Kōmei Minami

A small town boy dreams of being a famous fiddler; Meanwhile, two convicts escape from prison and hide in the woods.

Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue is a 1927 black and white Japanese silent film directed by Tomiyasu Ikeda.[1] This comedy film showcases the comic talent of Denjiro Okochi, which contrasts markedly with his heroic performance in Oatsurae Jirokichi Koshi. The humorous exchanges with Goro Kawabe, his senior at Nikkatsu, can be priceless, with the expressions and movements of the two goofy characters making for pure, hilarious slapstick comedy. A 15-minute remnant of the film was released on DVD by Digital Meme with benshi accompaniment by Midori Sawato and Ryubi Kato.

All that remains of the first Samurai Town Story is the concluding battle.

The stage director Shimamura, who is bringing western theatre to Japan, falls in love with the outspoken actress Sumako Matsui, and leaves his family to be with her, while trying to keep his Art Theatre solvent.

An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.

One of Mizoguchi's first films, considered lost.

Yaji and Kita: The Battle of Toba Fushimi is a 1928 Japanese film directed by Tomiyasu Ikeda.[1] This comedy film showcases the acting talent of Denjirō Ōkōchi and acts as a complementary film to Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue, which is part of the Yaji and Kita series. An 8-minute remnant of the film was released on DVD by Digital Meme with a benshi accompaniment by Midori Sawato. The version in the National Film Center is 23 minutes long.

Sakon Detective Story: Handprint in Fresh Blood

Directed by Kensaku Suzuki.

Sozenji Baba is a 1928 black and white Japanese silent film directed by Masahiro Makino. It is an ambitious film in which Makino deals with the difficult issue of the agony of a person who killed for revenge.

Period film from 1934.

Jidaigeki film, only a fragment remains of the original film.

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.

Keai-dori

Yukinojō henge, Kanketsu-hen

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

愛情の旋風

The tale of a feudal swordsman who cynically takes no responsibility for anything, relegating it to others, and then taking the credit.

A Japanese silent drama about two farmers

A lost film by Masahiro Makino

The ambiguous relationship between a woman musician and her young student.

1929 Japanese movie

short film about Banchō Sarayashiki.

During the Genroku era, Azusa Gennosuke, renowned in Nara as a top swordsman and a scholar, crossed swords with the Magistrate Kurobane Yatayu, who tried to force himself on Gennosuke's beloved foster-sister, Kikuno. As a result, Gennosuke's younger brother, Shichisaburo, was killed. Separated from his mother, Gennosuke found himself on the run from the officials.

Chikuzen, a ronin named Yoh Daisuke, after pacifying some ruffians at the theater of Onna-Kata Ogino Sawanojiki, formed a bond with the theater's bodyguard, Maruhashi Tadayasu, and Kaku, a priest. He ended up settling at the Kasugaya, the house of Oko, whom he had saved. When Oko decided to go to Edo, where her biological father lived, Daisuke accompanied her. Along the way, at Suruga Abe River, they encountered Sawanojiki's theater group, which had departed from Osaka earlier heading to Edo. A scuffle initiated by Tadayasu over a ferry boat with the students of Yui Masayuki but was amicably resolved through Masayuki's intervention.

This period film is inspired by one of the most notorious scandals to have taken place in Edo-period Japan. The heroine, Ejima, was a lady of the Ooku, the harem of Edo Castle in which the Shogun’s mother, wife and concubines resided, forbidden from contact with any other man except in the presence of the Shogun. The institution played a key role in the Byzantine world of Japanese court politics during the Edo era. In 1714, Lady Ejima was sent to pay her respects at a Buddhist temple in the city, and chose to pay an unauthorised visit to the kabuki theatre – a violation of protocol that was to have tragic consequences.

A representative film directed by Masahiro Makino, son of Shozo Makino ("the father of Japanese film"). This film lent status to ensemble casts that did not rely on famous stars. The unique setting of the samurai town, exquisite camera work and fast-paced sword fighting scenes all have an original appeal that audiences can related to even today.