Kyoji Sugi
1903 - 1975
旗本喧嘩鷹
Nobuo Nakagawa
Utaemon Ichikawa, Yumiko Hasegawa
1716, Yoshimune becomes the 8th Shogun as high Shogunate officials are attacked. While the government tries to keep these incidents under wraps, they must take any means possible to get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who is behind them.
Samurai Hawk
Tale of Japanese Burglars
Satsuo Yamamoto
Rentaro Mikuni, Yūnosuke Itō
Gisuke Hayashida is an illegal dentist during the day and a burglar by night. One night during a burglary he witnesses a train derailment. Some communists are found guilty of causing the incident, but he knows it wasn't them. He can save innocent people but for that he must confess his own crime.
Tale of Japanese Burglars
ちいさこべ
Tomotaka Tasaka
Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chiemi Eri
A carpenter, Shigetsugu, learns a lesson of love and humanity from five orphaned children and an affectionate woman named Oritsu. It's a winning combination of drama and humor. The warm friendship that grows between the carpenter, the woman and the children making this into a true masterpiece.
A Carpenter and Children
血槍富士
Tomu Uchida
Chiezō Kataoka, Ryūnosuke Tsukigata
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.
Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji
どたんば
Tomu Uchida
Takashi Shimura, Shinjirô Ehara
Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama with a contemporary backdrop, Dotanba focuses on the attempts to rescue a group of trapped miners. The title is a figure of speech — (essentially “last minute” or “eleventh hour”) — that refers to a situation of peril. The film boasts a script co-written by Uchida and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.
The Eleventh Hour
ひばり捕物帖 自雷也小判
Kinnosuke Fukada
Hibari Misora, Kotaro Satomi
A princess finds life behind the protection of her brother and the high walls of the mansion to be quite dull, so she takes on another identity and lives in a small house in Edo pretending to be a singer but all the while she is actually a Shogunate Detective. Framed by a crooked magistrate for a crime she did not commit, Oshichi must clear her name of false charges after a woman helps to lead a prison break of the notorious Oshu Remnants. Meanwhile the magistrate, Lord Kai, conspires to be rid of her brother, Clan Elder, Lord Abe Iyo. Her only clue is an ornate dagger with a handle made of golden coins.
Secret of the Golden Coin
ひばり捕物帖 ふり袖小判
Kokichi Uchide
Hibari Misora, Kotaro Satomi
A mysterious coin found at a murder scene stirs the curiosity of young actress detective Oshichi and her brother Hyoma, who set out on a private investigation to unveil the secrets hidden behind the coin.
Case of the Hidden Coin
水戸黄門 天下の副将軍
Sadatsugu Matsuda
Ryūnosuke Tsukigata, Kinnosuke Nakamura
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 succession of the Takamatsu clan. The usurpers try by every means to effect their takeover, even if it leads to blood being spilled. Along with Kaku and Suke, the elder must face the most dangerous time of his life, in a battle against those corrupt individuals who would use any means to further their dastardly conspiracy, regardless of how many lives might be destroyed. The great Misora Hibari gives a bravura performance, as does the rest of this all-star cast. This is another outstanding effort on the part of the Toei Films, blending fact and fiction to bright back Japan’s golden era of the Genroku period.
Lord Mito 2: The Nation's Vice Shogun
悪名波止場
Kazuo Mori
Shintarō Katsu, Jirō Tamiya
The Akumyō (悪名, "bad name") series consists of seventeen yakuza films starring Shintaro Katsu, produced between 1960 and 1974. A remake and a direct-to-video sequel starring Kōji Matoba were produced in 2001.
Bad Reputation: The Notorious Harbor
Ishimatsu: the One-Eyed Avenger
Tadashi Sawashima
Hibari Misora, Tomisaburō Wakayama
Some of the finest jidai-geki actors appear in this exciting and entertaining tale of intrigue and action in old Japan. Teaming up the ever-popular Misora Hibari with the greatest samurai action hero of all-time Wakayama Tomisaburo is a brilliant stoke of casting. Hibari takes on the role of Mori no Ishimatsu, a young man who gets involved with real-life Yakuza legend, Shimizu no Jirocho, 'Boss of the Tokaido'. Ishimatsu manages to interfere with a dispute between the Shimizu and their competition, the Marugame family, even going so far as to become an avenger's assistant. It's not the first time Hibari has played a man in a film (also in Benten Kozo), and her acting skills are at their best as she mixes in a bit of humor along with excellent swordplay. Wakayama Tomisaburo, as always, gives an outstanding performance as the powerful and beloved Yakuza Boss Jirocho.
Ishimatsu: the One-Eyed Avenger
孔雀城の花嫁
Shoji Matsumura
Ryutaro Otomo, Katsuo Nakamura
Princess Kazu, the daughter of Shogun Ienari, is sent to marry Matsudaira Nobunao, master of Peacock castle in Kozuke province, a domain of 17,000 koku. When the procession carrying her sizable dowry was so large that it was expected to take 30 days to reach the castle the members of the clan were surprised to learn that it contained only her barest essentials! Would her presence create a problem too large for the clan to deal with? And having been trained by Lord Yagyu himself, will her martial skills ruin the marital plans set forth for the couple, or can she be tamed in time for the wedding?
Bride of Peacock Castle
