Japanese gangster films, with their stoic yet explosively violent heroes, have influenced everyone from Eastwood to Jarmusch. The Yakuza Movie Book is the first book to look at this genre in detail. It features more than 100 film critiques and "top 10" recommendations plus profiles and interviews of famous actors and directors like Kinji Fukasaku, Takashi Miike, Takeshi -Kitano, Sho Aikawa and Bunta Sugawara. With dozens of stills and striking movie posters, this is a book any film lover will savor as a viewer's guide and definitive reference.

Mark Schilling lives in Tokyo and has been reviewing Japanese films for the Japan Times since 1989. He is author of Contemporary Japanese Film and Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture.

"It's an excellent starting point for those intrigued by the backdrop of Kill Bill." -- Empire

"Schilling... has produced a remarkable work on an enduring guilty pleasure, the first of its kind in English." -- Library Journal

"Schilling is in total command of his field...the first Westerner willing and able to perform this useful service to world movie studies, and the sense of complete immersion in a genre will appeal to all film lovers." -- The Daily Yomiuri

"This is prerequisite reading for any and all fans of Asian cinema." -- Asian Cult Cinema