, also titled ''Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai'' and ''Cruel Tale of Bushido'', is a 1963 Japanese

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

and

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the

13th Berlin International Film Festival The 13th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1963. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the Italian film '' Il diavolo'' directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro and Japanese film '' Bushidô zankoku monogata ...

where it won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

Plot

The story covers seven generations of a family, from the beginning of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

to the early 19 60s, and the extremes its members take out of devotion and unswerving loyalty to lord, country or company, at the cost of their lives and those of close relatives. Susumu, the last in line of male heirs, finally decides against this stance after his fiancée's suicide attempt.

Cast

Kinnosuke Nakamura (November 20, 1932 – March 10, 1997) was a Japanese kabuki actor. Born , son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on his guild name (''y ...

as Jirozaemon / Iikura / Sajiemon / Kyutaro / Shuzo / Shingo / Osamu / Susumu *

Eijirō Tōno was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, appeared in over 400 television shows, nearly 250 films and numerous stage productions. He is best known in the West for his roles in films by Akira Kurosawa, such as ''Seven Samu ...

as Shibiku-Shosuke Hori *

Kyōko Kishida was a Japanese actress, voice actress, and writer of children's books. Career Kishida became an actress in 1950, and starred in a Yukio Mishima production of the 1960 film ''Salome''. Her film and television drama credits number in the hundreds. ...

as Lady Hagi * Masayuki Mori as Lord Tambanokami Munemasa Hori * Shinjirō Ehara as Shibiku-Shosuke Yasutaka Hori * Takeshi Katō *

Yoshiko Mita (born October 8, 1941) is a Japanese actress. Born in the city of Osaka, she graduated from Joshibi High School of Art and Design in Suginami, Tokyo. In 1960, she was hired by Toei and made her acting debut. She remained with Toei until 1967, ...

as Kyoko Hitomi * Ineko Arima as Maki, Shuzo's wife *

Isao Kimura , also known as Kō Kimura, was a Japanese actor. He entered the Haiyūza theatre troupe in 1946. He appeared in several films directed by Akira Kurosawa, including ''Stray Dog'' (1949) as Yusa the criminal, and ''Seven Samurai'' (1954) as Kats ...

as Hirotaro Iguchi (as Ko Kimura) * Michiko Araki as Shigeno, Kyutaro's mother * Emiko Azuma as Hori Tamba's wife *

Yoshi Katō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 175 films between 1949 and 1988. He won the award for Best Actor at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in '' Hometown''. He married the actress Isuzu Yamada in 1950, but ...

as Takahiro Hori * Choichiro Kawarazaki as Young man at village *

Kikko Matsuoka is a Japanese actress. Her real name is . Career Starting as a child actress, Matsuoka made her film debut in 1957 with Daiei Film's ''Tokyo hanzai chizu''. Appearing in several dozen films, including the horror film ''The Living Skeleton'' (''K ...

as Sato, Shuzo's daughter *

Kō Nishimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''The Bad Sleep Well'' and '' Yojimbo'', Kihachi Okamoto's ''Sword of Doom'', Yoshitaro Nomura's ''Zero Focus'', and Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp'' ( ...

as Yamaoka * Masao Oda as Gohei *

Ryosuke Kagawa was a Japanese actor. His son was child actor Sō Shuntarō. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1928 and 1986. His final film role was in the 1986 film ''Dixieland Daimyō'' directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Selected filmography * '' Sto ...

as Kōzuki Genza * Satomi Oka as Fuji * Nobuo Kawai as Shimoda * Kei Satō as Saburobei Konoe * Misako Watanabe as Yasu, Sajiemon's wife *

Kei Yamamoto (born July 1, 1940 – March 31, 2022) was a Japanese actor. Filmography Film Television References External links * * 1940 births 2022 deaths Japanese male actors People from Ibaraki, Osaka {{Japan-actor-stub ...

as Kazuma Noda * Eijirō Yanagi as Gonnosuke Shizuta

References

External links

* 1963 films 1963 drama films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films Films directed by Imai Tadashi Films with screenplays by Yoshikata Yoda Golden Bear winners Jidaigeki films Samurai films 1960s Japanese films {{1960s-Japan-film-stub