When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three...

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s...

Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological...

Two 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...

A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.

This 1956 adaptation of the novel with the same title puts more focus on the characters and their interactions than the previous version.

“Dokuro sen” (The Skull Coin) is the first film adaptation of the popular novel by Kikuo Sumita. The story evolves around the seven cursed coins...

In medieval Japan, a woman and his children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years before.

Japan, 1159. Moritō, a brave samurai, performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Kesa during a violent uprising. Moritō falls in love with her,...

The Yagyu Family have been teaching the Shinkage style of fencing for generations. Now a new fencing school has opened in Edo, claiming to be the...

Based on the popular story of the tragic lovers, Onatsu and Seijuro.

From the pen of Yoshikawa Eiji comes this exciting story. The Naruto Strait separates Tokushima from the islands of Awaji and Honshu. On Tokushima...

1716, Yoshimune becomes the 8th Shogun as high Shogunate officials are attacked. While the government tries to keep these incidents under wraps, they...

Young lord Saburo Nobuyasu struggles to find comfort in life. His arranged marriage to Tokuhime, daughter of one-time family enemy Oda Nobunaga,...

An umbrella maker with a shopping addiction finds himself in dire straits when his debts force him to consider selling his attractive, desirable...

Story of a Beloved Wife is an autobiographical work based on Shindo's first marriage. Jūkichi Uno stars as a struggling screenwriter, and Nobuko...

As a result of a superstitious belief that twins bring bad luck to the family, newborn twin princesses are separated. Yukihime, who was sent away to...

The adopted son of an Osaka courier falls in love with a prostitute and, discovering that she is about to be purchased by a client, steals money from...

In the fifth installment, Yagyu Jubei must prove the innocence of his family who is suspected of conspiring to take Shogun's life.

Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned...

A village struggles to survive when the nearby lake becomes barren of fish.

During the war a man is bitten by a creature which looks like a cross between a bear and an ape in the jungle. Later he starts to transform to a...

This Japanese action-adventure is set in the 17th century when all forms of swordplay were banned. One fighter, an excellent swordsman believes the...

Soldiers Hayate and Yaheiji secretly escape from their besieged castle. Hayate has left behind his lover, Kano. On his way, Hayate is wounded and...

In the third installment of Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, things continue from the 2nd film at the end of battle, where Miyamoto continues on a mission...

In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets which, if revealed, would cause revolution and...

It is brother against brother in this tale of love and betrayal within the famed Yagyu clan. In one of their earliest films together, superstars...

After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he recounts his gruesome family history which saw generations of his ancestors suffer and sacrifice...

Legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho and his 28 henchmen travel the unruly path from a 'Fire Festival' in Akiba to a decisive battle by the Fujigawa.

This film tells the story of a ronin's search for his parents, but primarily is a group portrait of life in a Tokugawa-era tenement.

In old Edo, Kakunojo (Chiezo), a dandy about town, falls in love with Oichi (Isuzu Yamada), whose merchant family is much beyond Kakunojo's status....

The film recounts the tragedy of a young outlaw.

There is an inn named Asano Ya in the port town, and a beautiful woman works there. Every year, during a local festival, travelling artists and...

During the raging war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, the swordsman Mohei (whose family has been completely decimated) is recruited by...

The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle...

A sadistic Daimyo (feudal lord) rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring...

In the fourth installment, Musashi's potentially greatest opponent Kojiro jumps in and out of the story at the oddest and most coincidental moments....

In the third, and final chapter of this epic tale, handsome swordsman Genji helps a vulnerable princess who is in search of a missing scroll that...

Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the genius who staked his love, glory, and life on a duel with the supreme master of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi...

Young Sentaro struggles to avenge the murder of his younger sister Osuga and their father.

When the country is in peril, Lord Yagyu Tajima summons his son Yagyu Jubei to retrieve the mystical Yagyu Scroll in order to save all of Japan. This...

The serial killing of a samurai each night by strangulation at various temples confounds investigators and brings a chill to the residents of Edo....

The industrual revolution comes to Japan with the introduction of the railroad system. This led to clashes between boatmen, who livihoods are...

Famous enka singer Saburo Kitajima stars as Katsuji, a traveling craps artist who finds great camaraderie on the road.

Early film directed by Eiichi Kudô.

This is the second installment of the trilogy based on Japan’s greatest novel “The Great Bodhisattva Pass”, following the life and times of...

Hanpei 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...

As winds of change sweep Japan, an honest man joins the Shinsengumi out of admiration for its leader, and because he wants to live and die as a...

Film directed by Kenji Misumi.

An adventurer and two accomplices unexpectedly invite themselves to a sword tournament and are offered a job with the lord who organized the...

Nemuri Kyoshiro discovers a conspiracy centering around a band of disgruntled samurai wanting to avenge the death of their sensei, a political...

During the 1200's, legendary Buddhist monk Nichiren returns from his studies to lead Japan out of moral crisis and prepare to fight Mongol invaders...

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

The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film,...

During the middle of the Kanei Period (1624-1644) Japan was in the early stages of its most peaceful era. This left a large number of unemployed...

This subversive period film features a hotheaded young samurai, Kurodo, who threatens to commit harakiri in response to the humiliation meted out to...

Saburo Kitajima, one of Japan’s most famous Enka singers, returns in the fifth of the Kyodai Jingi series. During the early 20th century, Ryuji...

A Japanese drama featuring the one-eyed, one-armed swordsman

1864. Samurai Shinbei is sent in a secret mission to Ezo, in the North of Japan, to stop riots of villagers commanded by Jirozaemon. A Russian...

Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter...

Lord Oda Nobunaga gains control of nearly all of Japan and tries to enlist the aid of Magoichi and his 3.000 gunners.

The vassals of the Asano clan, who surrendered the castle & became wanderers, deceive the enemy and the public, wait for an opportunity to avenge...

Famed swordsman Araki Mataemon must face his best friend as they are forced to take opposite sides in a vendetta caused by the murder of a family...

During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai....

Date Mosui, a young samurai, one day gets a scolding from a nameless ronin that sets him thinking about what life is all about and his ways of...

In 17th century Japan, Young Lord Masato returns after years abroad to find everything changed: his peace-loving father has died in what he soon...

An early fantasy film starring Tomisaburô Wakayama.

Ito Daisuke's wartime retelling of the Miyamoto Musashi story.

Fifteen years after Ishida Mitsunari lost in the battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu foresees his unavoidable battle with Toyotomi Hideyori and...

Tange Sazen interferes with an evil plot against the Iga Yagyu family.

An actor, hit on the head, dreams that he has become legendary one-eyed gangster Mori no Ishimatsu.

The life, adventures and exploits of warlord Date Masamune the One-eyed Dragon: his early youth as an aggressive warrior, the battles he won until...

This is one of the most powerfully effective ninja films that dispenses with the silly magic of earlier efforts, and concentrates on an excellent...

A coward boy fencer becomes invisible and matchless through a magic pill.

After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their...

A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge...

Chuji and his family become the primary target of gangs in Nikko headed by Hasshu marshal Nakayama and boss Sukegoro Iioka. Chuji is then aided by...

While on the road, famed Yakuza Boss Jirocho is falsely accused of starting a peasant's uprising and chased by the law. Meanwhile, one of his...

Drama about the lives of the five daughters and daughter-in-law of a store owner.

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...

Gonza was a handsome young laborer, a footman and spear-carrier, working hard for his meager wage. All Gonza wanted was to marry his young...

In 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...

Shinjiro is a rambler, a single sword carrying lone wolf with only his fighting skills to protect him. He doesn’t know where his road leads, only...

Detective Hanshichi (Kataoka Chiezo) solves 3 mysterious murder cases. Great story and an impressive all-star cast, a must see!

In Osaka during the Edo period, ruler Sanada Yukimura was in losing position, fearing Toyotomi's blood descendents would end, he impregnates one of...

Tetsu, is a honourable and noble yakuza caught in a conflict between rival clans, and obligations each has toward their yakuza boss and brothers. A...

Three young yakuza, Fujitaro, Matsugoro and Kanjuro, travel the country fighting evil.

A princess in disguise, Oshichi launches an investigation to reveal the truth about the disappearance of young women in Edo.

A story of manly life and the beauty of conjugal love. A story about a man and a woman establishing a family of longshoreman, centering on their love...

In turbulent 16th-century Japan, the leaders of a minor fief have their child taken from them as a political hostage. His mother and his clan endure...

Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a...

Namie's back in trouble, after getting snatched by an evil gang in search of the treasure. Kirimaru sets out to rescue his sweetheart and falls in...

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means...

Special Forces commander Captain Tadamori returns to Kyoto after successfully defeating the uprising of pirates in the western sea of Japan. But...

A kindhearted wandering gambler named Hajiro gets involved in a crisis of a village as he passes through and decides to lend a sword in hopes to...

The shogun's vassal Harima Aoyama and a chamber maid are in love with each other, but they cannot be together due to a difference of their status....

Based on the exploits of real-life historical character Magistrate Toyama no Kinsan, this exciting tale brings the “Demon Magistrate” as he is...

1957 drama from director Kôzaburô Yoshimura

Rikitaro and Osayo are popular entertainers who throw knives. They are sweethearts. At one day They help Ocho, who is a beautiful pickpocket when she...

Third and last movie in the Yakuza Hijoshi trilogy.

Period drama directed by Yasushi Sasaki.

Period drama directed by Yasushi Sasaki.

This gripping historical drama depicts a clash of swordsmen, secret government spies, mysterious thieves, robbers and roving samurai who want to take...

Kamio a mistreated samurai clerk of Edo Castle and ronin (“Sir Quarrel”) Ibara, take up a vendetta against 17 wicked castle men.

Dedication of the Great Buddha is a 1952 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.

A costumed film featuring the famous hero of Japanese history, Isshin Tasuke, arranged in the form of a popular song.

Nezumi Kozō is the nickname of Nakamura Jirokichi, a Japanese thief and folk hero who lived in Edo during the Edo period. His exploits have been...

A 1946 Japanese film directed by Keigo Kimura.

It is a historical drama that follows Katsu Kaishu's efforts to surrender Edo Castle bloodlessly in the first year of the Meiji period.

A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a...

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the...

Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi

1953 Hiroshi Inagaki movie.

In the midst of the depression, two ronin rack their brains to come up with a dishonest scheme. Taking a man from the countryside, they fashion him...

The Domain: Where The Blade Enters

Part of the Bored Hatamoto series. The most popular samurai in Edo, Saotome Mondonosuke, known to most as the "Bored Hatamoto" is the only one who...

Jida-geki by Santaro Marune.

Based on the old tale of Jiraiya, this 1937 version is essentially a revenge story with fantastic visuals.

Martial Arts Encyclopedia

Action and adventure abound in this story of friendship between two rival firefighters, Kichigoro and Jirokichi in old Japan. When Mukai Sadayu, the...

Jidaigeki film, only a fragment remains of the original film.

Lesser, but still modestly entertaining sequel. Wakayama is wonderfully bastardly here, but has to do without Chicago bros. Yamashiro & Watanabe and...

While on his journey through the countryside of Japan, Shingo encounters many people whose lives have been affected by his actions. Though the many...

Matsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy,...

The film depicts the scarring of Yosaburo at the hands of yakuza thugs who catch him with mistress of the gang boss. Despite the physical and...

Set in the late thirteenth century, this film depicts the defense of southern Japan led by the Kono clan against the Mongol invasion in 1281.

The purple hood reveals the embezzlement of public money by officials. A remake of Masahiro Makino's 1923 film.

A gripping historical drama that follows the explosive growth of Katsu Kaishu, the hero of the Meiji era, and the interesting human image of his...

The adventures of Aoi Shingo continue. Shingo is finally given permission to officially meet his father, the Shogun. However, his journey is...

Magistrate Ooka and a samurai fight against evil forces.

Jidai-geki by Nobuo Nakagawa. Most likely a star vehicle for Kanjuro Arashi

Firefighter Sanji learns the secret of his birth.

One of Japanese folklore's most popular characters is brought to life on the silver screen in this terrific version of legendary Demon slaying Peach...

The exciting story of Jirocho and his yakuza gang that controlled the area of the Tokaido during the latter days of the samurai era. Awesome...

Saotome, a sword master and guard of the Shogunate, pursues the mystery of a deadly aerial weapon that is responsible for the multiple deaths in town.

From the late 1500's through the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate many battles were fought as the great warlords vied for power over the nation....

film directed by Tai Katô

The film takes place at the junction of the two eras of Meiji and Taisho. Sakata Sankichi, an uneducated zori sandal maker, becomes a professional...

A dashing edition with fights , love, and laughter, in which the sorrows and joys of the guiltless world are colored by the guiltless travel crow,...

A captivating operetta by Masahiro Makino based on Juppensha Ikku's humorous novel "Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige" starring Chiezo Kataoka and Kyoji Sugi.

This is Kanjûrô Arashi's first film with Nikkatsu after his independent production company went bankrupt (many of these independent companies went...

Taikoki is a legendary biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose to the office of taikō. And the story of this film is about the rise to power of...

The film is set in Kyoto at the end of the Tokugawa period, when there is a fierce clash between the supporters of the Emperor, who are fighting for...

Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He...

Set in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867), this tragic love story takes its cue from a celebrated historical case tried by magistrate Tadasuke...

A classic wartime jidaigeki about the life of the famous samurai and first of the "Great Unifiers" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, with Kataoka Chiezo and...

First film of the The Black Hooded Man series.

Adaptation of the Riichi Yokomitsu novel.

This adaptation of a Hideji Hojo novel, about the historical uprising of the Kuroda clan in 1633, is told through the eyes of retainer, Daizen. As...

Period drama based on the novel by Saisei Murō.

The tale of real-life Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho is told from his earliest beginnings as a gambler on the road as he forms his gang and sets out on...

The third part of the story about feudal boss Jirocho and his underlings.

Gotō Matabei is the most able and fierce samurai of the Kuroda clan. However, he gradually dislikes the ruthless personality of Kuroda Nagamasa and...

As Part I opens, Jubei (Denjiro Okochi), the best of sea skippers, is unable to overcome the stormy seas of Luzon. All hands on board the Kannonmaru...

Early Japanese three-part samurai / fantasy serial.

The film won 1959 Blue Ribbon Awards for best actor Raizo Ichikawa and for best cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa. The film also won 1959 Kinema Junpo...

A small-town boy with a learning disability attempts to fit in with his classmates.

Directed by Mansaku Itami.

1962 Japanese movie

It's fighting fires and swordsmen with a touch of music in this free-for-all of action and excitement combining the talents of Japan's most popular...

Directorioal debut of Santaro Marune

1962 Japanese movie

1960 version of Lion Festival of Echigo

1962 Japanese movie

After settling the matter of shogunal succession, the retired Old Lord of Mito finds himself in a sea of trouble when he gets involved in the...

1962 Japanese movie

The basic story in Love under the Crucifix is about Ogin, daughter of a tea master, who are both Christians in feudal Japan. Ogin falls in love with...

An all-star cast highlights this Jidai-Geki classic. Set in the samurai era, this is the tale of period Yakuza. One of the real classics in this...

1955 Japanese movie

Hiroshi Inagaki's first movie.

A group of bandits flee to the mountains after killing an evil moneylender. Remake of Hiroshi Inagaki's Jigoku no mushi (1938).

A man dies in an automobile accident and returns as a white-haired demon and seeks revenge on his wife and her lover

Ryō Hagiwara movie

Film about Ghost-Cat.

Movie directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda

As the reputation of Sasaki Kojiro, who traveled through various provinces with his long sword seeking duels, began to spread, he was summoned by...

The phantom thief, known as the "Actor Kid", who was creating a stir in the Daimyo's mansion, especially in the inner chambers, was called Inaba...

In the mountainous region of Koshu, Taikahara, there was an intense power struggle between the prominent families, Tamaki and Kakukura. Facing the...

On March 11 in the seventh year of Tenpo (1836), a monk named Bennō, who fell in love with a geisha named Oshima, was publicly exposed at Nihonbashi...

During the tumultuous end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tengu Party rose in rebellion in Mito. Friends from their hometown, Tanaka Genzo and Fujita...

Hatamoto Ooka Gentaro was deeply committed to a future with a beautiful girl named Omachi, a relationship facilitated by his love of the shamisen....

Okazaki Domain samurai Inaba Gotaro accidentally killed a superior while trying to save his beloved geisha, Ko-en. On the run, they were rescued by...

Watanabe Kazuma and Kawai Matagorō from the Bizen Okayama Ikeda clan were close friends, but they inevitably became enemies after Matagorō killed...

Chiba Sōsaku, whose childhood name was Otome, was raised by his father Yukiuemon, the successor of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style, and his wet nurse...

This period film is inspired by one of the most notorious scandals to have taken place in Edo-period Japan. The heroine, Ejima, was a lady of the...

Adaptation of Mito Kōmon.

1958 Japanese movie

Shinzō, the heir of the prominent Edo lumber dealer Yamashiroya, left home when his stubborn father, Chōzaemon, dismissed his lover, the maid...

In the mid-Tokugawa period, a conflict arose over the "Seiryū Himon," a secret document left by the former shogun Iesai, bequeathing the eighth...

Utaemon Ichikawa plays the role of Hikoshiro Navate, who has a strong sense of justice and opposes power and tyranny with his will and spirit.

Silent jidaigeki film

1962 Japanese movie

The first part of an entertaining historical drama depicting the eventful story of the revenge of an actor with a strange fate, with a variety of...

Shogi, a Japanese form of chess, is a game that requires skill and determination. When poor sandal-maker Sakata decides to pursue his dream of...

Will the assassin take my life or will a beautiful woman take my chastity? Or will a beautiful woman take your chastity? On the Tokaido Highway of...

Continuation of the biographical film about the monk Shinran, based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. Shinran, born of the fading aristocratic class,...

Forty-seven Ronin of the Ako clan are waiting for the right moment to avenge the insult and death of their master. The film tells the story of one of...

A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge...

He was married to his lover's butterfly and started a new residence. But good things do not last. In his uncle, Uzaemon in Kawashima, Yoshiji Akaji,...

The second part of an entertaining historical drama depicting the eventful story of the revenge of an actor with a strange fate, with a variety of...

The final, third part of an entertaining historical drama depicting the eventful story of the revenge of an actor with a strange fate, with a variety...

A Golden Age drama depicting the exploits of passionate patriot Uotaro Toge in the midst of a mysterious standoff over the Secret Book of Aoi, which...

A variety of characters, including ninja Noto, a swordsman disguised as a komuso monk, and a young samurai chasing them, participate in a chaotic...

A village samurai with money, power and great masculinity goes to the flourishing city of Edo to have some fun and practice. And here he is attacked...

In 1691 a terrible fire broke out in Denmacho, Yotsuya, burning down the towns around it, up to the shores of Shibaura. A month and a half later,...

The undercover agent Tsukinosuke Kigurumi successfully escapes with Kirisaku, who possesses the coveted Shinshu Mountain map targeted by the phantom...

Mt. Norikura's natural fortress, the phantom castle. A white-clad iron mask, offering prayers to the eerie triple-faced deity of the Sennjogadake...

1945 Japanese movie

The film tells about a young detective Zenigata Heiji who successfully solves a disgusting and unusual case involving the manufacture of counterfeit...

1945 Japanese movie

1958 Japanese movie

1947 Japanese movie