is a

Japanese film The , also known domestically as , has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2022, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced, producing 634 fi ...

from 1977 directed by

Junya Satō was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His son, , is also a film director. Career Born in Tokyo, Satō graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1956 with a degree in French literature. He joined the Toei Company, Toei studio and worke ...

, starring

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supp ...

and

Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor. In Japan, he was best known for roles in action films and a variety of television series in the 1970s as well as a switch to a wider range of roles in the 1980s. His final film appearance was as the villain Sato in Ridley ...

. It is an adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name by

Seiichi Morimura was a Japanese novelist and author, born in Kumagaya. He is best known for the controversial ' (悪魔の飽食) (1981), which revealed the atrocities committed by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). ...

. It was produced by

Haruki Kadokawa is a Japanese entrepreneur and filmmaker. He is the son of Genyoshi Kadokawa, the founder of the publishing company Kadokawa Shoten. He took over as president of the company in 1975 after his father's death. He entered the film industry as a pro ...

Plot

A young black man from New York named Johnny Hayward (

Joe Yamanaka , better known as , was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such ...

) receives a sum of money. He buys new clothes and takes a flight to Japan. After he arrives, he is found fatally stabbed in an elevator in a Tokyo hotel at the same time as a fashion show by designer Kyōko Yasugi (

Mariko Okada is a Japanese stage and film actress who starred in films of directors Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and others. She was married to film director Yoshishige Yoshida. Biography Okada was born the daughter of silent film actor To ...

) is being held. The police department, including Munesue (

) and his partner (

Hajime Hana was a Japanese actor. He was the leader of the comic jazz band The Crazy Cats, which featured such talent as Hitoshi Ueki and Kei Tani, and which starred in a series of film comedies (such as the "Irresponsible" (Musekinin) series at Toho) and ...

), come to investigate. The only clue is the dying man's last words "straw hat". At the same time, a woman having an extramarital affair, Naomi (

Bunjaku Han (Chinese: Fàn Wénquè) was a Japanese-speaking Taiwanese actress who lived and worked in Japan. Career She was mostly known as a character actress. She became famous playing an unfortunate half-Japanese, half African-American volleyball play ...

), is accidentally run over by Yasugi's son (

Kōichi Iwaki is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for the 1986 film ''Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!, Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o''. He was a Zainichi Korean until April 5, 2017, when he naturalized. I ...

). He and his girlfriend dump her body in the sea, but drops his watch at the scene. He is haunted by his actions and confesses to his mother, Kyōko, who suggests he flee to New York with his girlfriend. Munesue starts to suspect that Kyōko knows more than she is letting on. He travels to New York to find out more about the dead man. There he is partnered with American detective Ken Shuftan (played by

), who seems to be the same man who killed Munesue's father. Munesue finds that the young man is the son of a black American soldier and a Japanese woman. He also finds Yasugi's son, who deliberately provokes Shuftan into shooting him dead. Munesue returns to Japan and begins to suspect Kyōko. He travels to a resort and discovers that Kyōko was a prostitute in the years after the war. Finally he has enough evidence and confronts Kyōko that Johnny was her mixed-race son, and she killed him to protect her reputation. Kyōko commits suicide. In America, Shuftan goes looking for the Johnny's father and finds he is dead. Then Shuftan is stabbed and dies.

Cast

- Shuftan *

- Munesue *

- Kyōko Yasugi *

- Naomi (woman run over) *

- Johnny Hayward *

Janet Hatta is an actress. Biography Her mother is Japanese and her father is an American. After working as a stewardess for Japan Airlines, she entered acting. She briefly used the name . In 1981, she married Kōichi Tabuchi, who at that time played base ...

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his commandin ...

- Yasugi's husband *

Robert Earl Jones Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor. One of the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having ...

- Willy Hayward, Johnny's father *

Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film ''All the King's Men'' (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Of ...

- Shuftan's superior in the police force *

Rick Jason Rick Jason (born Richard Jacobson; May 21, 1923 – October 16, 2000) was an American actor. He is most remembered for starring in the ABC television drama '' Combat!'' (1962–1967). Early life and education Jason was born Richard Jacobson in ...

- Lionel Adams *

- Yasugi's son *

Takeo Chii was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1968 and 2012. Biography Chii was the youngest of eight brothers. He made his acting debut in 1968. He made his film debut with Kihachi Okamoto's ''Kill!''. Chii married actress Sa ...

- Detective Kusaba *

Hiroyuki Nagato , stage name of Akio Kato (加藤晃夫), was a Japanese actor. He starred in ''Season of the Sun'', '' Endless Desire'', '' My Second Brother'', '' Stolen Desire'', and ''Sukeban Deka'', and ''Yo-Yo Girl Cop''. Life and career Nagato was born ...

- Naomi's husband *

Kōji Wada was a Japanese pop singer. He was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the ''Digimon'' anime television series, including his recording debut in 1999 with his first and most famous single, " Butter-Fly", the theme s ...

: Kawanishi *

- partner *

Junzaburō Ban was a Japanese comedian and actor. His real name was . Filmography * ''Ukare Gitsune Senbon Zakura'' (1954) * ''A Fugitive from the Past'' (1965) * ''Dodes'ka-den'' (1970) * '' Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler'' (1972) * ''Proof of ...

- onsen owner

Reception

The film was the second highest-grossing film of all time in Japan with

theatrical rental A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is frequ ...

s of $15 million ().

Music

The theme song, titled ''Ningen no Shōmei no Tēma'' and featuring the line "Mama, do you remember", was a chart hit for

, selling 517,000 copies and reaching number 2 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

chart in Japan. It was also a hit in other Asian countries. In Chinese-speaking countries the song is called "Old Straw Hat", taken from part of the lyrics in the song.

Television remake

In 2004, the movie was remade as a 10 episode mini-series for

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

. Though the basic premise was maintained, the story was greatly expanded to include many additional characters and subplots. A number of details were also altered, such as Kyoko being a famous author turned political candidate rather than a fashion designer, and Johnny being from Mississippi rather than New York. The series also featured a different, more optimistic ending, with Kyoko being arrested and convicted for her crimes, Shuftan dying in the line of duty while defending a young black boy from an attacker, and Munesue continuing his career as a detective.

Cast

Yutaka Takenouchi is a Japanese actor. His on-screen acting debut was in the drama ''「ボクの就職」 (Boku no Syūshoku)'' in 1994, after winning a modeling contest. He also appeared in commercials. Filmography TV series * ''My First Job'' ( TBS, 1994), S ...

as Ichiro Munesue *

Bo Svenson Bo Svenson (born 13 February 1941) is a Swedish-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Svenson was born in Sweden, the son of Birger Ragnar Svensson ( ...

as Ken Shuftan *

Yui Natsukawa is a Japanese actress. She co-starred with Hiroshi Abe in the 2006 Japanese drama '' Kekkon Dekinai Otoko'' and in Hirokazu Kore-eda's 2008 film '' Still Walking''. Filmography Film * ''Sora ga Konnani Aoi Wake ga Nai'' (1993) - Kaoru Aoki * ' ...

as Kiriko Motomiya *

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in fil ...

as Kyoko Koori *

Sousuke Takaoka is a Japanese former actor, known for his break-out performance in the controversial movie '' Battle Royale''. Career His break-out performance was in the controversial movie '' Battle Royale'', in which he played the pacifistic Hiroki Sugimu ...

as Shohei Koori *

Ren Osugi , born was a Japanese actor. For his work in ''Cure'', '' Hana-bi'' and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival. He often worked alongside Takeshi Kitano and Susumu Terajima. In the DVD com ...

as Atsushi Yokowatari *

Nao Matsushita is a Japanese actress and singer. Personal life Nao was born in Ikoma, Nara on 8 February 1985 and grew up in Kawanishi, Hyōgo. Winning Japan's Elite Model Look started her modeling career in earnest. She attended the Tokyo College of Mus ...

as Michiko Asaeda *

Seiichi Tanabe is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 24th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Hush!'' and at the 27th Hochi Film Award for ''Hush!'' and ''Harmful Insect''. Filmography Film * ''Atashi wa juice'' (1996) * ''April Story'' (1998) ...

as Tomoya Saeki *

Maki Horikita is a Japanese former actress. During her career from 2003 until 2017, she starred in numerous Japanese television dramas, television and magazine advertisements, and movies, including roles in '' Nobuta wo Produce'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi ...

as Sayaka Koori *

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi is a Japanese actor. Ikeuchi's mother is Salvadoran and his father is Japanese. He is an avid martial artist, notably holding a black belt in judo, and is also a keen fisherman. Career Ikeuchi played a supporting role as General Miura in Wilso ...

as Johnny Hayward

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Proof Of The Man Films directed by Junya Satō Japanese films set in New York City Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in fiction Films scored by Yuji Ohno English-language Japanese films 1970s Japanese-language films Foreign films set in the United States