Known for
8.0In 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's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Ugetsu
1953
7.1Ogami Itto volunteers to be tortured by Yakuza in order to save a prostitute and is hired by their leader to kill an evil chamberlain.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades
1972
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Wearing a Long-Sleeved Kimono
1958
7.8When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.
Chikamatsu Monogatari
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zenigata Heiji torimono hikae: Onibi tōrō
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Nagareboshi jūjiuchi
1958
Film credits
1970s · 2 titles
7.1Ogami Itto volunteers to be tortured by Yakuza in order to save a prostitute and is hired by their leader to kill an evil chamberlain.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades
1972
7.0Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. He is befriended by Omiyo, who had the same wet-nurse as Zatoichi. He also encounters a boyhood friend, Shinbei, who is now wealthy and appears not to remember Zatoichi. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers' debts, but is, in reality, manipulating the ownership of a now valuable rock quarry. Zatoichi learns of the subterfuge and confronts his old friend, who has a score of yakuza swordsmen backing his play.
Zatoichi's Conspiracy
1973
1960s · 14 titles
6.7When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free.
Zatoichi the Outlaw
1967
6.4Warlord Oda Nobunaga seeks to unite a fractured Japan. A young man trained in the arts of ninjitsu is manipulated by a ninja master into attempting to assassinate the warlord before he completes his task.
Ninja, A Band of Assassins
1962
6.6In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.
An Actor's Revenge
1963
6.2A decapitation at the hands of the shogun's monstrous misbegotten son kicks off the action and draws nomadic Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) into more sword-fighting adventures when he's blamed for the beheading. Meanwhile, the head-chopper's mother is busy knocking off the shogun's lawful heirs to secure the shogunate for her son.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 3: Full Circle Killing
1964
10.0An 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.
Buddha
1961
6.9[Period covered: 1582-1594]. As the film opens, the warlod Nobunaga Oda rides to Iga Ayanokuni shrine. He is asked if he thinks he has destroyed all the ninja who opposed him and answers that he suspects that there may be more. A servant brings water and tests it first. The paige dies and we hear gunshots as two ninja flee the scene. His suspicions confirmed, Nobunaga oversees the execution of captured ninja and decides that, in the future, he needs a much crueler method of execution. The daimyo Hideyoshi comes to visit.
Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance
1963
5.6Fascinated with women from an early age, Yonosuke had his first sexual encounter at the age of seven. From that day on, he recklessly and forwardly pursues women, feeding his fascination and experience. As Yonosuke's salacious behavior brings much cause for shame to the family, his father eventually breaks relations with him. Expelled from the family, 19-year-old Yonosuke embarks on a pilgrimage of lust, traveling far and wide to acquaint himself with women of all walks.
A Lustful Man
1961
6.8In Edo-period Japan, Shingo is born the son of an assassin who was executed for murdering her lord’s concubine. Decades later, his adoptive family is massacred for keeping the secret. Armed with an unbeatable swordfighting technique, Shingo embarks on the path of the masterless samurai in search of vengeance and a path beyond his own ignominious origins.
Destiny's Son
1962
7.3The first film in the 2 part series about Ryuzen, a renegade martial-arts priest who, in addition to breaking all the commandments against sex and gambling, opens his own gambling den in direct defiance of the local yakuza boss. Exciting action and a twisty plot this movie breaks new barriers in Japanese cinema. Katsu Shintaro is superb in one of his better non-Zato Ichi roles as he fights off the advances of a love-lorn woman and risks his life to defeat the powerful gambling boss who has a stranglehold on the town.
The Hoodlum Priest
1967
6.3Fifth film in the series. When Kyoshiro, in a moment of weakness, saves the life of a woman being attacked on the road, he quickly finds himself entangled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt chamberlain, a wily merchant, the survivors of a pirate gang, and a missing treasure trove.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 5: Sword of Fire
1965
7.2In the mountain regions of Hida, the dreams of a peasant named Kyonosuke, who longed to be a samurai, come true when he becomes one of three doubles, of shadows, of Lord Yasutaka. After months of intense and cruel training, he faces his destiny when the Lord and the other two shadows are killed in battle and he must take on the role of Lord Yasutaka....
The Third Shadow Warrior
1963
6.3Sentaro is been severely beaten for his defiance of the government and the high taxes during a time of famine. He is befriended by Kada Gentaro, a leader in the Mito Tengu group, which plans to overthrow the shogunate.
Blood End
1969
NR1962 Japanese movie
Sabakareru Echizen no kami
1962
5.9The Fencing Master tells the story of a man trying to survive as the only world he knows is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Danpei Ichikawa lives for swordfighting – he was once a renowned kabuki swordfight choreographer, and as the Chairman of the New National Theatre Company, he wants nothing more than to choreograph the swordfights for the modern plays put on by the company.
The Fencing Master
1962
1950s · 39 titles
8.0In 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's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Ugetsu
1953
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Wearing a Long-Sleeved Kimono
1958
7.8When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.
Chikamatsu Monogatari
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zenigata Heiji torimono hikae: Onibi tōrō
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Nagareboshi jūjiuchi
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Fūraibō ichiban shōbu
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Yōkina nakama
1958
7.1Japan, 1159. Moritō, a brave samurai, performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Kesa during a violent uprising. Moritō falls in love with her, but becomes distraught when he finds out that she is married.
Gate of Hell
1953
No synopsis available yet.
Ōtotsu gankutsuō
1957
No synopsis available yet.
Okesa karasu
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Haha ningyō
1951
NRA young judoka investigates the mysterious death of his best friend.
Kuro obi arashi
1953
NRA passionate young man takes on a corrupt boss, determined to save innocent teachers and numerous orphans.
The Rust Cleaner Sings
1955
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Tōkaidō no yarōdomo
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Hana no nagadosu
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Akōgishi
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Date sōdō: Haha goten
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Midori no hate ni te o furu tenshi
1951
7.4Legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho and his 28 henchmen travel the unruly path from a 'Fire Festival' in Akiba to a decisive battle by the Fujigawa.
Jirocho Fuji
1959
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Akutarō uridasu
1955
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Mangorō Tengu
1957
NRThe sword of the chivalrous warrior is drawn amid the struggle for a legendary sword and a plot to assassinate a young princess.
Duel at Omagatsuji
1951
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Tenka o nerau bishōnen
1955
7.7A woman loses her son through an evil conspiracy and commits suicide. Shortly afterwards a ghost cat begins haunting the conspirators. This is Takako Irie's first bakeneko (ghost cat) movie; it started a Daiei cycle which was very popular at the time in Japan.
Ghost of Saga Mansion
1953
NRA murder case tied to a missing love letter… Heiji heads west along the Tōkaidō in pursuit of thirteen suspicious individuals.
Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Koibumi dōchū
1951
NRA mysterious Komusō monk suddenly appears to stand up to the yakuza who are tormenting innocent townspeople.
Komusō yashiki
1950
NRA comedic retelling of the legendary encounter between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamato Musashi.
Coward at Ganryu Island
1952
NRA girl from a tenement house was abducted in broad daylight, right in the heart of Edo.
Jigoku taiko
1953
NRNo synopsis available yet.
A Gambler as I Am
1959
7.0Story of a Beloved Wife is an autobiographical work based on Shindo's first marriage. Jūkichi Uno stars as a struggling screenwriter, and Nobuko Otowa stars as the wife who supports him through his early struggles.
Story of a Beloved Wife
1951
10.0No synopsis available yet.
Judge of the Ashuras
1951
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Jigoku no mon
1952
A tale of melancholy centered on a couple of engineers at a power plant in the north and a pure romance with a female engineer.
Avalanche
1952
No synopsis available yet.
Kettō gofun mae
1953
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Ninjutsu senshuken jiai
1956
NRSet against the backdrop of Hiroshima, a city plagued by gun violence, a passionate newspaper reporter and the citizens band together to courageously confront the tyranny of two major organized crime syndicates.
City of Violence
1953
NRA handsome man and a beautiful woman who seek to restore the Toyotomi clan by taking in the orphaned Princess Tsuru.
Furisode kyōjo
1952
NRWho 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.
Senryō hada
1950
NRA yakuza returning from an island journey takes a stranger’s young child under his wing as he travels, gives up the woman he loves to his brother-in-arms, kills a corrupt gang boss in the name of justice and turns himself in.
Snowy Night Duel
1954
1940s · 5 titles
No synopsis available yet.
Onna goroshi abura jigoku
1949
NRA spearman who had long admired the samurai rises up after learning of cruelty of the samurai class.
Yari-odori gojūsantsugi
1946
Taeko Yasuhara was spectacularly betrayed by Takada, the man she loved and trusted. She had no idea that Takada was a drug-dealing robber who had been striking fear into the Hanshin area at the time. From that moment on, Taeko was cast into the depths of a tragic fate. When Takada was arrested, articles from various newspapers, all focusing on Taeko, were read by the public, driven by interest and curiosity simply because she was a woman, plunging Taeko even deeper into suffering.
My Name Is Mistress
1949
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Kunisada Chūji
1946
NRSet 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.
Guren bosatsu
1949
