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117 movies sorted by popularity
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Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.
An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin. Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world.
Period comedy.
Driven by a murderous intent, he pursues the palanquin carrying the renowned onnagata Kikunosuke, who has taken the place of the princess destined to marry the lord of the Okazaki domain.
Period comedy with fantasy elements.
The sword of the chivalrous warrior is drawn amid the struggle for a legendary sword and a plot to assassinate a young princess.
Japanese film.
One of Japan's most popular stories is the tale of Kutsukake Tokijiro, a traveling gambler who finds that he must take care of the wife and child of a yakuza he had been forced by the code of the gamblers to fight man to man. In a brilliant performance from super-star Ichikawa Raizo, with strong support from two of the greats from Toho, Shimura Takashi (7 Samurai) and Aratama Michiyo (Sword of Doom) the heartfelt story reaches new heights. Tokijiro, having learned the true nature of the boss to whom he was obligated for having spent a night and eaten at the gang's headquarters takes up arms against them in a running battle fought across the back roads of the entire nation. Another powerful rendition of this superb story, it is not to be missed!
By day, he is a young master whose beauty melts women’s hearts. By night, he is the elusive “White Hood.”
This is the story of a blind masseur who tricks people, steals, and kills; he is the anti-Zatoichi.
A spearman who had long admired the samurai rises up after learning of cruelty of the samurai class.
A village struggles to survive when the nearby lake becomes barren of fish.
Biographical film about bacteriologist Dr. Hideyo Noguchi.
The exciting story of Jirocho and his yakuza gang that controlled the area of the Tokaido during the latter days of the samurai era. Awesome fighting from Katsu Shintaro as One-Eyed Ishimatsu highlights this great tale taken from Japanese history!
The film takes place at the junction of the two eras of Meiji and Taisho. Sakata Sankichi, an uneducated zori sandal maker, becomes a professional shogi player through his genius shogi skills and lives a fanatically devoted shogi game supported by the love of his family. This is the 3rd adaptation of Hideji Hojo's famous play.
The Snake Princess in hot pursuit… The stand-in bride enters the castle… But her true identity has been exposed… Life or death hinges on obtaining the mirror. A lavish period drama full of twists and turns.
A fierce battle between a vicious train criminal and a police officer.
Chikuzen, a ronin named Yoh Daisuke, after pacifying some ruffians at the theater of Onna-Kata Ogino Sawanojiki, formed a bond with the theater's bodyguard, Maruhashi Tadayasu, and Kaku, a priest. He ended up settling at the Kasugaya, the house of Oko, whom he had saved. When Oko decided to go to Edo, where her biological father lived, Daisuke accompanied her. Along the way, at Suruga Abe River, they encountered Sawanojiki's theater group, which had departed from Osaka earlier heading to Edo. A scuffle initiated by Tadayasu over a ferry boat with the students of Yui Masayuki but was amicably resolved through Masayuki's intervention.
Suzunosuke faces perhaps his wildest foes. This evil gang is lead by a one-eyed birdman and other demonic creatures.
Fujio is beautiful, talented, well-heeled, and engaged to up-and-coming diplomat Munechika. She has promised him a gold watch, a family heirloom, as an emblem of their engagement. However, she becomes enamoured with Ono, a student employed to tutor her in English, who is attracted by her beauty and wealth. Ono himself is bound by an engagement to Sayoko, daughter of his mentor, Professor Inoue.
Directed by Daisuke Itō.
The 39th "Tengu Kurama" feature starring Arashi.
Isshin Tasuke, a friend of Ōkubo Hikozōemon, the esteemed public arbitrator of the realm, saved the maid Onatsu from punishment after she accidentally broke a plate gifted by Lord Ieyasu. Tired of the strict samurai service, Tasuke moved to the Genbei tenements and opened a fish shop. This tenement housed various characters, including the landlord's daughter Osen who had a crush on Tasuke, the midwife Okan, the blind masseur Oyone and her husband, the carpenter-loving couple Yoshigorō and Ohama, the rōnin Takeuchi Yogoemon, and the siblings Ochika and Shin'nosuke who cared for their sick mother.
Mitsue is a popular stage actress and the lover of a shamisen player named Seijuro. She jealously murders two other objects of his affection: Okiyo, a young woman from a samurai family, and Kuro, a cat. The spirits of Okiyo and Kuro then merge into a vengeful ghost.
Kayama Ichinoshin (Raizo Ichikawa) has been traveling for ten years in search of revenge for his father. One day, Ichinoshin reunites with his younger brother Shinjiro (Yukio Hashi), who has completely changed. Shinjiro abandoned the quiet samurai life and began to lead a Yakuza lifestyle. The older brother is angry at the younger one for his depravity, and the younger one laughs at him for being tied to old-fashioned traditions. As a result, they quarrel. Ichinoshin hears that the person he has to take revenge on has become a Yakuza, and in order to get a hint, he takes care of the Otsu family, to which Shinjiro owes, but later discovers that the boss of Otsu Kanemon is the one he is looking for.
In 1842, in the Umemoku Mansion within Hikone Castle, Naosuke Ii, despite the tumultuous times, was engrossed in the world of tea ceremony. His friend, the Kokugaku scholar Nagano Shuzen, introduced him to a captivating shamisen master named Murayama Taka. Naosuke became deeply infatuated with her, disregarding the jealousy of his consort Shizu and the warnings of his senior retainer, Gaiji. However, upon discovering Taka's relationship with Shuzen, Naosuke promptly ended his ties with her.
The first film produced by Daiei.
Watanabe Kazuma and Kawai Matagorō from the Bizen Okayama Ikeda clan were close friends, but they inevitably became enemies after Matagorō killed Kazuma's younger brother, Gentayū, and fled. Seeking assistance, Kazuma asked his brother-in-law, Araki Mataemon, for help, but Mataemon refused, saying that it was against the code for a brother to avenge another brother's death. On the other hand, the lord of the clan, Ikeda Tadao, ordered a search for Matagorō, who was found to be sheltered by the Hatamoto, including Andō Jiemon, in Edo. Tadao was furious but unable to act. Matagorō, in Edo, came to regret his birth as a samurai. He met and fell in love with Okō, a bathhouse maid. As the discord between the Hatamoto and the Ikeda clan deepened, Tadao died of illness. Seizing the opportunity to ease the conflict, the shogunate ordered the Ikeda clan to be succeeded by the young lord Katsugorō and to relocate to the Ikeda clan of Inshū Tottori. Meanwhile, Matagorō was exiled from Edo.
The sequel to Daibosatsu tôge (1960) and the second of the trilogy follows the adventures of Ryunosuke Tsukue after he is blinded.
One night in Edo, a mysterious woman in a palanquin appeared at the moneylender Yamashiroya, revealing herself to a beautiful woman. She told the owner, Shigebē, that she had come to collect a life he owed from twenty years ago and then left. The same night, Maruiya Genbē also received a visit from the woman's palanquin, and nearby, a man named Manbē was murdered. The detective Hayanawa Gohē concluded the murder was the work of a fox spirit, but another detective, Den Shichi, skeptical of this theory, noticed footprints on the tatami and decided to investigate further.
An early fantasy film starring Tomisaburô Wakayama.
Lord Mito Mitsukuni, the vice-shogun of the whole country, left the family estate and went on a trip to various provinces with his students Sukesaburo Sasaki and Kakunoshin Atsumi. At an inn in Sunagawa, Mitsukuni exposed and punished an evil judge who had fallen in love with a townsman's wife. However, on the night he stayed at Nihonmatsu Castle, Mitsukuni found out that this incident was a performance organized especially for him…
First part of the famous Dai-bosatsu toge trilogy, based on Kaizan Nakazato’s unfinished long series of novels (41 books, written from 1913 to 1941). Set in the last period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Daibosatsu Toge tells the story of Tsuke Ryunosuke, a nihilistic swordmaster who doesnt hesitate to kill anyone, bad or good. Despite the authors explicit refusal, the series were later made into plays and movies several times.
Utaji heard that her ex-lover Seijirou would get married to Ochiyo a daughter of Ise-ya. She murdered Ochiyo and took over the Ise-ya's shop with Hikoroku a head clerk of Ise-ya. Moreover Utaji killed Hikoroku. But...
A bold and cheerful tale that broke new ground in the historical drama genre.
Fifth film in the 'Travels of Lord Mito' franchise.
A thrilling period drama featuring Kondo Umon’s detective exploits.
When a corrupt magistrate rapes Oshima, Masa (Raizō Ichikawa) avenges her by killing the officer, becoming thereby a fugitive, haunted and grief-stricken by the fact that Oshima committed suicide. Going underground in the gambling world, perpetually hiding from the law, Masa eventually meets a young woman named Onaka, who looks exactly like Oshima. Tales having two look-alike heroines are a commonplace in Japanese period films, a plot affectation inherited from the kabuki theater. Based on a novel by Shin Hasegawa, Nakayama shichiri was already twice filmed in 1930, one version directed by Namio Ochiai, and from which less than 40 minutes survive, the other directed by Kyotaro Namiki. Both are silent films, preserved by the Makino film institute.
Who is Shinzo, the man who captivates both men and women…? Official lanterns flutter chaotically through the Great Edo of love and intrigue… A thrilling period crime drama featuring the Demon Magistrate.
Film directed by Tadashi Ashihara
A ronin sets out on a journey with his horse, with no particular destination in mind. Re-released in 1953.
Sentaro (Raizo Ichikawa) from Ipponmatsu sets out to commit evil and gain dignity, but his good-natured nature does not allow him to do anything bad. Along the way, Sentaro saves a young woman named Okimi (Yuko Miki) from a bad womanizer and meets a Yakuza named Katsugoro (Yoshie Mizutani). He then visits Katsugoro boss Kanjiro Inariyama (Ganjiro Nakamura II) to train to be a yakuza, but to his surprise discovers that Katsugoro is Kanjiro's only daughter, Okatsu. He also finds out that the young yakuza working in Kanjiro's house is his younger brother Hanji (Yukio Hashi). Then the Shigezo family, who had been annoying Kanjiro for a long time, set fire to his gambling hall!
Silent Japanese film.
A state-sponsored film centered on Shinsaku Takasugi’s theories on coastal defense.
Filmed on location in the Mongolian plains.
Shogi, a Japanese form of chess, is a game that requires skill and determination. When poor sandal-maker Sakata decides to pursue his dream of becoming the Shogi Grand Master Champion, everything is at stake – including his family. What will it cost for Sakata to follow his passion?
In the early Edo period, among the pirate ships that roamed the seas near Ryukyu and Korea, there was a ship called the Sueyoshi, led by a man known as Misaki Shogoro, who was infamous for his devilish cruelty. Shogoro had a rule: he would kill all the men from the ships he raided, while the women would be distributed among the crew for their pleasure. However, he himself never touched any woman. Aboard the ship was a young girl named Kogane, who had been raised on the ship since she was a child and dressed as a boy. Unbeknownst to others, she had grown to secretly adore Shogoro.
Set against the backdrop of the Great Fire of Edo, this story depicts the conflict between the town fire brigades and the daimyo’s fire brigades.
The second film in the 1953 trilogy based on the long novel series The Great Bodhisattva Pass.
Miyamoto Musashi is challenged by a series of opponents in this follow up to Miyamoto Musashi's Kongoin Ketto (1942, also called Nitoryu Kaigen) also directed by Ito Daisuke.
During the reign of Shogun Hidetada, both Hirate Musashi and Okamoto Musashi strive to become the finest swordsman in the land by defeating the Yagyu clan's top instructors and then taking on Sasaki Kojiro!
A murder case tied to a missing love letter… Heiji heads west along the Tōkaidō in pursuit of thirteen suspicious individuals.
A Japanese silent film
Film about Ghost-Cat.
The head of Oshu, Harumichi Honma, was ordered by the boat bugyo (Commissioner of the board) Tajima Kuze to extract five gold coins to the Shogun family in Edo, and put it into Ryujin Maru. However, Tajima, who was the chief retainer of the shogunate, said that he was a member of the board, tetsugoro Funabashi, kumiyumi no Kami ichibei, and his son, masakichi, and others, and in the middle of the night, he killed all the members with poison in the night of the storm, threw Masayoshi, who was a fellow of the city, and masakichi, who escaped from the death of poison, into the sea and sank the boat to eliminate evidence.
Drama about a famous one-eyed, one-armed samurai swordsman of the middle of the Tokugawa period by the name of Tange Sazen. By chance, Tange gets an old pot in which the secret of the treasure of 1000000 ryos of gold is hidden. However, a bunch of different people hunt for the pot and Tange will have to apply his phenomenal fencing skills with the sword.
In Marugame Domain of Shikoku, a low-ranking foot soldier named Tagami Genbachi was envied for marrying Tsuji, the most beautiful woman in the domain. However, due to a personal grudge held by Horikawa Gentazaemon, the swordsmanship instructor, Genbachi met an untimely and bitter death through foul means within the precincts of the Hachiman Shrine. Due to the domain's oppressive treatment of those of low status, Tsuji, now with her infant son Botaro, was dispossessed of her home and exiled.
A lowly drunken samurai finds an abandoned baby in the woods and takes it home. A gift from a fox. But there's something special about the boy.
Jidaigeki by Tai Kato
In the town of Izu known for its hot springs, Den Shichi from Kuromon Town sets off for a healing trip with his companion, a bamboo craftsman with a nose like a lion's snout, at a time when the town is under a tight security network due to a nearby gunpowder depot explosion. Staying at Tsuruya, Den Shichi and his group are investigated by officials whose behavior seems somewhat odd. That night, a man looking like a craftsman is murdered, and gunpowder residue is found at the scene, prompting Den Shichi to suspect that something is amiss.
Adaptation of the novel by Osaragi Jirō. Again scripted by the legendary Yamanaka Sadao
Adaptation of the novel by Osaragi Jirō.
In the eleventh year of the Tenpō era, the Kawarazaki-za theater in Edo buzzed with excitement for a new production of "Kanjinchō" by Naritaya, featuring music by the master Kineya Rokusaburō. However, Naritaya's requests to change some of Rokusaburō's most painstakingly crafted parts of the composition angered his disciple, Shinjirō, leading to a conflict and Shinjirō's abandonment of the shamisen. One day, Shinjirō was captivated by the mysteriously beautiful dance of Oaki, a traveling performer's daughter, who seemed to be channeling her art into a form of revenge.
A yakuza bodyguard is persuaded by Ōhara Yūgaku to take the farmers’ side.
1947 Japanese movie
1945 Japanese movie
1962 Japanese movie
A traveling gambler becomes duty-bound to the wife and child of the yakuza he had slain and desires to leave the criminal life for good. However, with no other skills but his sword, he is forced to hire himself out in the midst of a gang war.
film directed by Tai Katô
O-Kiyo (Mitsuko Mito), who had escaped from her boss, Shoden, who controlled the Sensoji Temple district, was desperately contemplating suicide when she was rescued by ronin Kojuro Tozawa (Kazuo Hasegawa), who hid her in a dilapidated apartment building. The Shoden clan desperately searched for O-Kiyo, but Kojuro found a huge sum of 50 ryo and ransomed O-Kiyo. Unable to accept this outcome, the enraged Shoden clan attempted to win the favor of constable Jinnosuke Nakayama (Kusuo Abe), seeking to demolish the dilapidated building and transform the area into a pleasure district. However, Kojuro thwarted their plans, bringing joy to the poor residents of the building. After demonstrating his remarkable skills, Kojiro revealed his true identity - he was a prominent hatamoto.
