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The Fall Of Ako Castle
is a 1978 Japanese historical martial arts period film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It depicts the story of the forty-seven Ronin ('' Chūshingura''). The film is one of a series of period films by Fukasaku starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, including ''Shogun's Samurai''. The film received one nomination for the Award of the Japanese Academy for best cinematography. Plot Lord Tsunayoshi of the Tokugawa shogunate strips 48 samurai of their assets, but they are afraid to resist and nevertheless attend a ceremony where he is presented with the Imperial Sword. Enraged by insults from the court official Kira, Asano draws his sword but is prevented from killing him. Asano is sentenced to seppuku, his land and property are seized by the shogunate, and the Asano name is abolished. Several disciples of Asano, upset about the one-sided verdict, vow to return to Edo to take vengeance on Kira. They wait a year for an opportune time to make their move. Kira retires and Tsunayoshi's follower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking", Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty Yakuza film, yakuza films, typified by the Battles Without Honor and Humanity, ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' series (1973–1976). According to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, "his turbulent energy and at times extreme violence express a cynical critique of social conditions and genuine sympathy for those left out of Japan's postwar prosperity." He used a ''cinema verite''-inspired shaky camera technique in many of his films from the early 1970s. Fukasaku wrote and directed over 60 films between 1961 and 2003. Some Western sources have associated him with the Japanese New Wave movement of the '60s and '70s, but this belies his commercial success. His works include the Japanese portion of the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood war film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (1970) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of Japan
The , also known domestically as , has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2022, it was the Film industry#Statistics, fourth largest by number of feature films produced, producing 634 films, and third largest in terms of box office revenue, standing at $1.5 billion. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897. During the 1950s, a period dubbed the "Golden Age of Japanese cinema", the ''jidaigeki'' films of Akira Kurosawa as well as the science fiction films of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya gained Japanese cinema international praise and made these directors universally renown and highly influential. Some of the Japanese films of this period are now rated some of the List of films considered the best, greatest of all time: ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) ranked number three in ''Sight & Sound'' critics' list of the 100 greatest films of all time and also topped the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asano Clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan, and the Emperor Seiwa (850-881), the 56th Emperor of Japan. The Main Lineage (''sōke'', 宗家) were Lords (daimyō) of the Hiroshima Domain in Aki Province and another famous branch family were Lords of the Akō Domain in Harima Province associated with the story of the Forty-seven rōnin. Their inherited character is "長". The family came to prominence when the sister of Asano Nagamasa married Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 7 of 80">"Asano", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 [PDF 7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-4. After the Meiji Restoration and the Abolition of the han system, abolition of the ''han'' system, the Asano clan became part of the Kazoku, new nobility. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Matsudaira" at ''Nobili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seppuku
, also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near the end of World War II) to restore honor for themselves or for their families. As a samurai practice, ''seppuku'' was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, or performed because they had brought shame to themselves. The ceremonial disembowelment, which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators, consists of plunging a short blade, traditionally a '' tantō'', into the belly and drawing the blade from left to right, slicing the belly open. If the cut is deep enough, it can sever the abdominal aorta, causing death by rapid exsanguination. One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asano Naganori
was the ''daimyō'' of the Akō Domain in Japan (1675–1701). His title was ''Takumi no Kami'' (). He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as ''Chūshingura'' (involving the forty-seven rōnin), one of the favourite themes of kabuki, bunraku, jōruri, and Japanese books and films. Biography He was born in Edo as the eldest son of Asano Nagatomo. His family was a branch of the Asano clan whose main lineage was in Hiroshima. His grandfather Naganao was appointed to the position of ''daimyō'' of Ako with 50 thousand ''koku''. After Naganao died in 1671, Nagatomo succeeded to the position, but died after three years in 1675. Naganori succeeded his father at the age of nine. In 1680, he was appointed to the office of ''Takumi no Kami'', the head of carpentry at the imperial court, but this office was nominal, as were other offices granted to samurai at that time, and only had an honorific meaning. As a ''daimyō'' with a small fief, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kira Yoshinaka
(October 5, 1641 – January 30, 1703) was a Japanese ''kōke'' (master of ceremonies). His court title was '' Kōzuke no suke (上野介)''. He is famous as the adversary of Asano Naganori in the events of the forty-seven rōnin. Although his name (義央) has been long pronounced as "Yoshinaka" especially in dramas and novels, , written by an anonymous contemporary in 1703, recorded that his name was "Yoshihisa". Life Family and early life Born in 1641, he was the eldest son of Kira Yoshifuyu of the Kira clan. His mother was a member of the high-ranking Sakai clan. On the death of his father in 1668, Kira became the 17th head of the household, inheriting lands evaluated at 4,200 ''koku''. His wife was from the Uesugi clan, and his eldest son was adopted by Uesugi Tsunakatsu, the head of the Dewa Yonezawa '' han'', taking the name Tsunanori. Kira named his second son as his heir, but when that son died, he adopted Tsunanori's second son, strengthening the connection between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court downsized the national army and delegated the security of the countryside to these privately trained warriors. Eventually the samurai clans grew so powerful that they became the ''de facto'' rulers of the country. In the aftermath of the Gempei War (1180-1185), Japan formally passed into military rule with the founding of the first shogunate. The status of samurai became heredity by the mid-eleventh century. By the start of the Edo period, the shogun had disbanded the warrior-monk orders and peasant conscript system, leaving the samurai as the only men in the country permitted to carry weapons at all times. Because the Edo period was a time of peace, many samurai neglected their warrior training and focused on peacetime activities such as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, as well as the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tokugawa, Tsunayoshi''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. Tsunayoshi is known for instituting animal welfare laws, particularly for dogs. This earned him the nickname of "the dog ''Shogun''" (''Inu-Kubō'' 犬公方: ''Inu=''Dog, ''Kubō''=formal title of Shogun). Early years (1646–1680) Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was born on 23 February 1646, in Edo. He was the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu by one of his concubines, named Otama, later known as Keishōin 桂昌院 (1627–1705). Tsunayoshi had an elder brother already five years old, who would become the next shogun after Iemitsu's death, Tokugawa Ietsuna. Tsunayoshi was born in Edo and af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinema Junpo
, commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' has been published twice a month. The magazine was founded by a group of four students, including Saburō Tanaka, at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Technical High School at the time). In that first month, it was published three times on days with a "1" in them. These first three issues were printed on art paper and had four pages each. ''Kinejun'' initially specialized in covering foreign films, in part because its writers sided with the principles of the Pure Film Movement and strongly criticized Japanese cinema. It later expanded coverage to films released in Japan. While long emphasizing film criticism, it has also served as a trade journal, reporting on the film industry in Japan and announcing new films and trends. After th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shogun's Samurai
''Shogun's Samurai'', known in Japan as , is a 1978 Japanese historical martial arts period film directed and co-written by Kinji Fukasaku. The film is the first of two unrelated Fukasaku films to star Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba as Jūbei Mitsuyoshi Yagyū, the other being '' Samurai Reincarnation''. The film was adapted into a 39-episode TV series, '' The Yagyu Conspiracy'' (1978–1979), and two TV film remakes were released in 2008 and 2020. Plot In 1624, shogun Tokugawa Hidetada dies suddenly. His food taster kills himself, leading to a suspicion of poisoning. Hidetada's first son, Iemitsu, was heir but his father, disliking his large facial birthmark and stammer, had favoured his popular second son, Tadanaga. Hidetada's widow is influencing ministers such as Lord Owari and Chief Chamberlain Doi, to back Tadanaga; Chamberlain Matsudaira and Lady Kasuga, leader of the harem, back Iemitsu. Scheming nobles Sanjo Saneeda and Ayamaro Karasumasu see an opportunity to overthrow t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chūshingura
is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early , the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media. With ten different television productions in the years 1997–2007 alone, ''Chūshingura'' ranks among the most familiar of all historical stories in Japan. Historical events The historical basis for the narrative began in 1701. The ruling ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Tsunayoshi placed Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori, the ''daimyō'' of Akō, in charge of a reception of envoys from the Imperial Court in Kyoto. He also appointed the protocol official (''kōke'') Kira Kōzuke-no-suke Yoshinaka to instruct Asano in the ceremonies. On the day of the reception, at Edo Castle, Asano drew his short sword and attempted to kill Kira. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forty-seven Ronin
47 (forty-seven) is the natural number following 46 and preceding 48. It is a prime number. It is the adopted favorite number of Pomona College, a liberal arts college in Southern California, whose alumni have added cultural references to it in numerous places, including many ''Star Trek'' episodes. Mathematics 47 is a safe prime, a Thabit prime, a regular prime, a cluster prime In number theory, a cluster prime is a prime number such that every even positive integer ''k'' ≤ p − 3 can be written as the difference between two prime numbers not exceeding (). For example, the number 23 is a cluster prime becau ..., an isolated prime, a Ramanujan prime, and a Higgs prime. 47 is also a supersingular prime. It is the last consecutive prime number that divides the order of at least one sporadic group. In popular culture Pomona College Other Late rapper Capital Steez was infatuated with the number 47 and what it meant spiritually. He believed the number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
