Kimiko Tachibana

Early Japanese three-part samurai / fantasy serial.

Otôsan no uta dokei

A comic thriller directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, a first-time newcomer, based on a screenplay by Toshio Tamikado, who co-wrote "Nukiashisashi Ashi Shinobiashi." Photographed by Chikichiro Takeda of "Nurekami Kenpo." The music is by Han Takahashi of "Nukiashisashiashishininashi". Shoji Umewaka, Mieko Kondo, Daimaru Luckett and others

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.)

Bakeneko goyō da

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.)

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.)

1962 Japanese movie

A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.

1962 Japanese movie

A Japanese drama featuring the one-eyed, one-armed swordsman

A lowly drunken samurai finds an abandoned baby in the woods and takes it home. A gift from a fox. But there's something special about the boy.

Izayoi kaidō

Okoyo, the mistress of Lord Arima, fears that she is being replaced by a younger woman named Otaki. In a fit of jealousy, she kills the younger girl. The dead woman's cat licks her blood and becomes a demon, seeking revenge on Okoyo

One day, a funeral was held at one of the tenements in Asakusa. It was the only son of a wealthy merchant named Matasaburo, who had run away from home with a woman he was in love with and had been living here. But this funeral was actually a kyogen (a farce) orchestrated by a gardener named Yunosuke, who had planted it without telling his wife, Okinu, in order to bilk his parents out of their money. Matasaburo believed Yunosuke, who said he would dig him up right away, and was buried in the ground. ......

A gripping historical drama full of suspense and a mysterious bewitching mood. A puzzle of a turbulent era in which various characters fall into a maelstrom of events - a pretty girl, a strange beggar woman, a charming thief, a clever detective, the famous magistrate Toyama Saemon no jo, they all struggle to unravel this mystery of the white bell, which provoked the sudden disappearance of two beautiful women caught in one place at the same time at midnight.

One of Kinugasa's last films--based on the story by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.

The last film in the series brings the tale to the doorstep of Pacific War, with the planning of the bombing of Pearl Harbor dominant in Nakano Spy School.

Child Bride

When a nobleman finds a woman to be an obstacle to his growing political influence, he kills her and her cat and has their bodies immured in a wall. Shortly afterwards, a catlike demon begins to haunt the castle.

Yukiko's fiance learns her mother runs a geisha house and ends their engagement. She despises what her mother does until one of her clients shows interest and starts to woo her.

1950 Japanese movie

Eiko seeks out Miyoharu, a geisha, and asks to be her apprentice. When she is ready to receive clients, both women want the right to refuse certain men.

Disguised as a beggar monk, Ryunosuke is harassed along the road by the rowdy members of a country dojo or fencing school malingering outside their fencing hall. The third film in the Satan's Sword trilogy.

A mysterious tattoo artist puts his masterpiece, a human-faced spider, on a kidnapped woman's back. She and her lover are then forced into a conspiracy-born nightmare, where they face the danger of becoming the very evil they seek to escape. With each new bloody incident, the spider's face seems to redden with ever-growing hunger.

The masked daughter of the Shogun wants to kill a samurai who has seen her scarred face. She sends waves of ninja warriors to kill the samurai and plots diabolical schemes / ambushes without much success.

In Kyoto a young kimono maker with traditional ideas gets involved with a married professor.

In the fourth film of series, Secret Assignment, Raizo again plays the Jiro Shiina. This time he's out to discover who is spying for the British in the Foreign Ministry, under the code name “Cat's Eye”.

The story follows Oshino, a geisha who is trying to start a new life with a lover who is a painter. However, her past filled with debts and pimps catches up to her.

Wicked woman Ogin is a concubine of a powerful feudal lord Tayu. At first Ogin gains power by poisoning lawful wife of Tayu. To gain more power Ogin let her lover Isogai Iori, kill whoever interrupts her. Film it is based on Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's novel "Kyofu Jidai".

Period drama based on the novel by Saisei Murō.

Kokubu Jiro is the captain of his university's Kendo team. Often standoffish, mild, stoic and minimalist, Kokubu is a mystery to those who know him. Kagawa wants to understand Kokubu, but being arrogant and flashy, has a hard time connecting with Kokubu.

Nemuri Kyoshiro discovers a conspiracy centering around a band of disgruntled samurai wanting to avenge the death of their sensei, a political reformer that pushed for better provisions for the lower classes until he was assassinated by Shogunate agents. Their plot, to set fire to the oil refineries of two rich merchants and unleash a raging inferno that will hopefully burn down the Edo Castle.

The story of two sisters in post-war Japan. One is a geisha and the other works for the tourist board.

1962 Japanese movie

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.

Seven years after the death of his wife, widower Shigeharu seeks advice on how to find a new wife from a colleague. Taking advantage of their position as a film company, they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu is enchanted by the quiet Asami. But soon things take a twisted turn as Asami isn’t what she seems to be.

Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give them an heiress for the family business, he stands by helplessly as his wife is thrown out of the house for producing a son. Driven to a life of dissipation - his mistresses also fail to produce daughters - in the end he is just too tired to care.

Nemuri Kyoshiro, a youthful and cynical ronin with unparalleled skill, is approached by both sides in a game of corruption, ambition, and double crosses. The leader of the Kaga clan, who thinks he has killed his smuggling partner, fears that the shogunate will discover his illegal activities. He learns of evidence that will prove his guilt. Meanwhile, his partner is not dead, and, assisted by a master of Shorenji boxing, is looking for revenge and for his loot. The Kaga leader sends the beautiful Chisa to enlist Nemuri's aid. The unexpected happens: the hard-bitten Nemuri falls in love. Can he protect her, topple the criminals, and avoid the boxer's deadly skill?

Early film directed by Kenji Misumi.

This film stars Tanaka Kinuyo as the mother of the heir to the Hosho name, a famous lineage of Noh actors. The heir, Hosho Yagoro, is played by Hasegawa Kuzuo who went on to become familiar among Ichikawa Kon fans as Yukinojo in An Actor's Revenge, which was also co-written by Ito, adding to the relatedness of An Heir's Place.

Hanpei is a gentle young samurai that loves flowers. One day, he witnesses an old man's quick draw of the sword. He is so impressed that he becomes the old man's pupil. Soon, Hanpei's skill of sword comes to attention of his lord. The lord orders him to assassinate a man...

Sixth film in the series. A little boy who just wants to be a carpenter is at the center of a plot that might topple -- or save -- a mighty Clan, and while the swords of some angry samurai may not cause Kyoshiro much trouble, the deadly wiles of two women may be more difficult to survive!

One of Japanese folklore's most popular characters is brought to life on the silver screen in this terrific version of legendary Demon slaying Peach Boy.

Film adaption by Kenji Misumi

Third film of the yoidore hakase series

Flowery Hood

Aoba-jō no oni

Yoso is truly a lost classic, set in the Nara Era (710-794), from Kinugasa Teinosuke the same writer/director who gave us the recognized classic Gate of Hell (Jigokumon, 1952) & the milestone silent surrealist masterpiece A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippeji, 1926).

風来物語任侠篇

The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the vile Lord Kira. Remake of Hakuôki AKA Samurai Vendetta (1959).

Wandering samurai Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) finds a bulls-eye on his back after befriending the shogunate's tightfisted financial adviser, Asahina, who's earned the wrath of the shogun's self-indulgent daughter for cutting off her allowance. The enraged princess promptly hatches a scheme to have Asahina bumped off -- along with his protector, Kyoshiro. Shiho Fujimura also stars in this installment of the enormously popular film series.

風来物語 あばれ飛車

The Lord Pretends

Fascinated with women from an early age, Yonosuke had his first sexual encounter at the age of seven. From that day on, he recklessly and forwardly pursues women, feeding his fascination and experience. As Yonosuke's salacious behavior brings much cause for shame to the family, his father eventually breaks relations with him. Expelled from the family, 19-year-old Yonosuke embarks on a pilgrimage of lust, traveling far and wide to acquaint himself with women of all walks.

An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin. Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world.