While the Yakuza movies were a major force in the ’60s and ’70s including the masterful Battles Without Honor and Humanity series, there wasn’t much focus on the lives of the women in the mobsters’ lives when the guys weren’t around. It was a male driven genre. How did ladies keep things going when their husbands and boyfriends were off doing time? This remained a bit of a mystery until in Toei films landed the rights to Shôko Ieda’s non-fiction book about the ladies that married into the mob. They saw that there are quite a few stories worth exploring about women taking over for incarcerated mobsters. Yakuza Wives is a perfect introduction to this life.
The wives and girlfriends of jailed Yakuza members get together for a girl’s night with drinks, gossip dancing and karaoke. Prison Widows Club seem like a fun group as they talk about how their mates are doing behind bars. But not all the women are just sitting around waiting for their man. Migawa Awatsu (Farewell to the Code‘s Shima Iwashita) has been handling the business of her husband Hitoshi (Yakuza Graveyard‘s Kei Sato) in the Domoto crme group. With only a few months before his release from prison, the head of the family drops dead. This leads to a power struggle from within. Can she handle this attack on the family as it restructures? She wants to make sure the family stays intact for when her husband is released. Her own regular family is becoming a bit of a mess. Migawa’s younger sister Makoto (Tokyo Bordello‘s Rino Katase) meets a Yakuza member while on vacation and things get ugly in the hotel room. But instead of wanting revenge, Makoto ends up falling for the guy. She seems to want her bad boys extra bad. Another complication in their relationship is that he’s part of the rival gang that wants to grab turf from Domoto. How will the sisters cope knowing their allegiances are on different sides of the battle? Migawa won’t make it easy on anyone that gets in her way.
Yakuza Wives revived the genre for Toei films after they backed off in the ’70s. The female centric leading characters help the movie seem quite different from Toei’s early crime films. The studio has a whole new perspective, and it works. They’re not just swapping genders on their old scripts. Shima Iwashita is intense when she takes over her husband’s role. She isn’t trying to soften things up in the organization. There’s a great scene where a rival mobster, who knew her back when, casually puts his arm on her leg. She grabs his hand and makes him feel her. She refuses to be intimidated by his gestures. One scene has a woman visit her office upset that her husband has lost a fortune gambling. Shima warns her that’s what she gets for marrying a Yakuza member. “I didn’t marry into the Yakuza. I fell in love with a man who happened to be a gangster” is her response. Shima doesn’t get any more comforting. She is the same way with her sister who doesn’t seem to get the life and rules of what she’s married into. Yakuza Wives is dramatic without feeling like a soap opera. There is an intensity to the scenes and very little cute comedy. The finale is stunning without giving out any details. Yakuza Wives shows that there is a place in the Japanese mob besides being obedient wives, mistresses or hostesses.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p brings out the details in the life of a women who is part of the mob. The Audio is Japanese LPCM 2.0 mono. You’ll hear them plotting against each other. The movie is subtitled in English.
Brand New Filmed Introduction by Mark Schilling (15:41) has him talk about the film being a departure for Toei studio with a female oriented Yakuza story. The film did revive the studio’s fortune. He had interviewed Shôko Ieda the author of the non-fiction book that inspired the series. Director Hideo Gosha had come from television productions and Samurai films.
Exclusive Interview with Toei Tattoo Artist Seiji Mouri (24:57) has him starting to work as a bit player at Toei in their Kyoto studio. His last name was originally Mori, but there were 4 other Mori’s at the studio. He explains how he added the “u.” He gets into the various actor bonuses you’d get on a shoot in those early years. He started working on fake tattoos for actors when Toei got deeper into the Yakuza genre. He originally worked on the bit players, while the two main artists worked with the stars, but that changed fast. He worked at Toei until he was 80. He talks about working on Yakuza Wives and shows off the artwork design for an actress tattoo.
Stills Gallery (4:19) has press photos in color and black & white and a poster.
Trailers (3:45) has a teaser and the theatrical trailer.
Limited Edition Booklet with essay by Stuart Nathan about the film.
88 Films presents Yakuza Wives: Limited Edition. Directed by Hideo Gosha. Screenplay by Kôji Takada. Starring Shima Iwashita, Rino Katase, Akiko Kana, Riki Takeuchi, Kôjiro Shimizu, Shôko Ieda, Yasuko Naito, Junko Enjô, Yasuko Haru and Meika Seri. Running Time: 120 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 22, 2025.
