Rentaro Mikuni

Professional Killers

A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...

Harakiri

Kageyu Saito

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Kwaidan

Husband (segment "The Black Hair")

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

Nemuri Kyoshiro

Thirteen years after his mother took her own life as a ritual sacrifice for the Black Mass, samurai Kyoshiro (Masakazu Tamura), who lives his life with his eyes turned away from happiness, uses his beloved sword to slay his enemies who come at him.....

Nukata no Ōkimi

A historical romance about the life of Princess Nukata, a Manyo poetess who was loved by two brothers, Emperor Tenji and Emperor Tenmu, and the formation of an ancient nation.

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto

Matahachi

Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.

Vengeance Is Mine

Shizuo Enokizu

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

Hito wa sore wo scandal to iu

Koichiro dojima

No description available

Sekigahara

Masanobu Honda

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.

Captive's Island

Daigoku

Seeking revenge against the guard who tormented him, a young man returns to the island where he was imprisoned in reform school. But his plans for vengeance are disturbed when he encounters a strange and beautiful young woman.

Akai Unmei

The story of two girls switched in an orphanage.

The Burmese Harp

Captain Inouye

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

Profound Desires of the Gods

Nekichi Futori

Tokyo engineer Kariya arrives on a primitive tropical island, where he interacts with the Futori clan, to drill a well to power a sugar mill.

Akai Shisen

When Ryoko, a ballerina turned disco dancer, gets entangled in a murder and a stolen 10 million yen, she must race against time to uncover the truth and return to her hometown.

The Inugami Family

Sahei Inugami

When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pitting blood against blood.

My Sons

Akio Asano

Tetsuo is a young man living in Tokyo, who falls in love with a deaf-mute factory girl. He has always felt jealous of his college-educated brother, but ultimately wins both the girl and his father's acceptance and support in a touching and refreshing way.

The Old Man and the Sea

(voice)

An old fisherman makes the biggest catch of his life.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun

Hajime Sandaiji

A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.

The Street of Desire

Tadao Shimoda

A valet at a fancy nightclub hatches a plot to punish those responsible for his father's death.

Zatoichi at Large

Boss Tetsugoro

Blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi finds a robbed and fatally wounded pregnant woman, whose baby he delivers before she dies. He takes the baby in search of its father and finds the child's aunt, who is about to be forced into prostitution for want of a payment the dead mother was bringing. Zatoichi determines to save the woman from her cruel fate.