Masao Katô

The second film in the 1953 trilogy based on the long novel series The Great Bodhisattva Pass.

Tragicomic road movie set during the Edo period. It follows a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.

During a time of war, Lord Ogata is betrayed by two of his closest vassals and killed by his enemy, Sarashina Danjo. Ten years later, Lord Ogata's only living heir, now a skilled ninja, uses sorcery to avenge the murders of his parents.

A reimagination of the myth of Himiko, focused on her divine role as a sun goddess's oracle and her forbidden love for her half-brother Takehiko, which threatens her power and the kingdom's stability.