Remembering Noboru Ando, the George Raft of Japan

(First published on February 22, 2022)

TOKYO — There were hundreds of thousands of yakuza in the postwar history of Japan. But not many had a career like Noboru Ando. Juvenile delinquent, wartime suicide diver, postwar street brawler, gang boss, prison inmate, writer, actor, singer, movie star — nicknamed the Japanese George Raft, after the 1930’s film star George Raft, famous for his crime roles — and one of the most famous people in the country.

Ando was born in Tokyo in 1926, the oldest of four children, was expelled from two schools for fighting and wound up in a reformatory. During the war he trained as a frogman equipped with explosives to attach himself to the hull of an enemy ship and blow himself up. However, the war ended before he saw any action.