Kanae Kobayashi

近松物語

Kenji Mizoguchi

Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyōko Kagawa

In 17th century Kyoto, Osan is married to Ishun, a wealthy miserly scroll-maker. When Osan is falsely accused of having an affair with the best worker, Mohei, the pair flee the city and declare their love for each other. Ishun orders his men to find them, and separate them to avoid public humiliation.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

Kenji Misumi

Tomisaburō Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa

In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. Ogami Itto, the official Shogunate executioner, 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.

祇園囃子

Kenji Mizoguchi

Michiyo Kogure, Ayako Wakao

In the post-war Gion district of Kyoto, the geisha Miyoharu agrees to apprentice the 16 year-old Eiko, whose mother was a former geisha who had just died. After a year of training they have to find a large sum of money before Eiko can debut. Miyoharu borrows the money from the tea-house owner, Okimi, who in turn obtains the money from the businessman Kusuda. Kusuda fancies Eiko himself and wants to give Miyoharu to Kanzaki in order to close a large business deal. However both geishas have minds of their own and, going against tradition, want to be able to say no to clients.

座頭市物語

Kenji Misumi

Shintarō Katsu, Masayo Banri

The 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 Betrayal

Tokuzō Tanaka

Raizō Ichikawa, Kaoru Yachigusa

A naively honorable samurai comes to the bitter realization that his devotion to moral samurai principles makes him an oddity among his peers, and a very vulnerable oddity in consequence. He takes the blame for the misdeeds of others, with the understanding that he will be exiled for one year and restored to the clan's good graces after the political situation dies down. As betrayal begins to heap upon betrayal, he realizes he'll have to live out his life as a master-less ronin, if not hunted down and killed.

お遊さま

Kenji Mizoguchi

Kinuyo Tanaka, Nobuko Otowa

Shinnosuke is introduced to Shizu as a prospective marriage partner, but he falls in love with her widowed sister Oyu. Convention forbids Oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as the head of her husband's family. Oyu convinces Shinnosuke and Shizu to marry so that she can remain close to Shinnosuke.

噂の女

Kenji Mizoguchi

Kinuyo Tanaka, Tomoemon Otani

Yukiko's fiance learns her mother runs a geisha house and ends their engagement. She despises what her mother does until one of her clients shows interest and starts to woo her.

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival

Kenji Misumi

Shintarō Katsu, Tatsuya Nakadai

Zatoichi is mentored by the blind leader of a secret organization as he contends with both the Yakuza and a jealous husband.

Zatoichi Challenged

Kenji Misumi

Shintarō Katsu, Jūshirō Konoe

Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography to pay off his gambling debts. Ichi makes it his mission to save tha man and reunite the family, even though it brings him into conflict with a samurai he sort of befriended on his way to the town.

大阪物語

Kōzaburō Yoshimura

Raizō Ichikawa, Shintarō Katsu

A poor peasant, after years of scraping, becomes a rich and powerful Osaka merchant. Mizoguchi Kenji's final project; he died before completing it and directing duties turned over to Yoshimura Kozaburo.

Zatoichi and the Chess Expert

Kenji Misumi

Shintarō Katsu, Mikio Narita

Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning.

無法松の一生

Hiroshi Inagaki

Tsumasaburō Bandō, Keiko Sonoi

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

New Tale of Zatoichi

Tokuzō Tanaka

Shintarō Katsu, Mikiko Tsubouchi

Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.

続花頭巾

Katsuhiko Tasaka

Raizō Ichikawa, Shintarō Katsu

座頭市の歌が聞える

Tokuzō Tanaka

Shintarō Katsu, Shigeru Amachi

Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes Zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. In trying to help the town, Zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a hero to the boy. He must make a choice of whether to use non-violence and set a good example, or violence and set the boy on the wrong path in life.

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman

Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Hsu Tseng-Hung

Shintarō Katsu, Jimmy Wang Yu

Zatoichi 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.