Period Dramas-Tokugawa shogunate 1603 – 1868
This is a list of movies or/and mini series set in Tokogawa shogunate period of Japan 1603-1868.
"The Edo period (江戸時代 Edo jidai?), or Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa jidai?), is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate." Wikipedia.
Sadly, there are not many poster images in the IMDB, which is a pity.
For those who are serious about Period Dramas and deem a movie/mini series worthy to be listed, add your comments.
"The Edo period (江戸時代 Edo jidai?), or Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa jidai?), is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate." Wikipedia.
Sadly, there are not many poster images in the IMDB, which is a pity.
For those who are serious about Period Dramas and deem a movie/mini series worthy to be listed, add your comments.
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- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneMariko OkadaRentarô MikuniDepicts the early life of the legendary warrior Musashi Miyamoto; his years as an aspiring warrior, an outlaw and finally a true samurai.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneMariko OkadaKôji TsurutaMusashi Miyamoto returns to Kyoto after years of absence. After a series of fights against the Yoshioka School, he challenges its master to a duel.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneMariko OkadaKôji TsurutaMusashi Miyamoto is challenged to a duel by a confident swordsman Sasaki Kojiro. He agrees to fight him in a year's time.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
- DirectorToshiya FujitaStarsMeiko KajiToshio KurosawaMasaaki DaimonA strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsShintarô KatsuYukiji AsaokaMari AtsumiHanzo Itami is an incorruptible Edo officer who learns that an infamous killer has fled from his island prison. Hanzo begins tracking him down using his unorthodox interrogation techniques.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMachiko KyôKazuo HasegawaIsao YamagataA samurai pursues a married lady-in-waiting.Date set:1159
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMinoru ChiakiIsuzu YamadaA war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsRaizô IchikawaShiho FujimuraYûnosuke ItôA young ninja becomes embroiled in a plot to kill a tyrannical warlord. He journeys across feudal Japan, facing deceit, betrayal, and enemy ninja at every turn. Goemon must complete his mission, regain his honor, and survive.
- DirectorYasuo FuruhataStarsKen OgataNorihito AraiToshihiro AsariA small band of heroes goes on a journey to protect a five year old who is next in line to become the Shogun of Japan. The boy's father, the Mad Shogun, tries to remove his son from the line of succession by any means possible.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaJitsuko YoshimuraKei SatôTwo women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsIsao NatsuyagiRyôhei UchidaJunko MiyazonoA charismatic ronin gets snared into a conflict between officials at a waystation, and gains the enmity of a group of thugs.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTsutomu YamazakiKen'ichi HagiwaraA petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
- DirectorFuminori KanekoStarsKô ShibasakiKazunari NinomiyaHiroshi TamakiIn an alternate history of the Edo period, disease greatly reduces the male population. Women rise to positions of authority, while men are prized for their ability to provide children. At the castle, Lady Shogun keeps a harem of men.Date set:1716
- DirectorKenji NakanishiStarsKeiko KitagawaMasahiro KômotoShuntarô MiyaoIto is a young woman, but is not just a pretty face. She wields a sword better than a samurai; better than any man. That is until one day she finally finds someone who is her match on the sword. She is smitten, but is not available any longer. She can, however, become involved in investigating an ensuing crime. Her talent will come in handy.
- DirectorJun'ya SatôStarsTakao OsawaKyoko HasegawaMinosuke BandôThe Sakurada Gate Incident recounts the story of Mito Domain Samurai coming off house arrest named Seki Tetsunosuke (played by Osawa Takao). He along with other prominent Mito Clansmen are tasked to assassinate the Tairo (Great Elder) Ii Naosuke (played by Ibu Masato) who in the Shogun Iesada's absence has signed treaties without Imperial Consent with the Americans in the Treaty of Amity & Commerce in order to head off Japan's most imminent threat to Japan that has sent the county into crisis. By entering into the unequal agreement with the Americans Ii Naosuke committed the crime of violating the Mikado's law (Emperor Komei). In response to such outrage the Mito Domain informed the Imperial Court and sought sanction. An Imperial Writ from the Mikado was given directly by the court to the Mito breaking the protocol which angered the Bakufu (Shogunal Government) in Edo. This resulted in the Ansei Purge - Ii Naosuke's reign of terror that resulted in over 100 arrests and eight executions of those who opposed Ii's actions which forces the hand of the Mito to take action. On a cold morning of March 1860 the assassination is carried out in a bloody sword battle. While Seki Tetsunosuke is merely tasked to record and confirm the Tairo's death, his battle for survival and that of the fruit of the Mito's actions that his men did not die in vain.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoTadanobu AsanoYui NatsukawaThe blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiKomaki KuriharaWakako SakaiThe story takes place in feudal Japan, when any commerce with the rest of the world was strictly prohibited. An idealist suddenly appears in an isolated inn (the one that the title refers to), the head-quarters of a group of smugglers, with stolen money intended to ransom his loved one who is forced to work in a brothel.
- DirectorNobuo NakagawaStarsShigeru AmachiNoriko KitazawaKatsuko WakasugiThe ghost of a samurai's wife takes revenge on her husband.
- DirectorKazuo MoriStarsShinpachirô AsakaUtaemon IchikawaYaeko KumoiA cheerful period drama, sprinkled with comical scenes tells the story of a loyal and handsome Edo servant who fights to help his older brother marry the woman he loves.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTetsurô TanbaYôko TsukasaA guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.
- StarsRichard ChamberlainToshirô MifuneYôko ShimadaAn English navigator becomes both a player and pawn in the complex political games in feudal Japan.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaTsukie MatsuuraIchirô SugaiFollows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsShin'ichi ChibaKenji SawadaAkiko KanaCenturies ago, a samurai survives the massacre of 35,000 Christians and denounces God for ignoring the pleas of the believers. He sells his soul to the devil and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him on a murderous rampage.Date set:1637-1638
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsTetsurô TanbaShima IwashitaEiji OkadaIn 1863, when Americans warships approach Japan, a enigmatic ronin becomes a important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.Date set:1853
- DirectorTadashi SawashimaStarsToshirô MifuneKeiju KobayashiKin'ya KitaôjiFeudal Japan. Kamo Serizawa and Isami Kondo turn a collection of student fencers into a band of assassins known as the Shinsen Group, devoted to the Tokugawa shogunate and to an elegant code of action and behavior. Kondo leads the band against the forces of the Emperor in hopes of preventing his restoration to the throne.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira IshihamaShima IwashitaWhen a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsShin'ichi ChibaKinnosuke NakamuraTsunehiko WataseThis is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsDavid LampsonDon KennyTetsurô TanbaTwo Jesuit priests encounter persecution when they travel to Japan in the 17th century to spread Christianity and to locate their mentor.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsShigeru IzumiyaKaori MomoiMasao KusakariNear the turbulent end of the Edo era, a man returning to Japan after exile in America searches for his wife and becomes swept up in the current of revolution in this incisive period drama from the great Shohei Imamura.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsShintarô KatsuTatsuya NakadaiYukio MishimaA destitute ronin allies himself with an established clan, but its ruthless leader tries to turn him into a mindless killer.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsMikijirô HiraGô KatôShima IwashitaAfter killing a counselor of his clan, a fugitive samurai befriends a couple poaching the shogun's gold in the mountains.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsHideki TakahashiKen OgataTakahiro TamuraToranosuke Sugi, a brave and loyal Samurai, fights to practice and preserve his master's teachings amid a civil war. With friends on both side will he cave to temptation, or stand on principle and for freedom?
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsMasatoshi NagaseTakako MatsuHidetaka YoshiokaA 19th Century samurai, held in low esteem due to an action by his late father, must resolve his history with a maid and with his close friend.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsTakuya KimuraRei DanMitsugorô BandôA look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
- DirectorYôjirô TakitaStarsKiichi NakaiKôichi SatôYui NatsukawaA samurai goes to extraordinary lengths to provide for his family.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJohn WayneEiko AndoSam JaffeIn 1856, the first U.S. Consul General to Japan encounters the hostility of the local authorities and the love of a young geisha.
- DirectorTsugunobu KotaniStarsRichard BooneToshirô MifuneMike StarrA steel samurai blade that was to be given to the American ambassador by the Emperor of Japan is stolen. American sailors and Japanese samurai are sent to find it.