The Buddy: Yaji and Kita

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid...

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an ageing warlord divides his kingdom...

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and...

Yagyu Jubei, the finest swordsman in the land, is called upon to bare his blade to help Iemitsu keep his post. Meanwhile a fishmonger named Isshin...

In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute,...

Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences...

The era when Samurai and Ninja existed in Japan. Rikka Isurugi was born and raised in a Ninja clan secluded from society. She soon meets Miya, a girl...

Masaatsu Naito successfully completes Sankin-kotai (required ritual to visit the shogun). On his way home, he hears that an insurrection by peasants...

Kondo Isami, the “Devil” commander of the Shinsengumi was one of Japan’s greatest national heroes and a peerless swordsman who...

Feudal lord Takuminokami Asano has been led to kill himself due to a scheme by Kozukenosuke Kira. Having no time to mourn his death, samurai...

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the...