The Cost of Respectability

Read Time:5 Minute, 27 Second

MOVIE REVIEWS
The Japanese Godfather Trilogy
Japan’s Don (Yakuza senso: Nihon no Don)
Japanese Godfather: Ambition
Japanese Godfather: Conclusion
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Political Thriller
Year Released: 1977 / 1977 / 1978, Radiance Films Blu-ray 2026
Runtime: 2h 12m / 2h 21m / 2h 11m
Director(s): Sadao Nakajima
Writer(s): Koichi Iiboshi, Koji Takada
Cast: Shin Saburi, Kōji Tsuruta, Hiroki Matsukata, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba / Toshirō Mifune, Shin Saburi, Hiroki Matsukata / Toshirō Mifune, Chiezō Kataoka, Bunta Sugawara
Where to Watch: available now, order your copy here: www.radiancefilms.co.uk, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: JAPAN’S DON (YAKUZA SENSO: NIHON NO DON) opening sets the tone for the entire trilogy. This isn’t a saga interested in just gunfire or chaotic turf wars. It’s interested in leverage. In favors. In how power migrates from alleyways to boardrooms and back again. Screenwriters Koichi Iiboshi and Koji Takada adapted the themes and focus of the American GODFATHER films to fit Japanese yakuza culture.

Directed by Sadao Nakajima at the tail end of Toei’s dominant jitsuroku era, the trilogy traces the rise and integration of the Nakajima crime syndicate as Japan transitions into an economic superpower. The comparison to THE GODFATHER isn’t marketing fluff. It’s structural. These films are about succession, legitimacy, and the friction between tradition and modernization. But where Coppola’s saga lingers in something more like an operatic family tragedy, Nakajima’s approach is colder and more institutional. This is organized crime as infrastructure.

The first film is the strongest. It balances family drama with strategic expansion, giving space to tension while charting territorial growth. Shin Saburi anchors the narrative with a restrained performance that avoids romanticizing the yakuza patriarch. Power here is administrative, not theatrical. Kōji Tsuruta provides emotional counterweight, while Bunta Sugawara and Sonny Chiba bring genre credibility without hijacking the tone. The violence exists, but it’s deployed strategically, not indulgently.

Part two, JAPANESE GODFATHER: AMBITION, shifts focus toward financial maneuvering and internal instability. It’s more procedural, less engrossing. Toshirō Mifune enters the film, and while his presence carries a perceived weight, the film underutilizes him for long stretches. There’s tension in watching crime evolve into corporate entanglement, but the narrative density increases without always deepening the emotional stakes. You can admire the architecture while feeling slightly distanced from it.

The final chapter, JAPANESE GODFATHER: CONCLUSION, regains some of that focus. It narrows the focus and allows rival factions to crystallize around identifiable leaders. Mifune has more room here, and his authority grounds the political chess match. The trilogy’s thesis becomes explicit by this point: politicians, executives, and gangsters operate within the same ecosystem. The distinctions are cosmetic.

What separates this trilogy from the more energetic style of Kinji Fukasaku’s yakuza films is its temperament. Nakajima isn’t chasing chaos. He’s mapping systems. The pacing reflects that. Conversations dominate. Meetings matter. Deals shift alliances more decisively than bullets. That approach can feel slow, especially across more than six hours of runtime, but the trilogy’s ambition lies in its refusal to simplify institutional corruption into spectacle.

The ensemble casting is staggering. Seeing figures like Sugawara, Chiba, and Mifune share space elevates the material even when the scripts grow dense. Their performances are disciplined, almost procedural, aligning with the films’ emphasis on hierarchy over personality; no one overplays their roles. Even betrayal plays out with restraint.

Visually, the films lean into compositions that reinforce scale without resorting to extravagance. Interiors feel deliberate and often austere, mirroring the narrative's transactional nature. The trilogy isn’t flawless. But as a complete work, it stands as one of the most expansive examinations of organized crime in 1970s Japanese cinema. It’s less interested in outlaw mythology and more interested in how outlaw systems integrate into legitimate society.

If you’re expecting street-level ferocity, you may find the approach measured. If you’re interested in how power formalizes itself, this trilogy delivers. It treats crime not as a rebellion but as administration, and that distinction gives it a distinct identity within the genre.

Radiance’s edition presentation underscores its historical importance. The transfers preserve texture without overprocessing, and the supplemental materials contextualize Nakajima’s place within Toei’s final major yakuza cycle.

This isn’t a casual watch. It demands attention and patience. But taken as a whole, it’s a substantial achievement, one that earns its reputation through scale, discipline, and a clear-eyed view of institutional power. The ambition, the cast, and the consistency outweigh the pacing issues. It’s a heavy trilogy, but it’s never trivial.

Bonus Materials:
High-Definition digital transfers of each film on three discs, on Blu-ray for the first time
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Archival interview with Sadao Nakajima (2020)
Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (2025)
New interview with scriptwriter Koji Takada (2025)
Trailers
Newly improved English subtitle translations
Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Akihiko Ito and Tom Mes
Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip, leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

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[photo courtesy of RADIANCE FILMS, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

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