History Trivia / NihonNoDon

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") had Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba returning. Toho veterans Frankie Sakai and Susumu Fujita (the latter playing TheDon in this one) also round out the cast. It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, and was much closer to what Toei originally had in mind with ''Don''. A third film was planned to create an anthology trilogy, but ''Jingi''
underperforming at the box office put paid to that, however. Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") had Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba returning. Toho veterans Frankie Sakai and Susumu Fujita (the latter playing TheDon in this one) also round out the cast. It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, and was much closer to what Toei originally had in mind with ''Don''. Its box office underperformance put paid to that, however, and Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.
*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expied by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy. It is possible that the film was made to at least adhere to the original concept of forming a trilogy with ''Don'' and ''Jingi'', but Nakajima did not direct this one.

** [[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDujlbhFMWUkMvSlHXc3Ey9xPiyKTTNYhFh0C2_mkdEuAR9eV0xTRXF21GyQoKSxOt8MXHdkBcgIhZUWo3nYxnnk2LN7LAZiJXpwrIwNxXm6Xv4x0Hp_5EXbl5fkJu9hOc9_jrDBykwerZS4mXGzp24dB2wl-0zzVxKWndr7vulOZ7aCBDQ4oGPwV/s16000/chiba.jpg There's also a lobby card where]] [[spoiler: prison guards find Sakoda's body after he commits suicide.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPS55oUgIAE The preview]] for ''Kanketsuhen'' has a short scene where Oishi meets with Senator Gerrald instead of Karita. It is possible that it was simply filmed for the preview however.

*** Finally, 1990's ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which serves as a semi-sequel to ''Conquest'. It goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing (both being inspired by the infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama%E2%80%93Ichi_War Yama-Ichi gang war that took place after Taoka's death]]). Both films were directed by Nakajima.

** Tatsumi was not supposed to be played by Koji Tsuruta, as Toei wanted him to play Sakura. Ken Takakura was tapped to play Tatsumi, but the actor left Toei before shooting began, so they had Tsuruta replace Takakura. They then looked to Rentaro Mikumi as Sakura, but he turned the offer down. The producers then chose Shin Saburi given that he was a veteran actor (albeit one who'd never been in a ''yakuza'' movie before) and was a freelancer, not on contract to any studio.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpR-PM9v6RA&t=43s In a preview for the first film had a different look for Sakoda, with him being clean-shaven.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwQ3Hf0s5I A preview of the second film]] had a different hairstyle for Toshiro Mifune, complete with greying temples.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: [[https://historia.id/politik/articles/sukarno-dan-yakuza-vqwJ6 Yes, a Southeast Asian dictator really did consort with the yakuza]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewi_Sukarno marry a Japanese woman]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: [[https://historia.id/politik/articles/sukarno-dan-yakuza-vqwJ6 Yes, a Southeast Asian dictator really did consort with the Japanese gangsters]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewi_Sukarno marry a Japanese woman]].

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") had Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba starring with Toho veterans Frankie Sakai and Susumu Fujita (the latter playing TheDon). It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, and was much closer to what Toei originally had in mind with ''Don''. Its box office underperformance put paid to that, however, and Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.

*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss. ''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with 1990's ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing (both being inspired by the infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama%E2%80%93Ichi_War Yama-Ichi gang war that took place after Taoka's death]]). Both were directed by Nakajima.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwQ3Hf0s5I A preview of the second film]] had a a different hairstyle for Toshiro Mifune, complete with greying temples.

** [[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDujlbhFMWUkMvSlHXc3Ey9xPiyKTTNYhFh0C2_mkdEuAR9eV0xTRXF21GyQoKSxOt8MXHdkBcgIhZUWo3nYxnnk2LN7LAZiJXpwrIwNxXm6Xv4x0Hp_5EXbl5fkJu9hOc9_jrDBykwerZS4mXGzp24dB2wl-0zzVxKWndr7vulOZ7aCBDQ4oGPwV/s16000/chiba.jpg There's also a lobby card where]] [[spoiler: prison guards find Sakoda's body after the commits suicide.]]

** In the trailer for the first film, there's a short clip of police assaulting an office building where Saokda and several Nakajima goons are held up in. We do see the standoff that takes place before it in the movie, and Sakoda even tells Tatsumi that they're planning to break out in the morning. It is possible it could have been lifted from another Toei yakuza flick, but there's a brief shot of the exterior of the building that suggests it's the same one.

* ApprovalOfGod: Reportedly, the film's script had to meet with the approval of Misturu Taoka, son of Yamaguchi-gumi boss Kazuo Taoka and producer at Toei. He had credit as a producer for the films.

** The first film has been fansubbed by [[https://ropponicaproject.blogspot.com/2022/03/ropponica-project-3-japans-don.html The Ropponica Project]], a group for obscure Asian films.

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") had Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Sonny Chiba starring with Toho veteran Susumu Fujita as TheDon figure. It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, only this time with a more ''ninkyo'' feel. This was (according to Japanese Wikipedia anyway) meant in a second installment in a ThematicSeries of ''yakuza'' attempting to expand nationwide. Its box office underperformance put paid to that, however, and Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.
*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expied by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy. It is possible that the film was made to at least adhere to the original concept of forming a trilogy with ''Don'' and ''Jingi'', but it should be noted that Nakajima did not direct this one.
*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss. ''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with 1990's ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing (inspired by the infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama%E2%80%93Ichi_War Yama-Ichi gang war that took place after Taoka's death]]). Both were directed by Nakajima.

** Tatsumi was not supposed to be played by Koji Tsuruta, as Toei wanted him to play Sakura. Ken Takakura was tapped to play Tatsumi, but the actor left Toei before shooting began. They then looked to Rentaro Mikumi, but he turned the offer down. The producers then chose Shin Saburi given that he was a veteran actor (albeit one who'd never been in a ''yakuza'' movie before) and was a freelancer, not on contract to any studio.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwQ3Hf0s5I An early preview of Yabohen]] had a a different hairstyle for Toshiro Mifune, complete with greying temples.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Flip-flopped in the third film. A few shots were filmed on Saipan where a car chase takes place in the middle of the movie. Quite a few of them were used as rear projection shots; the rest of the chase was filmed on Lake Biwa and the climax ended up becoming a not-quite-convincing miniature sequence.

* AllStarCast: The series was billed as "30 Years of Toei Men" for good reason. Apporpriately enough, the original film features no less than thirty Toei veterans.

* CastTheExpert: Who else but ''Creator/SonnyChiba'' could play a ''yakuza'' underboss whose RealLife counterpart had a reputation as a gangster with ''karate'' experience?

*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss. ''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with 1990s's ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing (inspired by the infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama%E2%80%93Ichi_War Yama-Ichi gang war that took place after Taoka's death]]). Both were directed by Nakajima.

** As said above, the film was meant to kick off a ThematicSeries of ''yakuza films'', but plans fell through after ''Nihon no Jingi'' underperformed.

** Bunta Sugawara's character in the second movie, Shunshuke Tenbo, is crippled during a failed assassination attempt, but he reappears in the next movie as a HandicappedBadass ''yakuza'' named Akira Kawanishi.

** Asao Koike plays a rival gang boss in the first, Oishi's NumberTwo in ''Yabohen'' and is responsible for crippling Sugawara's character, but is injured in the attempt. The wound doesn't appear to be fatal, but Koike is recast again as a detective in ''Kanketsuhen''.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** From ''Yabohen'': [[https://historia.id/politik/articles/sukarno-dan-yakuza-vqwJ6 Yes, a Southeast Asian dictator really did consort with the Japanese gangsters]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewi_Sukarno marry a Japanese woman]].

** Bunta Sugawara's character in the second movie, Shunshuke Tenbo is crippled during a failed assassination attempt, but he reappears in the next movie as a HandicappedBadass ''yakuza'' named Akira Kawanishi.

* ApprovalOfGod: Reportedly, the film's script had to meet with the approval of Misturu Taoka, son of Yamaguchi-gumi boss Kazuo Taoka and producer at Toei and has a credit as a producer for the films.

* CastTheExpert: Who else but ''[[Creator/ShinichiChiba Sonny Chiba]]'' could play a ''yakuza'' underboss whose RealLife counterpart had a reputation as a gangster with ''karate'' experience?

*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expied by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy. It is possible that the film was made to at least adhere to the original concept of forming a trilogy with ''Don'' and ''Jingi'' forming a trilogy, but it should be noted that Nakajima did not direct this one.

*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expied by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy. It is possible that the film was made to at least adhere to the original concept of ''Don'' and ''Jingi'' forming a trilogy, but it should be noted that Nakajima did not direct this one.
*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss. ''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing. Both were directed by Nakajima.

* AllStarCast: The series was billed as "30 Years of Toei Men" for good reason. If a long-time Toei actor didn't show up in ''Film/BattlesWithoutHonorAndHumanity'', he did so here, with a good chunk of that film's own cast with him.

* WagTheDirector: The film was supposed to be 100 minutes long (to be paired with another film for a twin release) and to be made at a budget of 200 million yen,. Koji Takada managed to convince Toei president Koiji Shundo to up the budget to 400 million yen and an extended running time.

** Bunta Sugawara's character in the second movie is crippled during a failed assassination attempt, but he reappears in the next movie as a HandicappedBadass ''yakuza'' under a different name.

** The first film has been subbed by [[https://ropponicaproject.blogspot.com/ The Ropponica Project]], a fansub group for obscure Asian films.

* CastTheExpert: Who else but ''UsefulNotes/ShinichiChiba'' could play a ''yakuza'' underboss whose RealLife counterpart had a reputation as a gangster with ''karate'' experience?

* CastTheExpert: Who else but ''UsefulNotes/SonnyChiba'' could play a ''yakuza'' underboss whose RealLifeCounterpart had a reputation as a gangster with ''karate'' experience?

** Additionally, as seen in ''Kanketsuhen'', the ''yakuza'' have made inroads into the Pacific islands, most notably in Hawaii.

* DuelingWorks: With ''Film/BattlesWithoutHonorAndHumanity''. Both are epic ''yakuza'' sagas portraying the rise and fall of various gangs across Japan, but ''Nihon No Don'' concentrates more on the bosses and higher-echelon members rather than ''Battles''' focus on the front lines of yakuza warfare.

** CorruptPolitician Taguchi, Nobuo Kaneko's character in the first movie, is replaced by Cabinet Secretary Hirayama, a stand-in of Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka, in the next two.

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") has Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, and Sonny Chiba starring. It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, only this time with a more ''ninkyo'' feel. This was (according to Japanese Wikipedia anyway) meant in a second installment in a ThematicSeries of ''yakuza'' attempting to expand nationwide. Its box office underperformance put paid to that, however, and Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.
*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expired by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy. It is possible that the film was made to at least adhere to the original concept of ''Don'' and ''Jingi'' forming a trilogy, but it should be noted that Nakajima did not direct this one.

*** ''Nihon no Jingi'' ("Japan's Honor") has Nakajima return to direct with Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, and Sonny Chiba starring. It follows a similar plotline of a powerful ''yakuza'' gang trying to dominate Japan, only this time with a more ''ninkyo'' feel. This was (according to Japanese Wikipedia anyway) was meant in a second installment in a ThematicSeries of ''yakuza'' attempting to expand nationwide. Its low box office receipts put paid to that however, and Toei commissioned the two ''Don'' sequels instead.
*** 1979's ''The Fixer'' (''Nihon no Fixer'') cast Shin Saburi as an {{Expy}} of ''yakuza'' powerbroker (or ''kuromaku'') Yoshio Kodama, had been expired by the character of Kikuo Oyama in the trilogy.
*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss.''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of a powerful ''yakuza'' boss' passing.

** As said above, the film was meant to kick off a ThematicSeries of ''yakuza films'', but plans fell through after ''Nihon no Jingi'' underperformed and the two sequels were commissioned.
** Tatsumi was not supposed to be played by Koji Tsuruta, as Toei wanted him to play Sakura. Ken Takakura was tapped to play Tatsumi, but the actor left Toei before shooting began. The producers then chose Shin Saburi given that he was a veteran actor (albeit one who'd never been in a ''yakuza'' movie before) and was a freelancer, not signed to any one studio.

** Likewise it's subtitle was supposed to be "Violent Family" instead of "Yakuza War".

** The first film was intended as one to ''Film/TheGodfather''. The most notable example is when the latter's infamous horse head scene gets referenced when a rival boss' moll has her severed head left in her man's hotel room.

*** Finally, 1982's ''Conquest'' (''Seiha'', sometimes called ''Domineering'') features Toshiro Mifune as another Kazuo Taoka stand-in during his last days as boss.''Conquest'' itself received a semi-sequel of sorts with ''1750 Days of Turbulence'', which goes deeper into the aftermath of the passing of a powerful boss.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The characters are mostly [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of major figures across ''yakuza'' history, and for good reason since many of them were still alive when the films were released. Likewise, the events portrayed in the films have their own equivalents in Japanese history.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: [[https://historia.id/politik/articles/sukarno-dan-yakuza-vqwJ6 Yes, a Southeast Asian dictator really did consort with the yakuza]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewi_Sukarno marry a Japanese national]]. Additionally, as seen in ''Kanketsuhen'', the yakuza have made inroads into the Pacific islands, most notably in Hawaii.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Flip-flopped in the third film. A few shots were filmed on Saipan where a car chase takes place in the middle of the movie. One of them is a rear projection shot; the rest of the chase was filmed on Lake Biwa and the climax ended up becoming a not-quite-convincing miniature sequence.

* NoExportForYou: Averted with the final film. It's currently available for purchase via [[http://www.japanesesamuraidvd.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/127/Godfather%20of%20Japan%20-%20Toshiro%20Mifune%20-%201978%20Remastered several]] [[http://www.kurotokagi.com/ third-party companies.]]