A charismatic outsider is reborn in ‘Ryuji’

Yuya Yagira was envisioned for the role of Ryuji from an early stage. "We never considered anyone else," says director Nobuo Mizuta. | © 2026 “RYUJI” PRODUCTION COMMITTEE

Oct 30, 2026

Film remakes come with risks, since fans of the original are often more inclined to pan than rave. But that didn’t stop veteran director Nobuo Mizuta from reimagining the 1983 yakuza classic “Ryuji.”

The original film was directed by Toru Kawashima and starred Shoji Kaneko as the titular gangster, who tries and tragically fails to go straight. A stage actor who had never headlined a film, Kaneko also scripted “Ryuji” and gave the performance of a lifetime, drawing on his own immersion in yakuza society. He died of cancer at 33 shortly after the film’s release, which only added to his mystique. 

Mizuta’s “Ryuji,” which opens Oct. 30, stars Yuya Yagira in the title role and is set in the same 1980s period as the original. The script by Atsuhiro Tomioka, with input from Mizuta, follows the original’s outline while aiming to make Ryuji’s story more comprehensible and acceptable to today’s audiences.  

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