was a Japanese actor recognizable for his intense, eccentric

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of '' bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood- ...

roles. He appeared in some 300 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

Branded to Kill is a 1967 Japanese black comedy yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and Mariko Ogawa. The story follows contract killer Goro Hanada as he is recruited by a mysterious woman named Misako fo ...

'' (1967). In Japan, he is also known by the nickname for his popular role in the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

''Quick Draw Joe'' (1961).

Early life

Joe Shishido was born in the Kita Ward of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. He had two older brothers, one younger sister and a younger brother who also became an actor under the name Eiji Go. Shishido attended schools in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and Miyagi. In 1952, he graduated from high school and enrolled in the theatre course at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

. Two years later, he auditioned for the Nikkatsu Company's New Face contest. He was one of 21 selected from 8,000 applicants. Shishido dropped out of school and began working for Nikkatsu, appearing in small film roles.

Nikkatsu

In 1954, Joe Shishido signed on as a contract player at

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

. Studio bosses encouraged Shishido to change his name, as popular tales of the

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

Miyamoto Musashi , was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...

contained a villain named Shishido, and they were trying to model him into a romantic lead. Shishido refused. His first major role was in ''Policeman's Diary'' (1955,

Keisatsu Nikki is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Seiji Hisamatsu and produced by Nikkatsu. Cast * Masao Mishima as Ishiwarai, the head of Police * Hisaya Morishige as policeman Yoshii * Yukiyo Toake * Rentarō Mikuni as policeman Hakanawa * ...

), in which he played a young patrolman who challenges a police chief in a ''

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

'' (bamboo sword fighting) match. Displeased with his middling success in melodramas and "blandly handsome features", Shishido underwent

cheek augmentation Cheek augmentation is a cosmetic surgical procedure that is intended to emphasize the cheeks on a person's face. To augment the cheeks, a plastic surgeon may place a solid implant over the cheekbone. Injections with the patients' own fat or a so ...

surgery in 1957. His altered look has been described both as "ruggedly handsome", and as chipmunk-like. Afterward, he began getting bigger parts, predominantly as villains in action movies. Two of his biggest roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s were opposite

Akira Kobayashi is a Japanese actor and singer. His nickname is . Biography Kobayashi attended Meiji University but left before graduating. He became an actor at Nikkatsu and made his film debut with "Ueru Tamashii" directed by Yuzo Kawashima in 1956. He s ...

in the ''Wataridori'' ("Birds of Passage") series, and

Keiichirō Akagi , born was a Japanese actor. Akagi appeared in over 26 films in his short three-year career. Kenju burai-chō series and The Call of the Foghorn are Akagi's notable films. In 1958, he joined the Nikkatsu company. He landed the lead role for th ...

in the ''Kenjū Buraichō'' series. When Akagi died in a

go-karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

accident, Shishido replaced him as Nikkatsu's action star. His first starring role was in ''Joe of Aces-Gambling for a Living aka Rokudenashi Kagyō'' directed by

Buichi Saitō was a Japanese film director from Saitama Prefecture. His representative works included '' Wataridori series'' starring Akira Kobayashi, ''Farewell to Southern Tosa''(1959) and ''Gazing at Love and Death''(1964). Saitō often worked with Akira K ...

. The film was a success and spawned two immediate sequels, ''Joe of Aces-Body Guard'' and ''Joe of Aces-Give and Take'7'' (1961). He gained national popularity and the lifelong nickname "Joe the Ace" ("Eisu no Jō") for his eponymous role in ''

Quick Draw Joe Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile), ...

'' (1961), in which he played the "third-fastest draw in the world—0.65 seconds." Though he worked predominantly in comic action roles, Shishido also gained a tough-guy loner image in such films as

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their florid visual style, absurd humour, and a playful rejection of traditional film grammar. He made 40 predominately ...

's ''

Youth of the Beast is a 1963 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki. Much of the film is set in Tokyo, Japan. Synopsis Joji Mizuno ( Joe Shishido), a former Kobe Metropolitan Police Department detective fired after being convicted of embezzlement, is rele ...

,'' (1963) in which he played an ex-cop who infiltrates two rival yakuza gangs. Shishido is best known in the West for films he made with Suzuki, e.g. '' Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards!'' (1963) and ''

Gate of Flesh is a 1964 Japanese film based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura and directed by Seijun Suzuki. The first of Suzuki's "flesh trilogy" (followed by '' Story of a Prostitute'' and '' Carmen from Kawachi''), the series is considered the "crowning achiev ...

'' (1964). His best known film internationally is Suzuki's ''

'' (1967), in which he starred as the number three hitman in Japan. The film received only moderate success on its original release, due largely to poor promotion by Nikkatsu stemming from the studio's growing disaffection with Suzuki, which ended with the director's firing. Shishido later recalled seeing the film with friends and finding the theater nearly deserted. Nikkatsu action movies began to lose favour through the late 1960s and production was scaled back resulting in fewer jobs for Shishido. He began taking roles with other companies and in television, which were primarily of a comic nature. He also starred in Nikkatsu "new action" films such as the

all-star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

vehicle '' Yakuza Bird of Passage:Bad Guys' Work'' (1969), with Akira Kobayashi and

Tetsuya Watari born (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor. Life He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosu ...

, and '' Bloody Battle'' (1971). In 1971, Shishido ended his contract and left the failing company, which had transitioned into

softcore Soft core or Softcore may refer to: * Softcore microprocessor, microprocessor implemented using logic synthesis and perhaps other circuits * Soft core (synthesis), a digital circuit that can be wholly implemented using logic synthesis * Soft roc ...

roman porno refers in Japan to movies produced by independent studios that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. Many pink films would be an ...

'' ("romantic pornography") films in order to stay profitable.

Free agent

Joe Shishido continued to work in television and appeared in films for other studios such as the fifth installment of Toei's highly popular yakuza series '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode'' (1974). By this time, yakuza films had begun to lose favour with the public, and Shishido ceased appearing in those types of roles. Over the next 20 years, he focused predominately on television with occasional film appearances, including ''

Exchange Students International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

'' (1982), ''

Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast Bound or bounds may refer to: Mathematics * Bound variable * Upper and lower bounds, observed limits of mathematical functions Physics * Bound state, a particle that has a tendency to remain localized in one or more regions of space Geography *B ...

'' (1986) and ''A Mature Woman'' (1994). His roles in

Kaizo Hayashi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with '' To Sleep so as to Dream'' (1986). He is best known for his neo-noir '' Maiku Hama'' trilogy, ''The Most Terrible Time in My Life'' (1994), '' Stairway to the Dist ...

's Mike Hama: Private Eye (a play on

Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: * Michael Hammer (politician) (born 1977), Austrian politician * Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman * Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author * Mi ...

) trilogy marked a reemergence of his tough-guy persona. The trilogy included ''

The Most Terrible Time in My Life is a 1993 film directed by Kaizo Hayashi. The film is the first in the series featuring the detective Mike Hama (a play on the Mickey Spillane detective Mike Hammer), which included two more films by Hayashi (''Stairway to the Distant Past'' an ...

'' (1994), '' The Stairway to the Distant Past'' (1995) and '' The Trap'' (1996). On February 4, 2013, his house was destroyed in a fire. He was not at home at the time, and no one was injured. Shishido was found in his home on January 21, 2020, having died on January 18, 2020. He was survived by his three children.

Partial filmography

Films

* 1955 ''

'' - directed

Seiji Hisamatsu (20 February 1912 – 28 December 1990) was a Japanese film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew an ...

* 1955 ''

The Maid's Kid *''This article uses Eastern name order when mentioning individuals.'' is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese drama film directed by Tasaka Tomotaka. It is based on the novel of the same title by Yuki Shigeko. The film reached place 7 in ''Kin ...

'' - d. by

Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 19 ...

* 1957 '' Shori-sha'' * 1958 '' Rusty Knife'' - d. Toshio Masuda * 1958 '' Voice Without a Shadow'' (影なき声 ''Kagenaki koe'') - d.

* 1961 ''Quick Draw Joe'' - d.

Takashi Nomura Takashi Nomura (野村孝) (February 18, 1927 – May 5, 2015) was a Japanese film director for studios including Nikkatsu. The Criterion Collection described him as a "prominent, stylistically daring director". In 1955, he joined Nikkatsu Film ...

* 1962 ''Mekishiko Mushuku'' * 1963 '' Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!'' (探偵事務所23 銭と女に弱い男 ''Tantei jimusho 23: Kutabare akutōdomo'') - d. by Seijun Suzuki * 1963 ''

'' (野獣の青春 ''Yaju no seishun'') - d. Seijun Suzuki * 1964 ''

Cruel Gun Story is a 1964 Japanese heist film directed by Takumi Furukawa. This film was made available in North America when Janus Films released a special set of Nikkatsu studio's Noir films as part of The Criterion Collection, also including '' I Am Wait ...

'' - d. Takumi Furukawa * 1964 ''

'' (肉体の門 ''Nikutai no mon'') - d. Seijun Suzuki * 1965 '' Abare Kishidō'' (あばれ騎士道) (1965) - d.

Isamu Kosugi was a Japanese actor and film director. Career Born in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, Kosugi first studied at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō before joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925. He came to prominence in tendency films such as '' Ikeru n ...

* 1967 ''

A Colt Is My Passport is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Takashi Nomura for the Nikkatsu Corporation. It is based on the novel '' Tobosha'' by Shinji Fujihara. It stars Joe Shishido as a hitman and Jerry Fujio as his partner; reprising his usual roles of con ...

'' (拳銃は俺のパスポート ''Koruto wa ore no pasupoto'') - d. Takashi Nomura * 1967 ''

Massacre Gun is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe. Plot Yakuza hitman Ryuichi Kuroda ( Joe Shishido) is forced into executing his lover on the orders of Boss Azakawa (Takashi Kanda). His brother, aspiring boxer Saburo Kuroda (Jirō O ...

'' (みな殺しの拳銃 ''Minagoroshi no kenjū'') - d.

Yasuharu Hasebe was a Japanese film director best known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the ''Pink film'', such as '' Assault! Jack the Ripper'' (1976), ''Rape!'' (1976), '' Rape! 13th Hour'' (1977) and ''Raping!'' (1978). Earlier genre films di ...

* 1967 ''

'' (殺しの烙印 ''Koroshi no rakuin'') - d. Seijun Suzuki * 1968 ''

Retaliation Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more form ...

'' (縄張はもらった ) - d. Yasuharu Hasebe * 1969 ''

The Wandering Guitarist is a 1959 Japanese action and yakuza film directed by Buichi Saitō. It stars Akira Kobayashi. The Wandering Guitarist is the first film of Akira Kobayashi and Buichi Saitō's ''Wataridori series''. The film made Akira Kobayashi a star and he ga ...

'' - d.

* 1971 '' A Man's World'' - d. Yasuharu Hasebe * 1974 '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode'' (仁義なき戦い完結篇 ''Jingi naki tatakai: Chojo sakusen'') - d.

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking", Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty Yakuza film, yakuza films, typified by the Battles With ...

* 1974 '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' (新仁義なき戦い ''Shin Jingi naki tatakai'') - d. Kinji Fukasaku * 1977 ''

A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness is a 1977 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki. Plot The film is about a professional model Reiko (Shiraki) who is being groomed for the golf circuit by the editor of a golfing fashion magazine. During her first professional competition she h ...

'' (悲愁物語 ''Hishu monogatari'') - d. Seijun Suzuki * 1978 '' Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron'' (雲霧仁左衛門 ''Kumokiri nizaemon'') - d.

Hideo Gosha was a Japanese director and screenwriter. He was the first Japanese director to make the transition from television to theatrical films, and is best known for his ''jidaigeki'' and yakuza films. Beginning with '' Three Outlaw Samurai'' in 196 ...

* 1981 '' Edo Porn'' (北斎漫画 ''Hokusai manga'') - d.

Kaneto Shindō was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include '' Children of Hiroshima'', '' The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', '' Kuroneko'' a ...

* 1982 ''

Tenkōsei , also known as ''Exchange Students'', is a 1982 Japanese fantasy film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Obayashi himself directed and co-wrote a second film based on the same novel, premiered in 2007 and titled . Plot I Are You, You Am Me tells the ...

'' * 1985 ''Caribe: Symphony of Love'' (カリブ・愛のシンフォニー ) - d.

Norifumi Suzuki , was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the '' Torakku Yarō'' series. Biography Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subsequently joined To ...

* 1986 ''The Samurai'' (ザ・サムライ ''Za samurai'' - d. Norifumi Suzuki * 1987 Fugitive Alien - d. Minoru Kanaya & Kiyosumi Kuzakawa * 1988 '' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis'' - d.

Akio Jissoji was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s tokusatsu TV series '' Ultraman'' and '' Ultraseven'', as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy , , and . He was also known for his film ...

* 1994 ''

'' (我が人生最悪の時 ''Waga jinsei saiaku no toki'') - d.

* 1995 ''The Stairway to the Distant Past'' (遥かな時代の階段を ''Harukana jidai no kaidan'') o - d. Kaizo Hayashi * 1996 ''The Trap'' (罠 ''Wana'') - d. Kaizo Hayashi * 1997 ''

To Love To Love () is a 1968 Soviet romantic drama film directed by Mikhail Kalik and Inna Tumanyan. The film consists of four short stories, each of which asks the audience a question: "What is love?" Plot First Story On a rainy day, three couple ...

'' (愛する ''Aisuru'') - d.

Kei Kumai was a Japanese film director. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his first film, '' Nihon rettō'', in 1965. His 1972 film ...

* 2001 '' Kisaragi''

Television

* 1973 ''

Kunitori Monogatari is a historical novel by Japanese novelist Ryōtarō Shiba. It was serialised in Sunday Mainichi (Mainichi Shimbun Publishing Inc.) from August 1963 to June 1966. It consists of a first part starring Saito Dōsan and a second part starring Oda No ...

'' –

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He was retainer of Oda Nobuhide. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought ...

* 1974 ''

Katsu Kaishū Count , born , best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman, naval engineer and military commander during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū S ...

'' * 1973 ''

Shinsho Taikōki ''Taiko'' (Japanese: 新書太閤記, Hepburn: ''Shinsho Taikōki''), also known as ''Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan'', is a Japanese epic novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa about the life and rise to power of Toyotomi Hideyo ...

'' (1973),

Nakagawa Kiyohide Nakagawa Kiyohide (中川清秀; 1542 – June 10, 1583) was a ''daimyō'' in Azuchi–Momoyama period. His childhood name was Nakagawa Toranosuke (中川虎之助). His common name was Nakagawa Sebe (中川瀬兵衛). Biography His fat ...

* 1976 '' Daitokai Tatakaino Hibi'' * 1976 '' Kaze to Kumo to Niji to'' - * 1978 '' Star Wolf'' - Captain Joe * 1981 '' Pro Hunter'' - Yuzo Kikushima * 1988 ''

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

'' –

Hara Toratane was a Japanese samurai lord of the Sengoku period. He is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen The Twenty-Four Generals (武田二十四将, ''Takeda Nijūshi-shō'') were just one of many historically famous groupings of ...

* 1996 ''

Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innov ...

'' –

Honda Masanobu was a commander and ''daimyō'' in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. In 1563, when an uprising against Ieyasu occurred in Mikawa Province, Masanobu took the side of the peasants against Ieyasu ...

* 2000 ''

Aoi Tokugawa Sandai is a 2000 Japanese historical drama television series and the 39th NHK taiga drama. The series respectively stars Masahiko Tsugawa, Toshiyuki Nishida, and Onoe Tatsunosuke II as the first three Tokugawa shōguns. It aired from January 9 to Dec ...

'' –

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) a ...

* 2001 ''

The Kindaichi Case Files is a Japanese detective fiction, mystery manga series about the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous (fictional) private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Written b ...

'' – Fujio Tashiro * 2009 ''

Tenchijin is a 2009 Japanese super historical drama television series, and the 48th taiga drama of NHK. It aired every Sunday from January 4 to November 22, 2009, spanning 47 episodes.It is an unusual Taiga Drama as the final episode will be broadcast as e ...

'' –

Naoe Kagetsuna (1509–1577) was an officer under the Uesugi clan in historic Japan.Midnight Eye interview
Joe Shishido and Toshio Masuda * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shishido Joe 1933 births 2020 deaths Male actors from Osaka People from Kita, Osaka Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Nihon University alumni 20th-century Japanese male actors