Films Set in Feudal Japan
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- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiYoshizaburo ArashiUtaemon IchikawaThe legendary Forty-seven ronin plot to avenge the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by killing Kira Yoshinaka, a shogunate official responsible for Asano being forced to commit seppuku.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsAndrew GarfieldAdam DriverLiam NeesonIn the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira IshihamaShima IwashitaWhen a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
- DirectorJerry LondonStarsRichard ChamberlainToshirô MifuneYôko ShimadaAn English navigator becomes both pawn and player in the deadly political games in feudal Japan.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsKikunosuke OnoeHitomi KurokiMao InoueJapan, 250 years ago. Soetsu is a moneylender who is killed by the cruel samurai Shinzaemon. His body is dumped in the Kasenega-Fuchi river. According to legend, all who drown in the river will never surface again. 20 Years later, Shinkichi, the handsome son of Shinzaemon, coincidentally meets Toyoshiga, the daughter of Soetsu. They fall in love. It is a doomed love, as the spirit of Soetsu is far from dead.
- DirectorTadashi ImaiStarsKinnosuke NakamuraTetsurô TanbaYoshiko MitaAfter killing a high-ranking officer in an illegal duel, a low-ranking samurai is declared insane and challenged to a fixed duel by the vengeful clan to which his dead opponent belonged to.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTatsuya NakadaiKeiju KobayashiA crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMinoru ChiakiIsuzu YamadaA war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoTadanobu AsanoYui NatsukawaThe blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.
- DirectorShintarô KatsuStarsShintarô KatsuKanako HiguchiTakanori JinnaiOlder, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsToshirô MifuneShintarô KatsuAyako WakaoZatoichi tries to unrest the mob rule over a small village all while the gang leader's bodyguard is actually the Yojimbo, secretly taking the gang down from the inside. Will the two heroes realize in time that they are on the same side?
- DirectorEiichi KudôStarsIsao NatsuyagiKôtarô SatomiKôji NanbaraThe lord of the Oshi fief is killed by his trespassing neighbor, Nariatsu. But when the Oshi clan is blamed for the incident, eleven of their best warriors decide to trade their lives for justice.
- DirectorEiichi KudôStarsTakayuki AkutagawaKôtarô SatomiChôichirô KawarasakiA Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsIsao NatsuyagiRyôhei UchidaJunko MiyazonoA charismatic ronin gets snared into a conflict between officials at a waystation, and gains the enmity of a group of thugs.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTetsurô TanbaYôko TsukasaA guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsShintarô KatsuMasayo BanriRyûzô ShimadaThe adventures of a blind, gambling masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaYûzô KayamaThrough his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
- DirectorToshiya FujitaStarsMeiko KajiToshio KurosawaMasaaki DaimonA strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
- DirectorEiichi KudôStarsRyûtarô ÔtomoMinoru ÔkiHizuru TakachihoThis is a classic early Japanese Ninja movie. The Iga ninjas are a dying breed as Toyotomis rule allows Japan to experience some peace. Juzo, an Iga ninja who had vowed revenge for the death of his family, is hired by a rich weapons merchant to assassinate Toyotomi, restarting his quest for blood. In his way are rival ninja, and his once best friend who has decided to become a government vassal. The main plot centers around the conflicts that confront Juzo. The largest of these is the conflict between Juzo and his oldest friend, Gohei. Then there is the conflict each of these characters has with their respective women, whom are also Ninja in their own right. Finally Juzo is faced with the ultimate conflict between duty and happiness. Can he complete his mission of assassinating Toyotomi? Or will he choose a life of happiness and fulfillment with his woman? There was a remake of this classic in 1999 entitled Owl's Castle, but for people that have seen both versions, this first version, Castle of Owls, stands as the penultimate adaptation of the classic Ryotaro Shiba novel "Ninja hicho fukuro no shiro".
- DirectorTomu UchidaStarsUshio AkashiNoriko AobaHideo Ayuba
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira IshihamaShima IwashitaWhen a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
- DirectorEiichi KudôStarsTakayuki AkutagawaKôtarô SatomiChôichirô KawarasakiA Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsJun'ichi OkadaKoji YakushoKasumi ArimuraA depiction of Japan's 17th Century Battle of Sekigahara where the Army of the East takes up arms against the Army of the West.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaJitsuko YoshimuraKei SatôTwo women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.