Ryōtarō Shiba

Writer

August 7, 1923 (72 years)

† February 12, 1996

Osaka, Japan

Biography

No biography available.

Filmography

N/A

Kashin

Centered around Masujiro Omura, who became a commander for the Choshu clan, and founded the modern Japanese millitary system.

N/A

Kunitori Monogatari

Set in Japan several centuries back. It depicts the struggles of three historical warriors, Dosan Saito, Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi.

6.6

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.

N/A

The Story of Dominating Countries

Based on the award-winning novel by Shiba Ryotaro, the drama is set in Japan several centuries back in the Sengoku period. It depicts the struggles of three historical warriors, Saito Dosan, Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide.

N/A

Story of Yakuza in Naniwa

A dramatization of Ryotaro Shiba's novel of the same title about the life of Kobayashi Sahē, a chivalrous man who actually existed at the end of the Edo period.

6.5

Sekigahara

Blockbuster drama based on the novel Sekigahara by Ryotaro Shiba, a program dedicated to the 30th anniversary of TBS. A total of 120 actors, 3,500 extras and about 500 horses recreated the largest battle in history, the Battle of Sekigahara, in which 200,000 warriors clashed from east and west. The battle, which can be called a turning point in the history of Japan, depicts the conflict, love and hate between people on a grand scale and with a great cast.

7.0

Sekigahara

The background to and depiction of a watershed battle in Japanese history, at Sekigahara in 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu's Army of the East defeated the Army of the West of Ishida Mitsunari. The story includes the intrigues and shifting loyalties of the various retainers, family members, and samurai.

6.0

Nanohana no Oki

A romance of a man who risked his life at sea on a Kitamae ship during the Edo period. Based on the famous book "Offshore of Rape Blossoms" by Ryotaro Shiba, the movie tells the story of Kahei Takadaya, a great merchant who lived a turbulent life and single-handedly conducted diplomacy with the great Russian power.

6.7

Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai

Set in the 19th century, "Moeyo Ken" follows the life of Toshizo Hijikata. He was the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi and fought against the Meiji Restoration.

7.0

Tenchu!

A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage.

7.4

The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai

In the turbulent last days of the Edo period, Kawai Tsugunosuke, a Japanese samurai serving the Makino clan of Nagaoka, dreamt of independence from the restraints of vassalship. Despite his progressive views and his desire for his estate to remain neutral during the Boshin Civil War, he was bound by loyalty and duty to the clan and was compelled to choose sides.

6.0

Owls' Castle

As the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country.

7.3

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.

7.1

Assassination

In 1863, when American warships approach Japan, an enigmatic ronin becomes an important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.

9.0

Taking the Castle

The Sengoku Era was coming to an end. The monopoly of the ever powerful shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, was at a near. Only one man was brave enough to stand in Ieyasu's way - A lone wolf samurai by the name of Kagekatsu Uesugi. Inspired by Uesugi's courage to revolt, a young samurai warrior, Touzou Kuruma decides to join the fight. Their target: the Tamonyama Castle.

7.1

Warrior of the Wind

A suspenseful Ninja fantasy based on Shiba Ryotaro's novel, woven with the mysterious fate and romance of Shinzo and a beautiful Princess who find themselves at the center of an intrigue surrounding the legendary land of Yasurai in the mountains of Kumano. Hidden gold, the love of a beautiful Princess, and the approaching evil sword all contribute in bringing you a Ninja action thriller that only the legendary actor Okawa Hashizo and the genius director Kato Tai could produce!

6.2

The Magoichi Saga

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

6.3

Mission: Iron Castle

The Shinobi-no-Mono series was so successful that Daiei Studios dipped into the well one more time, making the best 60′s B&W ninja movie ever seen in the otherwise color-dominated year of 1970. Issei Mori directs Hiroki Matsukata as the reluctant leader of a small band of spies charged with kidnapping a noblewoman from a heavily ninja-proofed castle. The finality of the air slowly began to fill like smoke, and in all that had become dark the loyalty of the Ninja who dared to go shone like light as they entered a world shrouded in mystery. Things do not go as planned in what is possibly the darkest and most fatalistic of the already noir-ish 60′s fare. Both the decade and it’s distinctive style of shinobi cinema went out on a high note with Mission Iron Castle.

7.2

The Blazing Sword

Set during the last days of the Tokugawa (Edo) Period, Moeyo-ken tells the story of Hijikata Toshizo and the Shinsengumi. Hijikata Toshizo is a samurai eager to test his skills and sword and make his first kill. The dojo he belongs to practices the Tennen Rishin style and teaches this to farmers. Not considered real samurai by other dojo's, they receive a request for a duel by a rival dojo practicing the Kogen Itto style. Sohaku Rokusha, a teacher there, challenges them and fights with Hijikata Toshizo. The outcome of the fight creates a deadly animosity between them that lasts through the ages.

6.2

Castle of Owls

Movie adaptation of the 1959 ninja novel. With war against Korea looming on the horizon, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the 'Taiko' becomes the target of an assassination attempt to be carried out by the Iga Clan of ninja spies. Master spy Juzo Tsuzura (Ryutaro Otomo) is assigned the task, but first he must defeat a former Iga spy who has become a traitor, and outwit the treacherous woman that is trying to seduce him.