The Gate of Youth (1981 film)

The Gate of Youth (Japanese: 青春の門, Hepburn: Seishun no mon) is a 1981 Japanese drama film co-directed by Kinji Fukasaku and Koreyoshi Kurahara. A Kurahara-directed sequel titled Seishun no mon: Jiritsu hen (青春の門 自立篇, lit. The Gate of Youth: Part 2) was released in 1982.

Both films are based on a story by Hiroyuki Itsuki that was originally serialized in the magazine Shūkan Gendai from 1969–70 before being picked up by Kodansha and published as a series of novels (continuing publication intermittently until 1994, and again in 2017 after a 23-year hiatus). The same story inspired a 1975 film of the same name, which itself received a 1977 sequel (also titled Seishun no mon: Jiritsu hen), as well as three separate television productions in 1976-77 (TBS), 1991 (TV Tokyo), and 2005 (TBS).

The Gate of Youth stars Kōichi Satō as protagonist Shinsuke Ibuki in his feature film debut, in addition to Bunta Sugawara, Keiko Matsuzaka, Kaoru Sugita (also her feature film debut) and Tomisaburo Wakayama. Toei theatrically released the film on January 15, 1981, in Japan.