Movie mogul Haruki Kadokawa changed the landscape of Japanese cinema for good when he introduced the concept of the blockbuster to the country with the gripping crime drama Proof of the Man, featuring an all-star cast. When mixed-raced Johnny Hayward (Flower Travellin’ Band vocalist Joe Yamanaka) heads from his Harlem home to Tokyo, he becomes the victim of a brutal stabbing in the elevator of a plush hotel hosting a catwalk show by elite fashion designer Kyoko (Mariko Okada). That same night, Kyoko’s son with her powerful politician husband Yohei (Toshiro Mifune) is involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident and flees the country.

Suspecting the incidents may be linked, Detective Munesue (Yusaku Matsuda, The Game Trilogy) heads to New York to investigate Johnny’s background. There he is partnered with local detective Ken Shuftan (George Kennedy, Airport), whose own links to Japan dredge up painful memories from Munesue’s childhood.

Proof of the Man is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name by Seiichi Morimura by director Junya Sato (The Bullet Train, Manhunt) and screenwriter Zenzo Matsuyama (The Human Condition trilogy). The film was shot on location in Japan and New York by veteran cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda (Pigs and Battleships, Vengeance is Mine).

The film is a compelling exploration of racial identity and the trauma of the postwar occupation period, framed in the form of a whodunnit. Arrow Video presents the film for the first time outside Japan for the home-video market in a transfer sourced from a 4K restoration by Kadokawa.

Directed by Jun’ya Satô, Proof of the Man stars George Kennedy, Mariko Okada, Yûsaku Matsuda, Broderick Crawford, Rick Jason, Toshirô Mifune, Junzaburô Ban, Takeo Chii, E.H. Eric, Kinji Fukasaku, Bunjaku Han, Hajime Hana, Janet Hatta, Michiko Hoshi, Kôichi Iwaki and Robert Earl Jones.

Bonus Material

• High-Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional newly translated English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentary with Asian American film scholar Rob Buscher and DJ Skeme Richards
• Taking the Big Apple, a brand new video introduction by Asian film scholar Earl Jackson
• A Japanese Blockbuster, a brand new filmed discussion with critics and Junya Sato biographers Tatsuya Masuto and Masaaki Nomura
• Original theatrical trailers
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
  Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critic Michelle Kisner and scholar Alexander Zahlten