
Known for
8.0A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Professional Killers
1972
8.0Monjiro was born into a poor farm family in Mikazuki Village, Nitta County, Ueshu, and abandoned his hometown when he was 10 years old. He has been traveling aimlessly with a long toothpick in his mouth. Monjiro avoided getting involved in anything, but wherever he went, he ended up getting involved in incidents
Kogarashi Monjiro
1972
NRChiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.
Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura
1970
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Essay on Conflict
1959
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
6.9After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
Zatoichi the Fugitive
1963
Film credits
1970s · 6 titles
6.8Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
1971
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
6.2Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. His first adventure sees him investigating his superior officer's mistress, whom he suspects of having ties with a reputed criminal on the loose.
Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice
1972
6.8Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
1970
6.8The blind masseuse is targeted by the leader of a powerful yakuza group while also fending off a jealous husband bent on revenge. Zatoichi tours Edo's underground via a rousing onsen fight scene, gambling houses and the gender-bending character of Umeji, before a final, flame-filled conflagration.
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival
1970
7.4Official Shogunate executioner Ogami Itto has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
1972
1960s · 29 titles
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
6.9After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
Zatoichi the Fugitive
1963
7.1Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.
The Tale of Zatoichi Continues
1962
6.3Hanpei is a gentle young samurai that loves flowers. One day, he witnesses an old man's quick draw of the sword. He is so impressed that he becomes the old man's pupil. Soon, Hanpei's skill of sword comes to attention of his lord. The lord orders him to assassinate a man...
Sword Devil
1965
10.0In the fourth film of series, Secret Assignment, Raizo again plays the Jiro Shiina. This time he's out to discover who is spying for the British in the Foreign Ministry, under the code name “Cat's Eye”.
Secret Assignment
1967
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
7.3The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
The Tale of Zatoichi
1962
6.8Two devious retainers are competing to take control of a fief when the current Lord dies, but involving Kyoshiro in the conflict against his will is the textbook example of a bad idea - especially when the collateral damage starts to tick him off.
Sleepy Eyes of Death 10: Hell Is a Woman
1968
6.2The tyrannical Lord Danjo Mikoshiba covets the rich, fertile lands surrounding Lake Yakumo. During a memorial ceremony for the late Chigusa lord, Mikoshiba launches an attack, overthrowing the honorable Lord Juro. Just when all seems lost, Daimajin rises from Lake Yakumo to settle a score of his own.
Return of Giant Majin
1966
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
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
7.0In late 1940 the Japanese were anxious to conclude peace in China and to that end sent Colonel Hidaka to inaugurate negotiations. He was mysteriously assassinated, however, when his car was blown up. The General Staff Headquarters in Japan, sends Lieutenant Shiina, a graduate of the famed Nakano School of Spies inaugurated by Colonel Kusanagi, to investigate the matter. Arriving in Shanghai, he disguises himself as a Chinese coolie and sets out to watch for developments, the only clue being a silver dollar found beside what was left of the victim.
Assignment Dragon No. 3
1967
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
Ame no Kudan-zaka
1962
6.9This is the story of a blind masseur who tricks people, steals, and kills; he is the anti-Zatoichi.
The Blind Menace
1960
NR1962 Japanese movie
Sabakareru Echizen no kami
1962
6.6The Dai-bosatsu toge trilogy is 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 Ryunosuke Tsukue, a nihilistic swordmaster who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone, bad or good.
Satan's Sword
1960
4.3As a child, Okin the one-armed one-eyed swordswoman was disfigured by Lord Daizen-dayu, who was after her family's most treasured possession, the famed Drenched Swallow sword. As an adult, she has become a skilled swordswoman and lives a carefree life with her adopted family. One day, Okin saves a girl from a group of yakuza, and in doing so, gets involved in a grand conspiracy involving religious leaders, government officials, the yakuza and Lord Daizen-dayu, the man who killed her father and mutilated her body...
Lefty Fencer
1969
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
5.8A fugitive christian "saint" (female, of course!) and a sadistic drug-addled princess both have their eye on Kyoshiro. The fact that a bunch of ruthless smugglers also want him dead is the least of his problems!
Sleepy Eyes of Death 4: Sword of Seduction
1964
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Otemoyan
1961
6.9A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.
A Certain Killer
1967
5.9Daiei Film Company's three biggest stars shine in this exciting story about Vice-Shogun Mito Komon's journey to the land of the Ainu. As the shogun's uncle, Lord Mito traveled about the nation seeking to make sure that corruption and injustice did not go unpunished. Traveling together with his two faithful bodyguards Kaku and Suke, they board ship for a voyage to the far northern island of Ezo (modern day Hokkaido) where the indigenous people called "Ainu" live. Somewhat like American Indians, the Ainu had their own culture which had not been subjugated by the Matsumae clan, rulers of the vast island. A revolt is brewing within the leadership of the Ainu, which threatens to destroy their peaceful lives. The elder lord and his retinue are the only ones who can stop this reign of terror!
Mito Komon’s Journey to Ezo
1961
8.3Ichikawa Raizo’s last film. He plays a Yakuza enforcer who kills a man on his boss's orders. He’s then sent to a provincial town to lie low, only to be caught in another war orchestrated by his original boss who has set him up.
Sworn Brothers
1969
NR1962 Japanese movie
Teppo Yasu no Shogai
1962
8.0The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the vile Lord Kira.
Broken Swords
1969
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Long Swords of the Loyal Forty-Seven
1962
7.0Japan, 1643, as the Kato clan of Aizu falls from power two brave samurai will settle a dispute in the time-honored tradition of their clan, by drawing their blades in a duel to the death.
Scars of Honor
1960
6.7During Japan's Warring States period three young Tokugawa vassals head their separate ways after Takeda Shingen's forces overran their castle. When they next meet they have all joined opposing sides.
Three Young Samurai
1961
1950s · 24 titles
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Essay on Conflict
1959
NRA true-story film depicting a police officer’s pursuit of a criminal who carries out a series of attacks on pawnshops and banks, running amok with a handgun stolen from a police officer.
Nerawareta doyōbi
1957
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Senryō yari
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zenigata Heiji torimono hikae: hachi-nin no hanayome
1958
No synopsis available yet.
Zoku tenshi mo otoshi goro
1956
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Tenryū no karasu
1959
NRA heartwarming comedy about Osaka’s slowest taxi driver who searches all over the city for the missing daughter of a former general who has just returned from military service.
Unchan monogatari
1956
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Ninjutsu wakashu: Tenma Kotarō
1957
NRTwo college girls who work part-time as shrine maidens swap their names with private investigators conducting a marriage background check, throwing their boyfriends into total chaos.
Tenshi mo otoshi goro
1956
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Beni azami
1959
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Kuchibue o fuku wataridori
1958
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.
Chi mojisen
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Nezumi Kozō shinobi komi hikae: Ne no koku sanjō
1957
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Nagareboshi jūjiuchi
1958
No synopsis available yet.
Okesa karasu
1958
6.3In one of Japan's most frequently-told ghost stories, a murdered wife returns in an act of vengeance.
The Ghost of Yotsuya
1959
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Akōgishi
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Shiranui zukin
1957
7.1Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological distress.
Conflagration
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Naruto no hanayome
1959
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Mangorō Tengu
1957
7.5Two amiable samurai wind up on opposite sides of the vendetta between Lord Asano's retainers and the family of Lord Kira that led to the famous revenge of the 47 Ronin.
Samurai Vendetta
1959
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Fighting Letter for 29 People
1957
Series credits
8.0A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Professional Killers
1972
8.0Monjiro was born into a poor farm family in Mikazuki Village, Nitta County, Ueshu, and abandoned his hometown when he was 10 years old. He has been traveling aimlessly with a long toothpick in his mouth. Monjiro avoided getting involved in anything, but wherever he went, he ended up getting involved in incidents
Kogarashi Monjiro
1972
NRChiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura is a Japanese period drama that aired on the TBS network from November 2, 1970 to August 30, 1971 in the "Brother Gekijo" slot. It ran for 44 colour episodes of 30 minutes each. Based on Sohachi Yamaoka's novel "Chiba Shusaku", it depicts the youth of Chiba Shusaku, founder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship. A hot-blooded young man who calls himself Shusaku enters the dojo of Asari Matashichiro and, through encounters with all kinds of people, grows rapidly both in swordsmanship and in character. Produced by TBS and Shochiku. Rerun on the Japanese CS channel Jidaigeki Senmon Channel from March 17, 2025.
Chiba Shusaku: Kendo Masshigura
1970

