Sannosuke Fujikawa

A classic wartime jidaigeki about the life of the famous samurai and first of the "Great Unifiers" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, with Kataoka Chiezo and Shimura Takashi

A captivating operetta by Masahiro Makino based on Juppensha Ikku's humorous novel "Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige" starring Chiezo Kataoka and Kyoji Sugi.

The life, adventures and exploits of warlord Date Masamune the One-eyed Dragon: his early youth as an aggressive warrior, the battles he won until subduing almost all his enemies, the lonely comprehension of knowing that he actually can not take over the whole country because he was born too late.

This is Kanjûrô Arashi's first film with Nikkatsu after his independent production company went bankrupt (many of these independent companies went bankrupt shortly after the transition to sound). As he is mostly famous for his portrait of Kurama tengu (and on the other hand, he's the definitive actor for Kurama Tengu as well), Nikkatsu made another version of Kurama tengu, co-directed by Masahiro Makino & Sadatsugu Matsuda who are both sons of Shozo Makino. Scripted by Yoshitake Hisa, a jidaigeki specialist who later scripted several Toei All-Star Jidaigeki.

It is a historical drama that follows Katsu Kaishu's efforts to surrender Edo Castle bloodlessly in the first year of the Meiji period.

1942 Japanese movie

Mt. Norikura's natural fortress, the phantom castle. A white-clad iron mask, offering prayers to the eerie triple-faced deity of the Sennjogadake Rocks - the lord of the phantom castle, scheming to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate that destroyed his lord. Sent by the shogunate to infiltrate Hida, Kigurumi Tsukinosuke's cover is blown... (Existing version. Please excuse any deterioration in image quality due to original conditions.)

Early Japanese three-part samurai / fantasy serial.

Tsukinosuke narrowly misses capturing the lord of the phantom castle by a hair's breadth. The mountain map was with Kirisaku at the Ashiwara residence, belonging to the phantom gang. Tsukinosuke heads to the Ashiwara residence to rescue Kirisaku, but in the meantime, the Matsudaira residence is attacked by the phantom gang... (Existing version. Please excuse any deterioration in image quality due to original conditions.)

Directed by Daisuke Itō.

The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film, rakugo, kodan and on stage many times, in part because Nakayama later joined the famous 47 Ronin (Chushingura) as Horibe Yasubei. But Makino and Inagaki’s version gives no hint of this more serious future, playing up the thrills and the comedy with Bando’s bravura performance. The multiple pans of Yasubei running to the duel are an exemplar of the experimental flourishes of 1930s Japanese cinema and the final duel, performed virtually like a dance number, is a marker of Makino’s love of rhythm and one of the best sword fights in Japanese film history. The film was originally released under the title Chikemuri Takadanoba (Bloody Takadanobaba) with a length of 57 minutes, but suffered some cuts and a title change when it was re-released in 1952.

Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi

No description available.

Ito Daisuke's wartime retelling of the Miyamoto Musashi story.

The undercover agent Tsukinosuke Kigurumi successfully escapes with Kirisaku, who possesses the coveted Shinshu Mountain map targeted by the phantom gang, but loses the key to unlocking it. The one who picks up the key is Osumi, a female courier. (Existing version. Please excuse any deterioration in image quality due to original conditions.)

History film directed by Tomu Uchida.