Release, runtime and language

1964 · 104 mins · Japanese

Directed by

Masahiro Shinoda

Starring

Isao Kimura, Shima Iwashita, Keiji Sada, Junkichi Orimoto, Eitarô Ozawa, Muga Takewaki

The story opens in 1853 when the arrival of the “four black ships” in Edo Bay sparks civil unrest and a power struggle that ends the Tokugawa shogunate. In this volatile climate where political assassination is a feared tool, Shinoda’s film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, a masterless samurai whose loyalties swing between the shogunate and the emperor.