Tokijiro (Kinnosuke Nakamura) is a ‘retired’ Yakuza and a gambler who now works for a gambling house, reluctantly. I write ‘reluctantly’ because that house’s dealings / feud with a powerful Yakuza gets his sidekick in the firing line. Nonetheless, because of his alignments, he kills Sanzo (Azuma Chiyonosuke), who is obviously someone’s father and husband. Before dying, Sanzo asks Tokijiro to take care of his wife Okinu (Ikeuchi Junko) and son (Izumi Kazuko). Coincidentally, he meets Okinu and her son before, Okinu’s tuberculosis worsening and he as promised cares for her. She leaves him during the spring, then meets he meets her again in the winter, finding that her condition gets much worse.

Director Tai Katō seems to have an interest in, duh, how life changes people, capturing those important catalysts. And those catalysts exist within Yakuza action films, a subgenre for which fans are willing to suspend their disbelief. I’ve never seen someone slice another person with a samurai sword, but presumably, the latter can’t talk afterwards. But not only does Sanzo talk but he tells Tokijiro specific details on how to find his wife. There’s also room for Sanzo to declare his honour in the same ways that characters take time declaring their honour. Kato frames all of this in Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza through competent, old school filmmaking and clear visual light.

Two films in one, there are some threads in Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza that I wish it didn’t drop for others. The film’s first act has its share of strong women, underrepresented in some Japanese genre films. Tokijiro dealing with a gambling house full of women can be a film in itself but damsels come first. Maybe I’m being too harsh on Tokijiro and Okinu, characters within an nth iteration of a traditional story. There are some moments of levity, like when the son says he already forgets Sanzo because of Tokijiro. Or when Tokijiro gets another sidekick and Yakuza wannabe in the form of Okinu’s eager brother Shotaro (Jiro Okazaki).

There are also moments of fat in Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza, including and especially the scenes with Yakuza houses. Or perhaps, it’s maybe subjectively uninteresting to watch Yakuza members plot and talk instead of doing some inevitable fighting. And again, maybe I’m being too harsh on those scenes because some reveal things about the Yakuza mind. Some of the Yakuza need to remember that Okinu is Sanzo’s widow and thus deserving of some empathy. Yes, even if I have problems with how the film frames Okinu, at least she’s not its only woman. Because of her, Tokijiro’s priorities shift, needing medicine for her and will fight anyone else to get it.

Stream Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza on OVID.