemia. One of his partners gets shot on the job, which results in him being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and becoming suicidal. Nishi, feeling guilty of his partner’s accident, tries to help him in any way he can. At the same time, Nishi leaves the police to spend more time with his dying wife. However, in order to do the right things for those he loves, Nishi must do something wrong, which has tragic consequences.

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