In Ishii Teruo’s Queen Bee And College Boy Ryu (Jo-o Bachi to Daigaku Ryu, 1960) Mihara Yoko played the role she was born for - the tough-as-nails Tamami, daughter of the Sakura yakuza gang, who faces off against sangokujin (“third-country people” - an uncomplimentary term used primarily for Chinese, Koreans and other non-Japanese) - trying to invade her father’s territory in the chaos of early postwar Japan.
Tamami finds an ally in the ensuing battle in Ryuji (Yoshida Teruo), a college student with a talent for street fighting, who longs to become a gangster himself. Her father (Arashi Kanjuro) refuses his request to join, however - and Ryuji ends up forming a gang of his own.
Meanwhile the rival Dobashi gang is scheming to set the Sakuras against the sangokujin - and once both are bled dry, move into the Sakura’s territory.
The action is reminiscent of traditional samurai swashbucklers, especially when the middle-aged Arashi Kanjuro - a silent-era star of the genre - goes on the offensive, showing the youngsters how it's done with peerless bravado and flawless technique.
Mihara Yoko’s Tamami is not to be outdone, however. When the Dobashis parade a stripper at a big, rowdy festival, she strips down herself on a festival float - and overawes her rival with her assets.
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