A wanderer returns home and finds himself torn between a desire for acceptance and revenge in an early Tai Kato jidaigeki.
Aug 24, 2023 • Subscribe
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Road Warriors (あやめ笠 喧嘩街道, Tai Kato, 1960)
A penniless wander is caught up in intrigue after encountering a woman travelling alone for the purposes of revenge in Tai Kato’s Toei chanbara.
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A lonely yakuza longs to reconnect with mainstream society by finding the mother who was forced to abandon him in Tai Kato’s hugely moving jidaigeki.
The Blossom and the Sword (日本侠花伝, Tai Kato, 1973)
A young woman defies the expectations of a patriarchal society in resisting the rising militarism of the Taisho society in Tai Kato’s historical epic.
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Eighteen Years in Prison (懲役十八年, Tai Kato, 1967)
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Forever, My Love / 佳人 / Kajin (‘Beautiful Woman’/ ‘Good Person’, 1958)
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Yasushi Sasaki’s surprisingly progressive drama considers the changing place of women in the contemporary society.
Blood of Revenge (明治侠客伝 三代目襲名, Tai Kato, 1965)
An earnest yakuza trying to walk a more legitimate path faces off against a thuggish businessman in Tai Kato’s late-Meiji ninkyo eiga.
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Women and Miso Soup / 女と味噌汁 / Onna to misoshiru (1968)
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The Beauty and the Dragon (美女と怪龍, Kozaburo Yoshimura, 1955)
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Woman of Tokyo (東京の女, Yasujiro Ozu, 1933)
A loyal sister finds her tremendous sacrifice rejected by an unforgiving and conservative society in Yasujiro Ozu’s silent melodrama
Ghost in the Regiment (憲兵と幽霊, Nobuo Nakagawa, 1958)
A treacherous military police officer comes to embody the evils of war in Nobuo Nakagawa’s eerie psychological horror.
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Dust in the Wind (戀戀風塵, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1986)
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She Came for Love / 女が愛して憎むとき / Onna ga aishite nikumu toki (‘When a Woman Loves and Hates’, 1963)
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A Hen in the Wind (風の中の牝鶏, Yasujiro Ozu, 1948)
A wife makes a fateful choice to save her child while her husband is away at war only to be resented for it on his return in an…
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Record of a Woman Doctor (女医の記録, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1941)
A doctor gains a new perspective on life after being sent to a remote rural village in Hiroshi Shimizu’s gentle social drama.
The Hidden Profile / 風の視線 / Kaze no shisen (‘Gaze of the Wind’, 1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #181 Shima Iwashita Keisuke Sonoi Natsui (Keisuke Sonoi) is a photographer who has just entered into an arranged...