Postwar yakuza swagger so cool it makes defeat look like a flex.
A group of cool guys strolling through the streets of Yokohama. They are Tatsu of Morocco and the gang led by Tatsu. They are not the slightest bit miserable about being a defeated country, and they are on equal footing with the white soldiers, taking supplies from the Occupation Forces, taking money from people, and even embracing the police to raise their spirits. Tatsu was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Yokohama Regiment, and his free and unrestrained way of life attracted a steady stream of young men who took advantage of the postwar turmoil to join him.
Direction
Seiji Izumi captures postwar Yokohama with kinetic swagger
Acting
Toshiro Yanagiba's Tatsu radiates chaotic magnetism
Production
Gritty period detail that smells like cigarettes and gasoline
Director
Seiji Izumi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of a 1990s Japanese V-cinema boom that revived yakuza genre with punk energy and lower budgets.
The 'Four Heavenly Kings' reference connects to actual postwar black market gangs that operated in Yokohama's port district under US occupation.
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