Tattoo of Love (1963)

The Fort of Death

The second Bounty Hunter film, when master killer Shikoro Ichibei takes up the cause of a group of farmers being driven to despair by the vile Lord Ozeki. The villainous lord has driven them to mounting their last stand at a deserted fort against an army of attackers. Wakayama Tomisaburo is superb as an expert in killing and military tactics, who leaves his medical practice at a clinic for the poor in order to counter the vicious tactics of that vile lord.

Zatoichi

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Miss Hokusai

A daughter is constantly overshadowed by her famous father, but she is determined to make her own mark in the world.

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.

Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation

A samurai's path leads him to a young waitress whose hometown was destroyed by a dragon. He doesn't want any trouble — but it finds them anyway.

Mumon: The Land of Stealth

Raised suckling poison arrows among the sparring Iga ninja factions, Mumon is a carefree 16th-century mercenary. When the ninja council makes a power play to defeat the young Nobukatsu Oda struggling to step into his father’s warlord shoes as they expand rule across the country, Mumon jumps into the fray to satisfy his new bride Okuni’s demand that he make good on his promises of wealth. Yet Mumon soon finds what is worth fighting for beyond money or nation.

While Traveling

In this film, Hibari plays a dual role as brother and sister. The story involves a journey to Hanagasa for an incognito Lord (Kotaro Satomi) to overthrow an attempted usurpation of his domain, while being harassed by vassals of the usurper (Kensaku Hara). There's also a mysterious ronin played by Jushiro Konoe. The songs are seamlessly woven into the narrative and don't overwhelm the action. While the plot is derivative it is good example of its type and quite enjoyable. Note that there are some flashback sequences in black and white.

Samurai Fiction

A warrior-in-training and his bumbling friends go in pursuit of a stolen sword.

Castle of Wind and Clouds

A samurai returns to his homeland after a three year absence and finds his fiance is now one of the prince's concubines.

Skull Coins

The mysterious story behind the Skull Coins, which are said to reveal the location of treasure, and the battle for them will make your heart beat faster.

Traveling of Two Young Men

At the crowded Komatsuya in Kawadome, travellers are holding a secret art contest to relieve boredom. However, a thief goes around. During the sudden commotion, a young man called Gentaro begins to perform magic tricks. This magic trick brings out the lost wallets of the travellers one after another. Even the thief himself, Shinzo, is surprised by this trick. Gentaro hears that Okinu, daughter of Kutsukake Jinbei, is looking for Eijiro, the young boss of Omaeda. Gentaro arrives and introduces himself as Eijiro Omaeda. He moves to Kichibei's family in Sakamoto-juku where he meets Okinu's father who needs help.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx

Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must eliminate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.

Geisha Assassin

One rainy night in the Edo period, Kotono (a geisha) confronts samurais who killed her father. The samurais attack her one after another, but she fights hard against samurais with her sword. Kotono tries to chase the samurais who scramble to escape. Yet now three ninjas stand up against her. Kotono drops her sword by their wave of assaults. Can she beat them?

After the Rain

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro

After a successful robbery leaves famed thief Lupin the Third and his partner Jigen with nothing but a large amount of expertly crafted counterfeit bills, he decides to track down the forgers responsible—and steal any other treasures he may find in the Castle of Cagliostro, including the 'damsel in distress' he finds imprisoned there.

Ugetsu

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 sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Afro Samurai: Resurrection

Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.

Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance

25 years later after the events of Samurai Cop (1991), Detective Frank Washington is forced to team up with his long estranged partner Joe Marshall to solve a series of assassinations being committed by a secret group of female vigilante killers.

New Tale of Zatoichi

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.

Zatoichi the Fugitive

After 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.

Hanzo the Razor: The Snare

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He shows inadequate respect to the treasurer, who wants him dead.

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

Hanzo extracts a confession from a ghost using his assaulting methods, foils thieves, connects with Heisuke Takei a friend from his youth, offers protection to a forward-thinking physician Genan Sugino who has defamed his ruler, discovers a pleasure ring of young wives and a blind music teacher, and cuckolds a corrupt official under his very nose.

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice

Fearless 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.

The Tale of Zatoichi

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 Tale of Zatoichi Continues

Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.

Banzuiin Chōbei

A jidaigeki film on Banzuiin Chōbei produced in 1940 and directed by Yasuki Chiba.

Zatoichi on the Road

Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.

Tsubaki Sanjuro

"Tsubaki Sanjuro" is a remake of Sanjuro (1962) by Akira Kurosawa. Sanjuro returns with sharper, faster, subtler sword, talking and perception. He uses them to settle the trouble and uses them good!

Bring Me the Head of Shichiemon!

During the Sengoku period, an army relentlessly lays siege to a castle, but they will need the head of the opposing lord to declare victory.

The Ambitious

The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.

Hawk of the North

During the latter part of the 16th Century, Japan's Warring States era was coming to a close. After crushing almost all of his enemies, Date Masamune aka the "Hawk of the North" sets his eyes on Hatakeyama's lands. The young warlord is about to face his greatest challenge.

The Retired Samurai

Japan's greatest jidaigeki star, Mifune Toshiro is Shogun's Advisor Okubo Hikozaemon who must be coaxed out of retirement to save Shogun Iemitsu from danger. The elderly Hikozaemon has been belittled of late and has seemingly lost the will to live, much less the desire to assert himself and make Iemitsu listen to reason. The plot thickens when a lovely young woman enters the picture. Can she change Hikozaemon's mind, and thus alter the path of Japanese history? No longer a young man, can Hikozaemon gain the shogun's ear, and succeed in warning him of the evil plot to overthrow him?

Shadow Over Fuji

The year is 1805. Napoleon ruled Europe. Ienari is the 11th Tokugawa Shogun. An incident, which was an open official secret, took place on the foothills of Mt. Fuji. Fearing attacks from within and without, the Shogunate planned to build a training castle utilizing the most advanced techniques. Two master castle architects, Sato Kikutaro and Kumai Hakuten, were selected to compete for the honor of building this castle. Lord Mizuno Dewa has even ordered the townspeople to assist both sides with their land surveys and preparations. This leads to fear on the part of farmers that their land will be taken away from them, and sets off a series of events which rock the nation to its very roots. With an all-star cast, this is an important story with relevance to current times. One of Ichikawa Utaemon's finest performances, a true classic!

The Sword of Doom

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 a way of life that leads to madness.

ICHI

Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.

Hana

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.

Love and Honor

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.

Incident at Blood Pass

In the Edo period, a nameless ronin accepts an assignment to go to a mountain pass and wait. Near the pass he stops at an inn where a collection of characters gather, including a gang set on stealing shogunate gold that's soon to come over the pass. When the Ronin's assignment becomes clear, to help the gang, he's ordered to kill the inn's residents, including a woman he's rescued from an abusive husband. He's reluctant to murder innocent people; then he learns that the gold shipment is a trap and he's part of a double cross. How he sorts through these divided loyalties tests of his samurai honor, and perhaps of his love for a woman.

Taboo

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.

Echo of Love

A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge his father-in-law's death and retrieve the family heirloom.

Okiku and the World

Two rogue vagrants make their living as "manure men", turning the waste from the tenement toilets into fertiliser sold to local farmers. Enter Okiku, the only daughter of a fallen samurai, and amongst the overflowing piles of excrement, a well-nourished love story unfolds.

Snow on The Blades

At Sakurada Gate in 1860, the shogun’s chief minister and his retinue of bodyguards are ambushed and annihilated. Bearing the responsibility and shame for this failure is Shimura Kingo, master swordsman and chief of the guard. Forbidden to take his own life in atonement, he is instead tasked with hunting down the remaining assassins; however, fate intervenes and now only one is left. Devoted to his late lord and his duty, he relentlessly pursues the sole remaining assassin for the next thirteen years. But times are changing in Japan and the way of the sword has become outlawed. What does this mean for Kingo?

Ghost Ship Part 1

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 were lost except for Shinkei, who alone made his way to land & eventually home to inform his grandson Jiromaru (Kinnosuke Nakamura) that his father Jubei met with disaster. Young Jiromaru tells his grandfather that he doesn't want to be a skipper like his father, but wants to go to Kyoto and become a samurai…