Banzuiin Chōbei

Echo of Love

A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge

1937

Zatoichi

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by war

2003

The Retired Samurai

Japan's greatest jidaigeki star, Mifune Toshiro is Shogun's Advisor Okubo Hikozaemon who must be coaxed out of retirement to save Shogun Iemitsu from

1987

A Duel Tale

Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword

2015

Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the loca

1961

It's a Summer Film!

Barefoot and her friends decide to make a samurai movie, gather a unique cast and staff for the production, and try to screen it at their school festi

2021

Sanjuro

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and

1962

Kagemusha

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid at

1980

The Twilight Samurai

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles

2002

The Horse Boy

A humble page fathers a child by the daughter of a clan official and is banished. Years later, the child, now a stable boy, is reunited with his fathe

1957

Harakiri

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a plac

1962

Ugetsu

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage'

1953

The Tale of Zatoichi

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's

1962

Benten Kozo

Orphaned Kiku was raised at a Buddhist temple and learned theatrical arts and martial arts as a child, which were used to put on stage productions to

1960

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice

Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. H

1972

53 Stages of the Road

An Edo appointed official Baba must ensure the safe delivery of shogunate funds to Kyoto.

1959

Hanzo the Razor: The Snare

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He s

1973

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

Hanzo extracts a confession from a ghost using his assaulting methods, foils thieves, connects with Heisuke Takei a friend from his youth, offers prot

1974

Tsukigata Hanpeita

During the ultra-violent era of the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate one man rose above the rest with his ideas of how to overthrow the corrupt gove

1952

When the Last Sword Is Drawn

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town cla

2003