, also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that e ...

genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

and

swashbuckler films Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...

. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of ''

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 o ...

'', which equates to

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

. ''Jidaigeki'' may refer to a story set in a historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay. Chanbara also refers to a martial arts sport similar to

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

. While earlier

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

period pieces were more dramatic rather than action-based, samurai films produced after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

have become more action-based, with darker and more violent characters. Post-war samurai epics tended to portray psychologically or physically scarred warriors.Silver (1977), p. 37.

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dy ...

stylized and exaggerated death and violence in samurai epics. His samurai, and many others portrayed in film, were solitary figures, more often concerned with concealing their martial abilities, rather than showing them off. Historically, the genre is usually set during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868). The samurai film hence often focuses on the end of an entire way of life for the samurai: many of the films deal with masterless ''

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master ...

'', or samurai dealing with changes to their status resulting from a changing society. Samurai films were constantly made into the early 1970s, but by then, overexposure on television, the aging of the big stars of the genre, and the continued decline of the mainstream Japanese film industry put a halt to most of the production of this genre.''Japan: A New Wave''
(retrieved on 07/13/2008)

Samurai film directors

Daisuke Itō and

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). Career Mas ...

were central to the development of samurai films in the silent and prewar eras.

is the best known to western audiences, and similarly has directed the samurai films best known in the West. He directed ''

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...

'', ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura as va ...

'', '' Throne of Blood'', ''

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Atsushi W ...

'' and many others. He had a long association with

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as '' Rashomon'', '' Seven Samurai'', '' The Hidden Fortress'', '' Throne of Blood'', a ...

, arguably Japan's most famous actor. Mifune himself had a production company that produced samurai epics, often with him starring. Two of Kurosawa's samurai movies were based on the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, ''Throne of Blood'' (''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'') and '' Ran'' (''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

''). A number of his films were remade in Italy and the United States as

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

s, or as action films set in other contexts.Silver (1977), p. 44. His film ''Seven Samurai'' is one of the most important touchstones of the genre and the most well known outside Japan. It also illustrates some of the conventions of samurai film in that the main characters are ronin, masterless unemployed samurai, free to act as their

conscience Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sen ...

dictates. Importantly, these men tend to deal with their problems with their swords and are very skilled at doing so. It also shows the helplessness of the peasantry and the distinction between the two classes.

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Senses ...

directed the films '' Harakiri'' and '' Samurai Rebellion'', both cynical films based on flawed loyalty to the clan.

Kihachi Okamoto was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres. Career Born in Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted into the Air Force 1943 and entered World War II, an experience that had a profound effect on his lat ...

films focus on violence in a particular fashion. In particular in his films '' Samurai Assassin'', '' Kill!'' and '' Sword of Doom''. The latter is particularly violent, the main character engaging in combat for a lengthy 7 minutes of film at the end of the movie. His characters are often estranged from their environments, and their violence is a flawed reaction to this.

Hideo Gosha was a Japanese film director. Born in Arasaka, Tokyo Prefecture, Gosha graduated from high school and served in the Imperial Navy during the Second World War. After earning a business degree at Meiji University, he joined Nippon television as a ...

, and many of his films helped create the

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

of the samurai

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

. Gosha's films are as important as Kurosawa's in terms of their influence, visual style and content, yet are not as well known in the West. Gosha's films often portrayed the struggle between traditional and modernist thought and were decidedly anti-feudal. He largely stopped making chambara, switching to the Yakuza genre, in the 1970s. Some of his most noted movies are ''

Goyokin is a 1969 Japanese '' jidaigeki'' film directed by Hideo Gosha. Set during the late Tokugawa period, the story follows a reclusive ''rōnin'' who is trying to atone for past transgressions. Plot Magobei Wakizaka is a samurai for the Sabai clan. ...

'', '' Hitokiri'', ''Sanbiki no Samurai'' and ''Kedamono no Ken'' ("Sword of the Beast").

Kenji Misumi (2 March 1921 – 24 September 1975) was a Japanese film director. He created film series such as ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' and the initial film in the long-running ''Zatoichi'' series, and also directed ''Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice'', starri ...

was active making samurai films from the 1950s to the mid 1970s. He directed roughly 30 films in the genre, including some the ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, an ...

'' films, and a number in the ''

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' s ...

'' and ''

Sleepy Eyes of Death Sleepy means feeling a need for sleep, also known as somnolence. It may also refer to: People * Sleepy (rapper) (born 1984), a South Korean rapper part of the hip hop duo Untouchable * Sleepy Bill Burns (1880–1953), American baseball player * ...

'' series. An excellent example of the kind of immediacy and action evident in the best genre is seen Gosha's first film, the '' Three Outlaw Samurai'', based on a television series. Three farmers kidnap the daughter of the local magistrate in order to call attention to the starvation of local peasants, a ronin appears and decides to help them. In the process, two other ronin with shifting allegiances join the drama, the conflict widens, eventually leading to betrayal, assassination and battles between armies of mercenary ''ronin''.White, p. 1. Recently, another director, Keishi Ōtomo has directed a live action adaption of

Nobuhiro Watsuki , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series '' Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' (1994–1999), which has over 70 million copies in circulation and a sequel he is cur ...

's manga series ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the 11th year of the Meiji period in Japan (1878) and follows a former assassin from the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work ...

'', which tells the story of a former Ishin Shishi named

Himura Kenshin , known as Kenshin Himura in the English-language anime dubs, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga ''Rurouni Kenshin'' created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Kenshin's story is set in a fictional version of Japan during the Meiji pe ...

(formerly known as "Hitokiri Battōsai" (人斬り抜刀斎?) who, after the end of the

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji governme ...

, becomes a wanderer of the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need, as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. The film was a huge success. Rurouni Kenshin was theatrically released on August 25, 2012 in Japan, grossing over $36 million in that country and over $60 million worldwide as of November 2012. It was released in DVD on December 26, 2012. The film has been licensed for distribution in over 60 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia. The movie premiered in North America as an opening selection for the 2012 LA EigaFest in December 14, 2012. Two sequels titled '' Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen'' and '' Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen'' were released in 2014.

Popular characters in samurai films

Zatoichi

A blind burly masseur and

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

with short hair, he is a skilled swordsman who fights using only his hearing. While less known in the West, he is arguably the most famous ''chanbara'' character in Japan.

The Crimson Bat

Four movies about another blind character, Oichi a.k.a. "the Crimson Bat", a female sword fighter, was made in response to the huge success of Zatoichi.

Nemuri Kyōshirō

Nemuri Kyoshirō, the master of the ''Engetsu'' ("Full Moon Cut") sword style, was a wandering "lone wolf" warrior plagued by the fact that he was fathered in less than honorable circumstance by a "fallen" Portuguese

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who had turned to worshipping

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

and a Japanese noblewoman whom he had seduced and raped as part of a Black Mass and who had committed suicide after Kyōshirō was born. As a result, Kyōshirō despised both Christianity (which he considered weak and hypocritical) and the shogunal government (which he considered corrupt).

Miyamoto Musashi

A substantial number of films have been made about Miyamoto Musashi, a famed historical warrior and swordsman, most notably a three-movie series (1954-1956) starring

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as '' Rashomon'', '' Seven Samurai'', '' The Hidden Fortress'', '' Throne of Blood'', a ...

and a six-movie series (1961-1965 and 1971) starring Kinnosuke Nakamura, both based on the novel '' Musashi'' by

Eiji Yoshikawa was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as ''The Tale of the Heike'', ''Tale of Genji'', ''Water Margin'' and ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', m ...

Lone Wolf and Cub

''Lone Wolf and Cub'', the tale of a samurai traveling Japan with his son in a wooden

pram Pram or PRAM may refer to: a bulbous growth on senior canines, varying in size, usually benign and painless. If it bursts, it will ooze pus and blood. Places * Pram, Austria, a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of ...

(which is armed and on occasion used in combat) was made into a six-film series (1972-1974) starring Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto and a '' live action television series'' (1973-1976) starring actor Kinnosuke Yorozuya (formerly Kinnosuke Nakamura) as Ogami Ittō.

Sanjuro/Ronin with no name

Sanjuro, played by Toshiro Mifune, is the wandering ronin character who acts as a yojimbo (bodyguard) in two of Kurosawa's films, ''Yojimbo'' and ''

Sanjuro is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 ''Yojimbo''. Originally an adaptation of the Shūgorō Yamamoto novel ''Hibi Heian'', the script ...

''. In both films, 三十郎 Sanjuro (a proper given name but which can also be interpreted as meaning "thirty-years-old") makes up a different surname (桑畑 Kuwabatake which means "mulberry field", and 椿 Tsubaki which means "camellia"), thus leading some to label the character as a "ronin with no name", in reference to the

Man with No Name The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "'' Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...

character who was directly inspired by ''Yojimbo'' and portrayed by Clint Eastwood in

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cine ...

's "

Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...

" of

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most ...

films. Mifune later played analogous roles in two films released in 1970, the

film '' Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'' (as 佐々大作 Sasa Daisaku), and '' Incident at Blood Pass'' (as 鎬刀三郎 Shinogi Tōzaburō = "ridges on a sword" Tozaburo), the two 1972-1974 TV series '' Ronin of the Wilderness'' and ''Yojimbo of the Wilderness'' (as 峠九十郎 Tōge Kujūrō = "Mountain pass" Kujuro), the 1975 TV series ''The Sword, the Wind, and the Lullaby'' (as 砦十三郎 Toride Jūzaburō = "Fortress" Juzaburo), the 1976 TV series ''Ronin in a Lawless Town'' (as ミスターの旦那 Misutā no Danna = "Mister customer"), the 1981 TV movie series ''The Lowly Ronin'' (as 春夏秋冬 Shunka Shūtō = "Spring-Summer Autumn-Winter"), and the 1983 TV movie ''The Secret of Cruel Valley'' (as 素浪人 Surōnin = "Lowly ronin").

The Bored Hatamoto

"Bored Hatamoto" Saotome Mondonosuke (also known in English as "The Idle Vassal" and "The Crescent-Scarred Samurai"), was a ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' Howev ...

'' or direct vassal of Shogun Tsunayoshi, whose 'crescent-scar' on his forehead signifies his right to kill in the name of the shogun and rid Japan of corruption and evil. Saotome craves action to fight the boredom he feels when not pitting his sword skill against those who would corrupt Japan. The character was famously played by Utaemon Ichikawa on film 30 times from 1930-1963 and in a 25 episode TV series from 1973-1974, by Takeo Nakamura in a TV series from 1959-1960, by Hideki Takahashi in a TV series from 1970-1971, by Mikijiro Hira in a 1983 TV movie, and by

Kin'ya Kitaōji is a Japanese actor. Biography Early life He was born in Kyoto, son of ''jidaigeki'' film star Ichikawa Utaemon, and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II in Tokyo. Acting career Kin'ya made his debut with ...

(Ichikawa's son, who also appeared with his father in some of the films) in 9 made-for-TV movies from 1988-1994 and in a 10 episode TV series in 2001.

Tange Sazen

Tange Samanosuke, a Sōma clan samurai, is attacked and mutilated as a result of betrayal, losing his right eye and right arm, and becomes a nihilistic ronin, using the pseudonym "Sazen". He has been played in numerous films by

Denjirō Ōkōchi was a Japanese film actor best known for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers. Early life and family Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buzen), Fukuoka Pr ...

, Tsumasaburō Bandō,

Ryūtarō Ōtomo (5 June 1912 – 27 September 1985) was a Japanese film and television actor most famous for his starring roles in jidaigeki. In 1936, he made his debut in movies with the film ''Aozura Roshi''. He ended his life by leaping from the top of a b ...

Ryūnosuke Tsukigata was a Japanese actor known especially for his work in jidaigeki in film and television. His real name was Kiyoto Monden. Career Born in Miyagi Prefecture, Tsukigata entered the actor's school at Nikkatsu in 1920, but earned his first starring ro ...

, Kinnosuke Nakamura, and Tetsurō Tanba

Himura Kenshin

Himura Kenshin is the protagonist of the ''

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

series created by

. Kenshin is a former legendary assassin known as "''Hitokiri Battōsai''". Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need, as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. In

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, he meets a young woman named

Kamiya Kaoru , known as Kaoru Kamiya in the Media Blasters English-language dub and Kori Kamiya in the English Sony ''Samurai X'' dub, is a fictional character in the '' Rurouni Kenshin'' manga created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. In the story Kaoru is the instr ...

, who invites him to live in her dojo despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old. The character is portrayed by actor Takeru Satoh in five live-action films adapting the story, such as ''

'', '' Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen'' and '' Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen'' directed by Keishi Ōtomo.

Themes

A samurai film must include samurai warriors, sword fighting, and historical setting. Samurai warriors, in film, are differentiated from other warriors by the code of honor followed to honor the samurai's leader. A samurai must perforce be skilled in warfare and martial arts and ready to defend his honor even to his death. If not able to defend his honor, a samurai may choose to commit self-disembowelment,

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese peop ...

, in order to save reputation or "face". Instead, a samurai may exact vengeance in a case of the loss of someone the samurai cared about, such as occurs in the film '' Harakiri''. In '' Harakiri'', Hanshiro Tsugumo takes revenge on the house of Kageyu Saito for the loss of his adopted son-in-law, who was forced to commit suicide by the house of Kageyu Saito. The house of Kageyu Saito refused to give the son-in-law money. Because he had asked to commit suicide he was forced to perform self-disembowelment, with a remarkable twist not revealed in this discussion. Hanshiro knows an example was unrightfully made of his son-in-law in order to discourage the asking by impoverished samurai for donations from the house of Kageyu. In film, motivation may vary but the samurai's behavior is to maintain honor even in death and is perpetuated by the code of bushido. Also, looking at the historical setting of the film the audience can take cultural context of the samurai in that certain period. For instance the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

(1478–1603) saw Japan torn by civil war as daimyō warlords fought for control of land. In the

Tokugawa period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

(1603–1868), peace from civil war meant there were no wars for the samurai to fight and some samurai became ronin, masterless warriors left to struggle to survive. In the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

(1868–1912), we see a decline of the hereditary existence of the samurai and the rise of westernization. In this period the ideal of the samurai and the code of bushido are popularized into the military warrior's belief. The time frame meant changes in the sorts of conflicts for the samurai to fight and film would capture their resistance against overwhelming odds. A recurring conflict the ideal samurai encounters is the ''

ninjō in Japanese, is human feeling that complements and opposes the value of '' giri'', or social obligation, within the Japanese worldview. Broadly speaking, ''ninjō'' is said to be the human feeling that inescapably springs up with social obliga ...

'' and giri conflict. ''Ninjō'' is the human feeling that tells you what is right and giri is the obligation of the samurai to his lord and clan. The conflict originated from overwhelming control of the

Tokugawa bakufu 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 ...

government over the samurai's behavior. Often samurai would question the morality of their actions and are torn between duty and conscience. This conflict transcends eras in samurai films and can create the perception of the protagonist as being the moral underdog or steadfast warrior. In ''

The Last Samurai ''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 epic period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Ken Watanabe in th ...

'', Katsumoto is no longer of use to his emperor and sentenced to self-disembowelment. He goes against his duty to follow through with his sentence and flees to fight his final rebellion against the central government's army. Ninjo and giri conflict is dynamic to the character of the samurai. The samurai warrior is often synonymous with his or her own sword. Although swordsmanship is an important aspect of warfare, idealizing the samurai and the sword as having a bond is an invented ideal, although it is popularized in many dramas. The

saw a change in the type of warfare, as combat shifted from the bow and arrow to close range combat with handheld weapons, and competitive sword competition. There are a number of themes that occur in samurai film plots. Many feature roaming masterless samurai, seeking work or a place in society. Others are period historical tales of true characters. Others show tales of clan loyalty.

International influence

Western cinema

Initially early samurai films were influenced by the still growing

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...

genre before and during

. Since then both genres have had a healthy impact on one another. Two forefathers of the genre,

and

, were influenced by American film directors such as

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

. A number of western movies have re-told the samurai movie in a Western context, particularly

s. Italian director

's ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...

'' and Walter Hill's '' Last Man Standing'' are both remakes of ''Yojimbo. ''

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

character was modeled to some degree on Mifune's wandering ronin character that appeared in so many of his films. ''

The Hidden Fortress is a 1958 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' adventure film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of two peasants who agree to escort a man and a woman across enemy lines in return for gold without knowing that he is a general and the woman is a pri ...

'' influenced George Lucas when he made ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''. ''Seven Samurai'' has been remade as a

and a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

context film, ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially ...

'' and ''

Battle Beyond the Stars ''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...

''. Other samurai influenced western movies include

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and wa ...

and Toshirō Mifune in ''

Red Sun ''Red Sun'' (french: Soleil rouge, it, Sole rosso) is a 1971 Franco-Italian international co-production Spaghetti Western film directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson, Toshirō Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Capucine ...

'' (1971), David Mamet's '' Ronin'' (with

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission: ...

and

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

), ''

Six-String Samurai ''Six-String Samurai'' is a 1998 American post-apocalyptic action comedy film directed by Lance Mungia and starring Jeffrey Falcon and Justin McGuire. Brian Tyler composed the score for this film along with Red Elvises, the latter providing the m ...

'' (1998) and '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999).White, p. 2. ''Seven Samurai'' was highly influential, often seen as one of the most "remade, reworked, referenced" films in cinema. It made the "assembling the team" trope popular in movies and other media; this has since become a common trope in many action movies and heist films. The visuals, plot and dialogue of ''Seven Samurai'' have inspired a wide range of filmmakers, ranging from

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemb ...

. Elements from ''Seven Samurai'' have been borrowed by many films, with examples including plot elements in films such as ''

Three Amigos ''Three Amigos'' (stylized as ''¡Three Amigos!'') is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film's songs), and starring Chevy Chase, Steve Mart ...

'' (1986) by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), '' National Lampoon's Animal House'' (19 ...

, visual elements in large-scale battle scenes of films such as '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' (2002) and ''

The Matrix Revolutions ''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following '' The Matrix Reloaded''. The film st ...

'' (2003), and borrowed scenes in George Miller's '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (2015). The Zatoichi character was re-made as '' Blind Fury'' in the United States, starring

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

as a blind swordsman living in the modern US. Most recently, ''

'' (2003), the story being loosely based on the true historical French officer

Jules Brunet Jules Brunet (2 January 1838 – 12 August 1911) was a French military officer who served the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War in Japan. Originally sent to Japan as an artillery instructor with the French military mission of 1867, he re ...

assisting Japanese samurai in rebellion against the Emperor.

Hong Kong action cinema

Early '' wu xia'' weapon martial arts films from

Hong Kong action cinema Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong ...

were inspired by Japanese samurai films from the 1940s onwards. By the early 1970s, these ''wu xia'' films had evolved into hand-to-hand

kung fu films Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultu ...

, popularized by

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

. In turn, kung fu films from Hong Kong became popular and influential in Japan from the 1970s onwards.

List of notable films

Actors

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuk ...

Chiyonosuke Azuma was a Japanese actor and dancer. He appeared in more than 40 films from 1954 to 1993. Career Born in Tokyo, Azuma attended the Tokyo University of the Arts, while studying Japanese dance under Bandō Mitsugorō VIII. He joined the Toei studio i ...

* Ryunosuke Tsukigata *

Raizo Ichikawa Raizo or Raizō is a Japanese-origin masculine given name. It is uncommon as a surname. People with the name or its variants include: * Raizo Ichikawa, Japanese film and kabuki actor * Raizo Matsuno was a Japanese politician. Matsuno w ...

Shintaro Katsu was a Japanese actor, singer, and filmmaker. He is known for starring in the ''Akumyo'' series, the ''Hoodlum Soldier'' series, and the ''Zatoichi'' series. Life and career Born Toshio Okumura (奥村利夫 ''Okumura Toshio'') on 29 Novemb ...

* Tomisaburō Wakayama *

Hiroki Matsukata , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor. He was the son of ''jidaigeki'' actor Jūshirō Konoe and actress Yaeko Mizukawa and has a younger brother, Yūki Meguro, who is also an actor. With ex-wife actress Akiko Nishina he had two ...

Tatsuya Nakadai is a Japanese film actor. He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including '' The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus '' Harakiri'', '' Samurai Rebellion'' and '' Kwaidan''. Nakada ...

* Kinnosuke Nakamura * Denjiro Okochi * Ryutaro Otomo *

Hiroyuki Sanada is a Japanese actor and martial artist. He is best known to international audiences for his roles as Genbu in '' Ninja in the Dragon's Den'' (1982), Ryuji Takayama in '' Ring'' (1998), Seibei Iguchi in '' The Twilight Samurai'' (2002), Ujio in ...

* Tetsuro Tamba * Tomisaburo Wakayama *

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nomin ...

Masakazu Tamura was a Japanese film and theatre actor. Profile Masakazu Tamura was born 1 August 1943 in Kyoto, Japan to Japanese actor Tsumasaburō Bandō. Tsumasaburō Bandō died when Tamura was only nine years old. His brothers Takahiro and Ryō are als ...

* Tsumasaburo Bando * Utaemon Ichikawa *

Directors

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 films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

* Daisuke Ito *

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films ''The Burmese Harp (1956 film), The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and ''Fires on the Plain (1959 film), Fires on the Plain'' (1959 ...

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker best remembered for the Academy Award-winning '' Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', which was released in 1954. Career Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining ...

Kaneto Shindo was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...

Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese people, Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater ...

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his '' Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ('' The Twilight Samurai'', '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's j ...

* Sadao Yamanaka *

Tokuzō Tanaka was a Japanese film director. He is well known for directing Zatoichi series and Nemuri Kyōshirō series films. Biography Tanaka graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University. In 1948, he joined the Daiei studio and started working as an assis ...

Kazuo Ikehiro is a Japanese film director. He is known for directing Zatoichi series and the highly acclaimed Malay film Onna Gokuakuchō. In 1950, he joined the Daiei Film and started working as an assistant director under Kenji Mizoguchi etc. In 1960, ...

* Kimiyoshi Yasuda *

Kazuo Mori , also known by his street name , was a Japanese film director who primarily worked in popular genres like the jidaigeki. Mori directed over 100 films in his life. Career Born in Ehime Prefecture, Mori graduated from Kyoto University , m ...

* Sadao Nakajima

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Jidaigeki Renaissance Project

Toei Kyoto Studio Park
* Program for a ''jidaigeki'' film series sponsored by the Yale CEAS and the

National Film Archive of Japan The is an independent administrative institution and one of Japan's seven national museums of art, which specializes in preserving and exhibiting the film heritage of Japan. In its previous incarnation, it was the National Film Center, which was p ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Samurai Cinema Film genres Samurai films Samurai in anime and manga