Why Not? (1981)

(6.4) based on 16 votes
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
Directors
Release Date
Jan 08, 1981
Runtime
02h 31m
Genre
Available in streaming on

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.

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Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

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.
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7.4
Lone+Wolf+and+Cub%3A+Sword+of+Vengeance
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

1972

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Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell

In the sixth and final film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, the final conflict between Ogami Itto and the Yagyu clan is carried out.
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7.1
Lone+Wolf+and+Cub%3A+White+Heaven+in+Hell
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell

1974

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Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold

Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay his respects at the grave of Kichizo, a man he killed two years ago. When some tax money is stolen while in transit to the governor he is accused and sets out to find the money and clear his name.
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6.9
Zatoichi+and+the+Chest+of+Gold
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold

1964

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The Rickshaw Man

A poor rickshaw driver finds himself helping a young woman and her son after the woman's husband dies suddenly.
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7.2
The+Rickshaw+Man
The Rickshaw Man

1958

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47 Ronin

Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal followers (now Ronin, masterless Samurai) dedicate their lives to avenging his death.
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7.5
47+Ronin
The Hidden Blade

Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
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7.4
The+Hidden+Blade
The Hidden Blade

2004

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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.
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7.2
The+Ambitious
The Ambitious

1970

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The Samurai I Loved

A young samurai stuck at the bottom of the hierarchical order attempts to rescue his childhood sweetheart from an evil clan lord after learning of a plot to kill her and her infant child. Bunshiro Maki is a skilled swordfighter who's lethal with a blade, yet still can't rise through the ranks of the system. After his father is accused of plotting against his clan and forced to commit ritual suicide, his longtime love Fuku is sent to Edo to become the clan lord's concubine. A few years later, Fuku has bore the clan lord a son. When Maki learns that the clan has hatched a plan to kill Fuku and her son to secure succession to the throne, he recruits two childhood friends to help thwart the diabolical plot.
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7.1
The+Samurai+I+Loved
The Samurai I Loved

2005

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Zatoichi's Cane Sword

Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.
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7.3
Zatoichi%27s+Cane+Sword
Zatoichi's Cane Sword

1967

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The 47 Ronin

In 1701, Lord Takuminokami Asano has a feud with Lord Kira and he tries to kill Kira in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Lord Asano to commit suppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Lord Kira. Lord Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the dishonor of their Lord. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi asks the Shogun to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses his request and Oishi and forty-six ronin revenge their Lord.
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7.0
The+47+Ronin
The 47 Ronin

1941

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Onihei Crime Files: Sutegoro Takahagi

Takahagi Sutegoro is highly skilled at casing locations for thieves so that he can sell detailed floor plans to them. He suffers an injury to his leg while trying to help a parent and a child being threatened by samurai. Heizo jumps in and chases the samurai away. Feeling indebted to Heizo, Sutegoro decides to become his spy. Now, together they will try to stop scheming Myogi Danemon’s gang of merciless thieves...
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8.0
Onihei+Crime+Files%3A+Sutegoro+Takahagi
Onihei Crime Files: Sutegoro Takahagi

2010

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Onihei Crime Files: Conscience of a Worm

Detective Onihei better known as "Heizo the Demon" heads a group of skilled officers, however, one of those special officers got himself into a web of betrayal and deceit, and become the very thing Heizo the Demon investigates daily.
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8.0
Onihei+Crime+Files%3A+Conscience+of+a+Worm
Onihei Crime Files: Conscience of a Worm

2011

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Migawari Mission

Kozukenosuke Kira is slashed with a sword by Ako Daimyo, who holds deep contempt towards Kozukenosuke Kira. Ako Daimyo then kills himself. Both of their families now fall into a big crisis. At this time, a vassal for the Kira family comes up with an extraordinary solution. The plan calls for Takaaki Kira, who is the younger brother of Kozukenosuke Kira, to pretend he is his older brother and deceive the shogunate. Takaaki Kira looks virtually identical to his older brother.
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6.5
Migawari+Mission
Migawari Mission

2024

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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?
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6.6
Snow+on+The+Blades
Snow on The Blades

2014

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Empire of Passion

In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver's wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.
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7.0
Empire+of+Passion
Empire of Passion

1978

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Yamazakura, The Cherry Tree in the Hills

Based on a short story written by Shuhei Fujisawa (who also wrote Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, Love and Honor), the film depicts the uneasy life of Noe Isomura (Rena Tanaka) with the difficult family she has married into after her former husband passed away. One day as she tries to brake off a branch of a cherry tree, she is aided by a samurai who she does not recognize but who recognizes her. He turns out to be a former suitor that she never met named Yaichiro Tezuka (Noriyuki Higashiyama) and who teaches swordsmanship to the local samurai. Meanwhile, the powerful new chief retainer of the village enacts land policies that threaten the survival of the local farmers.
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7.5
Yamazakura%2C+The+Cherry+Tree+in+the+Hills
Yamazakura, The Cherry Tree in the Hills

2008

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Eleven Samurai

The lord of the Oshi fief is killed by his trespassing neighbour, the cruel and despotic Nariatsu, son of the former Shogun. After an investigation, the Oshi clan is blamed for what happened and sentenced to be disbanded. Eleven of the best samurai of the clan refuse the sentence and are willing to give their life for justice.
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7.6
Eleven+Samurai
Eleven Samurai

1967

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Sakurada Gate Incident

Mito Domain Samurai Seki Tetsunosuke must pay the consequences for his role in the assassination of Great Elder Ii Naosuke. Based on true events.
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7.7
Sakurada+Gate+Incident
Sakurada Gate Incident

2010

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The Great Duel

A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A 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.
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7.4
The+Great+Duel
The Great Duel

1964

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Hunter in the Dark

Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming.
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6.5
Hunter+in+the+Dark
Hunter in the Dark

1979

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13 Assassins

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
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7.3
13+Assassins
13 Assassins

2010

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Snowflowers: Seeds of Hope

A touching true story which portrays a doctor who selflessly dedicated his personal fortune to spreading the smallpox vaccination for saving people's lives.
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9.0
Snowflowers%3A+Seeds+of+Hope
Snowflowers: Seeds of Hope

2025

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An Actor's Revenge

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.
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6.6
An+Actor%27s+Revenge
An Actor's Revenge

1963

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The Lower Depths

Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.
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7.1
The+Lower+Depths
The Lower Depths

1957

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Samurai Rebellion

The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.
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8.2
Samurai+Rebellion
Samurai Rebellion

1967

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