Introduction Samurai Rebellion (上意討ち 拝領妻始末, Jōi-uchi: Hairyō tsuma shimatsu) is a 1967 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is based on Hairyozuma shimatsu, a short story by Yasuhiko Takiguchi. Outline In the Edo period of Japan, in the year 1725, Isaburo Sasahara (Toshiro Mifune) is a vassal of the daimyo of the… Read More
Introduction Sanjuro (椿三十郎, Tsubaki Sanjūrō) is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa’s 1961 Yojimbo. Originally an adaptation of the Shūgorō Yamamoto novel Hibi Heian, the script was altered with the success of Kurosawa’s 1961 Yojimbo to incorporate the lead character of… Read More
Introduction Yojimbo (用心棒, Yōjinbō, lit. ’Bodyguard’) is a 1961 Japanese samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Atsushi Watanabe. In the film, a rōnin arrives in a small town where competing crime lords vie for… Read More
Introduction The Hidden Blade (隠し剣 鬼の爪, Kakushi ken: Oni no tsume, literally “Hidden Blade: Oni’s Claw”) is a 2004 film set in 1860s Japan, directed by Yoji Yamada. The plot revolves around several samurai during a time of change in the ruling and class structures of Japan. It is the second film in Yoji Yamada’s… Read More
Introduction The Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛, literally “Twilight Seibei”) is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. Poor,… Read More
Introduction Love and Honor (武士の一分, Bushi no Ichibun, literally “Warrior’s Honour”) is a 2006 film set in Japan of the Edo period. It is the final film in Yoji Yamada’s acclaimed Samurai Trilogy, following The Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004). Outline Shinnojo, a low level samurai, lives with his pretty and loyal… Read More
Introduction Chanbara (チャンバラ), also commonly spelled “chambara”, meaning “sword fighting” movies, denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western western (genre) and swashbuckler films. Chanbara is a sub-category of jidaigeki, which equates to period drama. Jidaigeki may refer to a story set in a historical period, though… Read More
Introduction Kill! (斬る, Kiru) is a 1968 Japanese comedy-chambara film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Two ronin – an ex-samurai and an ex-farmer – get caught up in a local official’s complex game of murder and betrayal. The film had a screenplay written by Akira Murao and Okamoto, and is based on the story Torideyama no… Read More
Introduction The kingdoms of feudal Japan are at war when several powerful warlords fight to become absolute ruler. Outline Tokugawa Ieyasu seizes power from Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s infant heir, Hideyori, splitting the country in two; once again, Japan has been plunged into a bitter civil war. Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan Series You can find… Read More
Introduction The kingdoms of feudal Japan are at war when several powerful warlords fight to become absolute ruler. Outline Toyotomi Hideyoshi controls all of Japan, but this new peace is problematic; for the samurai – a race bred for combat and military prowess – war must be waged to rise in status and to accrue… Read More
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