Topic: Feudal Japan

Direction Masaki Kobayashi

Cast Tatsuya Nakadai · Rentarô Mikuni · Akira Ishihama · Shima Iwashita

Synopsis Harakiri (1962) follows Tsugumo Hanshirō, a destitute rōnin, who arrives at the estate of the Iyi clan requesting to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) in their courtyard. As the clan prepares for the ceremony, they recount a similar incident involving another...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Takashi Shimura · Yoshio Inaba · Seiji Miyaguchi

Synopsis In Seven Samurai (1954), a small farming village in 16th-century Japan is repeatedly raided by bandits. Desperate for protection, the villagers hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to defend them. Each samurai brings unique skills and personalities, forming a reluctant bond...

Direction Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Yoshiaki Hanayaki · Kyôko Kagawa · Eitarô Shindô

Synopsis In Sansho the Bailiff (1954), a compassionate governor is exiled, leaving his family—wife Tamaki, son Zushio, and daughter Anju—to fend for themselves. Separated by slavers, the children are sold to the ruthless Sansho, who forces them into brutal servitude. Years...

Direction Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast Machiko Kyô · Mitsuko Mito · Kinuyo Tanaka · Masayuki Mori

Synopsis Tales of Ugetsu (1953) is a hauntingly beautiful Japanese film set during the chaos of civil war. It follows two ambitious men—a potter seeking wealth and a farmer dreaming of becoming a samurai—whose desires lead them away from their families...

Direction Masaki Kobayashi

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Yôko Tsukasa · Go Kato · Tatsuya Nakadai

Synopsis In 1725, during a peaceful period in Japan, Isaburo, a veteran samurai, lives placidly with his wife and his son. One day, his honor and moral principles will be at odds with his clan's. The conflict is inevitable and it...

Direction Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast Kazuo Hasegawa · Kyôko Kagawa · Yôko Minamida · Eitarô Shindô

Synopsis Set in 17th century Kyoto, Osan is married to Ishun, a wealthy miserly scroll-maker. When Osan is falsely accused of having an affair with the Ishun’s most trusted servant, Mohei, the two flee away. While on the run, Osan and...

Direction Amber Noizumi · Earl A. Hibbert · Ryan O'Loughlin · Michael Green

Cast Maya Erskine · Masi Oka · Darren Barnet · Brenda Song

Synopsis A mixed-race master of the sword lives a life in disguise while seeking revenge in Edo-period Japan.

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Tatsuya Nakadai · Akira Terao · Jinpachi Nezu · Pîtâ

Synopsis In Ran (1985), an aging warlord decides to divide his kingdom among his three sons, hoping for a peaceful transition. However, his decision ignites a brutal power struggle, fueled by betrayal, ambition, and vengeance. As alliances shift and chaos erupts,...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Isuzu Yamada · Takashi Shimura · Akira Kubo

Synopsis In Throne of Blood (1957), a samurai and his ambitious wife navigate a web of prophecy, betrayal, and supernatural forces after a forest spirit foretells their rise to power. Set in feudal Japan, the film reimagines Shakespeare's *Macbeth* with striking...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Tatsuya Nakadai · Yôko Tsukasa · Isuzu Yamada

Synopsis Yojimbo (1961) follows a wandering ronin, or masterless samurai, who arrives in a small, desolate town torn apart by two rival criminal gangs. Seeing an opportunity to rid the town of its corruption, the clever and resourceful samurai manipulates both...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Machiko Kyô · Masayuki Mori · Takashi Shimura

Synopsis In Rashomon (1950), a haunting tale unfolds as a crime is recounted through multiple, conflicting perspectives. Set in 12th-century Japan, the story begins with a woodcutter, a priest, and a commoner seeking shelter from a storm at the Rashomon gate....

Direction Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast Kinuyo Tanaka · Tsukie Matsuura · Ichiro Sugai · Toshirô Mifune

Synopsis It tells the story of Oharu, a 50-year-old woman who suffers the strict conventions of 17th century Feudal Japan. She becomes the lover of a man, but when they are discovered, Oharu and her family are obliged to live in...

Direction Kazuhiro Furuhashi

Synopsis Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence (1999) is a poignant prequel to the main series, delving into the tragic past of the wandering swordsman, Kenshin Himura. Set during the turbulent Bakumatsu era, it follows his early years as the feared assassin "Battōsai" and...

Direction Shin'ichirō Watanabe

Synopsis TV Series (2004-2005). 1 season. 26 episodes. Mugen's a buck wild warrior: violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin: mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong. These two fiercely independent warriors couldn't be more different from one another, yet...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Tatsuya Nakadai · Tsutomu Yamazaki · Kenichi Hagiwara · Daisuke Ryû

Synopsis In Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior (1980), directed by Akira Kurosawa, a petty thief is spared execution due to his uncanny resemblance to a dying warlord. Recruited as a double, or "kagemusha," he must impersonate the powerful leader to maintain the...

Direction Akira Kurosawa

Cast Toshirô Mifune · Tatsuya Nakadai · Keiju Kobayashi · Yûzô Kayama

Synopsis In Japan circa Eighteenth Century, nine young men decide to present an accusation of corruption in their clan to the local superintendent. However, the group is betrayed, but the ronin Sanjûrô Tsubaki (Toshirô Mifune) saves them from the superintendent's men....

Direction Kaneto Shindô

Cast Nobuko Otowa · Jitsuko Yoshimura · Kei Sato · Taiji Tonoyama

Synopsis After enlisting as a volunteer in a war in 14th century Japan, his wife and mother remain living in a swamp. They eke out their living by ambushing worn-out warriors, killing them and selling their belongings to a greedy merchant....

Direction Kazuhiro Furuhashi · Kaeko Sakamoto · Hiroshi Morioka · Yûji Mitsuya

Synopsis Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai (TV Series) (1996) follows Himura Kenshin, a former assassin turned wandering swordsman, during Japan's Meiji era. Vowing never to kill again, he wields a reverse-blade sword to protect the innocent. Settling in Tokyo, he befriends Kaoru,...

Direction Justin Marks · Rachel Kondo · Fred Toye · Charlotte Brändström

Cast Cosmo Jarvis · Hiroyuki Sanada · Anna Sawai · Tadanobu Asano

Synopsis In Shogun (2024), a bold English navigator shipwrecks in feudal Japan, plunging into a world of political intrigue and cultural clash. As warlords vie for power, he becomes entangled with a cunning daimyo and his mysterious translator. Loyalties blur amid...

Direction Yôji Yamada

Cast Hiroyuki Sanada · Rie Miyazawa · Nenji Kobayashi · Min Tanaka

Synopsis 19th century Japan. Seibei, a just-widowed samurai, struggles to care for his senile mother and two young daughters. He holds back from a possible remarriage, self-conscious about his poverty. When ordered to kill a skilled rebel swordsman, he can't evade...