Japan Synopsis
東京流れ者
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Tokyo Drifter. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Nikkatsu Corporation
Action + Crime in Japan
188 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Action and Crime genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Tokyo Drifter itself).
The 1965–1967 Japan Window
Tokyo Drifter holds position #23 of 71 Japan films in the 1965–1967 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
1966 was the decade’s peak output year for Japan — 28 titles released, including Tokyo Drifter. Bars below show how the 1960s stacked up year by year (202 total).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 27 other Japan films in 1966.
The 241st Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
163 audience reviews — more than 83% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 75th percentile among Japan films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Tokyo Drifter, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- hitman · 30
- 1960s · 20
- japanese new wave · 16
- japanese noir · 8
- japan · 454
- yakuza · 93
- tokyo · 78
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,928 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (58th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Among Japan Action productions specifically: #795 of 1,714 (top 46%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Spoken Languages | English, Japanese |
| Production Companies | Nikkatsu Corporation |
| Runtime | 1h 23m |
| Release Date | April 10, 1966 |
| IMDb | tt0061101 |