Third Base

Third Base (Japanese: サード, Hepburn: Sâdo), also known as Third and The Boy on Third Base, is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi and written by Shūji Terayama. It stars Toshiyuki Nagashima in the lead role. The film was produced by Art Theatre Guild and released on March 15, 1978, in Japan.

High school student Shinji Seno (Toshiyuki Nagashima) and his female friends from the newspaper club, bored with their small town lives, turn to prostitution to earn money to move to the city. However, they run afoul of a local yakuza member. The conflict turns violent, and ends with Shinji beating the man to death. Shinji is sent to a juvenile detention center, where he is given the nickname "Third" because he used to play third base on the high school baseball team.

Minister of Education's Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists

• Won

52nd Kinema Junpo Best Ten Awards

• Won: Best Film
• Won: Best Japanese Director (Yōichi Higashi)

3rd Hochi Film Awards

• Won: Best Film

33rd Mainichi Film Awards

• Won: Excellence Film (shared with Empire of Passion, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki and Kaerazaru hibi)
• Won: Best Sound Recording (Yukio Kubota)

21st Blue Ribbon Awards

• Won: Best Film

• Won: Best Newcomer (Toshiyuki Nagashima)

• Third Base at IMDb