''East Meets West'' is a Japanese

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 id ...

film directed by

Okamoto Kihachi 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 late ...

, and was released in 1995.

Plot

The film starts off with an old man in the desert, and two signs are shown; one marked East, the other West.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

has sent a mission to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In San Francisco, the Japanese are surprised by American culture. One American, Gus Taylor, and his gang steal all the gold from the mission and make their way into the desert. One of the samurai on the mission chases after the gang into the desert. He is joined by a young American boy, Sam, whose father was killed by the gang leader. The group picks up a variety of people along the way to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. The Japanese and the Americans on the trip share parts of their cultures with each other. The group of vigilantes eventually makes it to New Mexico and finds the gang. They take back their stolen gold and return to San Francisco.

Cast

* Christopher Mayer as Gus Taylor *

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 ''T ...

as Kamijo Kenkichi * Scott Bachicha as Sam *

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''. Nakadai wor ...

as Rentaro Katsu *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. Jac ...

as Tommy, Tamejiro *

Ittoku Kishibe , born , is a Japanese actor and musician. Career He originally entered show business as the bassist for the Japanese rock bands, The Tigers and Pyg, but later switched to acting. The veteran of over 115 films, he won the Best Actor Japanese Ac ...

as John Manjiro * Richard Nason as Hutch * Angelique Midthunder as Nantai (as Angelique Roehm) *

Etsushi Takahashi was a Japanese actor from Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture. Takahashi often worked with Kihachi Okamoto and Satsuo Yamamoto. After graduating Rikkyo University, Takahashi joined NHK acting school. In 1964, he joined Bungakuza Theatre Company's act ...

as Kimura *

Jay Kerr Jay Kerr (born November 16, 1948) is an American actor. A native of Del Rio, Texas, he was raised on a ranch, and raced horses, growing up. He has appeared in various movies and television series including his longest role as "Con Madigan" in the ...

as Hardy * David Midthunder as Red Hair

Production

Yoshinobu Nishioka was a Japanese jidaigeki production designer, art director, producer, and set decorater from Asuka, Nara Prefecture who won three Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction. Nishioka joined Daiei Kyoto film in 1948. H ...

- Art director

References

External links

* * 1995 films Films directed by Kihachi Okamoto 1990s Japanese-language films 1995 Western (genre) films Samurai films Jidaigeki films Japanese Western (genre) films Films set in Bakumatsu 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub