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The life of a Japanese gang member has been difficult lately.
After washing his hands in the golden basin, he couldn't find a job, and his tattoo became a symbol of his black history, and he couldn't go to the hot spring...
Gang members add false fingers to their broken fingers
From last year to this year, the Japanese media broke out a number of cases of former gang members stealing things in supermarkets, caught by the police, and recently, there was news that gang members went to the company's houses in broad daylight to steal property..... It shows how difficult their lives are.
Although the "Yamaguchi Group" has become less and less powerful under the regulation of internal strife and related laws, it has fallen into disintegration, but the Japanese gangsters of decades ago are far from being constrained as they are now.
It was not until the early 1990s that Japan introduced the Law on countermeasures against Violent Groups, followed by the Regulations on the Exclusion of Violent Groups.
During the period when gang control was relatively loose, gang members were able to infiltrate all walks of life in Japanese society and maintain close ties with politics, business, and show business.
Even the "national husband" in the eyes of generations of Chinese people, "male god" Takakura Ken, had a deep personal friendship with the "bosses" of the underworld at that time.
"Renxia Movie" is hot
Most people see Ken Takakura's image as "Japanese movie fever" that was popular in Japan in the 1980s. Ken Takakura in "The Call of the Distant Mountains", "The Hunt", and "The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness" made the Chinese of that generation remember this tall and handsome man. But before that, he had starred in "Renxia Movies" for a long time.
Ken Takakura in the movie "The Hunt"
Movie "Happy Yellow Handkerchief"
Just after the end of World War II, Japanese audiences were keen to watch entertainment movies.
In the 1950s, there was a wave of historical drama in Japan, and later, this type of drama became a pompous drama, and the number of audiences decreased.
At that time, Ken Takakura starred in the release of "The Legend of The Japanese Hero", the box office soared, and various film companies began to produce a large number of films with this type of gangster theme, and from then on, "Renxia Movie" was born. Ken Takakura is the most important actor in this trend.
Get to know Kazuo Taoka
Before becoming an actor, Ken Takakura studied at Meiji University and often participated in the activities of the school's boxing department, and because of drinking and fighting, he gradually became acquainted with the gang "Sumiyoshikai" at that time.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan's film and television entertainment industry was still a violent industry, and there were many reports at that time that many artists had gangsters behind them, the most famous of which was the interaction between singer Miku Skylark and Yamaguchi group leader Kazuo Taoka. The agency where Miku Skylark works is actually Kobe Art Nobori, a subsidiary of the Yamaguchi Group.
In fact, most of the producers of this type of renxia movie have gangster-related people involved. The police later found that many movie tickets were actually bought by the gangsters, which showed the strong influence of the gangsters at that time. A person in the film industry once said: "In the 20 years from the late 50s to the late 1970s, almost all Japanese artists received help from Taoka."
Some of the films that Ken Takakura starred in at that time also starred in Miku Skylark, and later, he gradually met kazuo Taoka, the leader of the yamaguchi group, the largest gang in Japan at that time.
Kazuo Taoka (right)
In such a big environment, how to get along with gang members and keep a certain distance was an essential skill for successful actors at that time.
In Japan, Kazuo Taoka is known as the "godfather of gangster godfathers". Ken Takakura has personally played Taoka himself in the movie twice, and Taoka also personally went to the set to visit Ken Takakura.
In 1973, Ken Takakura played Taoka in the film Yamaguchi Group Iii. One day, When Taoka had a heart attack at home, Ken Takakura went to visit him, and the two talked in the room for about 30 minutes. It was this conversation that deepened the understanding between the two, and Ken Takakura later said in an interview that he admired Taoka himself very much, and the other party was also very interested in the movie.
Poster for the movie "Yamaguchi Group Iii"
In a weekly interview, Ken Takakura was asked about his thoughts on playing Taoka, to which he replied:
"I have a deep interest in Tatsuka himself. No matter what kind of adversity he is in, he will not give up and rise up again. I understand his feeling of 'eating one more bowl of rice than others'. ”
He also said he hadn't played such a real and fascinating role in a long time.
Later, the two sides also ate together, and at the dinner table, Takakura Ken said to Taoka: "Mr. Tagang used to be poor and unable to go to school. Now that many children are facing the same dilemma as you did in the past, they can't afford to go to school, so I wonder if you are interested in donating some education funds to the children on behalf of the Yamaguchi Group? ”
Kazuo Taoka promised to consider the matter on the spot.
Taoka's daughter later recalled that Ken Takakura had written to her father several times at that time, writing:
"I often think about what an actor is for me, you taught me how to be a man, to be a man. In fact, if you think about it, both will point to the same answer. ”
Very close to each other
After this, Ken Takakura and Kazuo Taoka became increasingly close.
Not only did he and Eritoshi Emi get married, he invited Taoka to attend the wedding scene, and later, once, at the home of actor Hiroko Kiyokawa, Takakura Ken took his wife and singer Miku Skylark and her husband Kobayashi Toki to dinner, and after three rounds of drinking, Kobayashi took off his watch and wanted to give it to Takakura Ken, Takakura Ken politely refused.
In Japan, where generations are concerned, it was a very disrespectful thing to reject Kobayashi Asahi who was a senior at the time, and Ken Takakura was forced into a corner and forced to accept "gifts". In such a tense atmosphere, Kazuo Taoka took the initiative to adjust, not only allowing Ken Takakura to accept the gift, but also defusing the awkward atmosphere.
Later, when Kazuo Taoka was seriously ill, Ken Takakura visited as a friend, and when Kazuo Tagaoka died, he also attended the funeral as scheduled.
The relationship between the two was so close that many media suspected that Takakura ken himself was a member of the Yamaguchi group.
In addition to Kazuo Taoka, he also had a relationship with another senior member of the Yamaguchi group.
In 1963, the two met at a party where the member had moved to celebrate the housewarming. After a shoot, Ken Takakura returned to the hotel, and after a while, a scream came from Ken Takakura's room: "Don't do this kind of thing", and after the slamming of the door, Takakura Ken snatched the door and came out.
At that time, it was already customary for gangsters to arrange female accompaniment for actors, but Ken Takakura, who had a fetish for cleanliness, was completely unacceptable.
Drift away
The above incident seems to be the trigger for Ken Takakura to stay away from the gangs, and in the late 70s, he began to distance himself from the gangs.
Slowly, there was also a conflict between him and his company, Toei, "If I continue to be here, I can only play the role of the underworld in the future."
In 1976, Ken Takakura quit from Toei after starring in the movie The Hunt. Since then, Ken Takakura has shed the image of the underworld members given to people in the previous Renxia movies. Later, he successively starred in films such as "The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness" and won the Japan Academy Award for Best Actor four times.
Yingkage, I'm going to be a neutral high-ken to you.
According to a reporter who specialized in entertainment news at the time, Ken Takakura himself was actually a literary and artistic young man who liked to read and watch movies. Originally, the world of "male films" such as Renxia films was not very adaptable.
In addition, through the filming of these films, some of the underworld people he knew made him mentally very burdened until it was unbearable... In the 1980s, he officially severed contact with these people.
Singer Miku Skylark, who is also an entertainer, fell into the "Skylark scandal" in the 70s, was boycotted by the Japanese people, and suffered a great impact on her career, in stark contrast to Ken Takakura.
In 2014, after Ken Takakura's death, many people wrote articles to commemorate him, recalling the history of his association with underworld members, and some people believe that in that special era, he was trying to balance the righteousness and human feelings in Japanese society, and even after cutting off the relationship, he did not forget to greet these past acquaintances at key moments.
In 2011, when an earthquake struck Tokyo, Japan, a retired former gang member recalled how he felt when he received a greeting call from Ken Takakura, "It's like going back to that time, it's good." ”
ref:
http://lite-ra.com/2014/11/post-663.html
https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20170818_605314.html
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20180822-00546653-shincho-ent
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