Yanosuke Maejima
A newly hired daily newspaper writer covering the society beat receives an assignment to cover Tokyo at night by walking and observing it. He gets into the right frame of mind by dressing the part as a vagrant with not a penny to his name. He gets into trouble ending up at the police station slammer overnight. He has no material to write about and, with his assignment unfulfilled, faces a cross editor.
Jidai-geki by Ryo Hagiwara
After learning that he has accidentally killed a man in a fight, Unokichi must look after the man's pregnant widow.
In A Tale of Archery, young, timid bowmaster Kazuma (Akitake Kôno) seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumored, drove the previous champion (Kazuma’s father) to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is also very much a coward, holing himself up in an inn run by the kindly Okinu (Kinuyo Tanaka) and generally avoiding confrontation of any sort. Despite his clandestine manner, enough of the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He is saved by Karatsu Kanbei (Kazuo Hasegawa), a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it soon becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has several potentially shady ulterior motives.
The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.
War-time jidaigeki by Eisuke Takizawa. Didn't find anything about it online, but Takizawa was a well-regarded director in his time. Akira Kurosawa worked as A.D. on several of his films.
Set in Qingdao, China, a Japanese company locates an office there and begins work and cooperation with a local Chinese company for business. Many Japanese engineers also move to China, with their families, for the company in order to construct a canal. There are young Chinese resisting the Japanese in this area.
Sôtarô Komatsubara
This epic depicts the battle between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The focus of the story is the struggle by the unit leader in charge of the main supply wagons and the supply troops to transport materiel to the Uesugi army. To this are added episodes involving an itinerant woman.
The story is based on the serial novel by Tsunoda Kikuo.
The story is based on the serial novel by Tsunoda Kikuo.
Feature film.
Jidaigeki from 1940
Wartime propaganda filmed by the Japanese in occupied China, Shirley Yamaguchi portrays an orphan rescued from the streets by a kindly Japanese merchant marine officer. Part spy thriller and part Shanghai travelogue, it was part of a popular series known as "Chinese Continental Friendship" made by the occupying Japanese in China.
This film attempts to reconstruct the tension of the Battle of Shanghai through an episode in an understated way, introducting its story in a documentary mode. In the film story, Japan's marine regiment protects Japanese residents and Chinese refugees-women and young children-from rampant street fighting, Shanhai Rikusentai unsparingly uses its first eight minutes for an official-mannered self-justification of the war. From the viewpoint of explaining Japan's military operation,the narration refers to the city s spatial division in sync with maps on screen.
Japanese film.
Pre-war jidaigeki film from 1936, produced by Uzumasa Hassei Eiga studios
Shigetao Kurahashi
Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi
The sequel to the 1935 film Great Bodhisattva Pass
Kinshiro takes over the family, but he thinks he is going to replace the son of his stepmother but runs into trouble when he befriends the yakuza.
A man gets rid of a cheap pot without knowing it contains a map to a treasure. As word spreads, many join in hunting it.
Japanese historical film.
