is a

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

period film 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 ...

directed by

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 ...

. It depicts the story of the

forty-seven Ronin 47 (forty-seven) is the natural number following 46 and preceding 48. It is a prime number. In mathematics Forty-seven is the fifteenth prime number, a safe prime, the thirteenth supersingular prime, the fourth isolated prime, and the sixth L ...

(''

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 ...

''). The film is one of a series of period films by Fukasaku starring

Yorozuya Kinnosuke (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 ...

, including ''

Shogun's Samurai ''Shogun's Samurai'', known in Japan as , is a 1978 Japanese historical martial arts period film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The film is the first of two period films by Fukasaku starring Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba as Jūbei Mitsuyoshi Yagyū, the o ...

''. 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 Lord Yanagisawa sends Kira to Yonezawa. Hashimoto and Horibe of the Asano clan hastily choose to ambush him en route against orders but are stopped by spies and other members of their clan and Hashimoto is injured. Yanagisawa dispatches three criminals to kill Oishi, the only perceived threat. Oishi divorces his wife and sends her and their younger children to her father's home but keeps his eldest son and heir Chikara with him. The three attackers enter Oishi's house and attack but the ronin Fuwa, who is living in the woods near his former master Oishi's home, intervenes and kills them, saving Oishi and Chikara. Lord Kira's attendant Kobayashi Heihachiro attempts to slay Oishi but kills a different man who happens to be sleeping in his room. Kobayashi visits Hashimoto, who is unable to work due to his leg injury, forcing his wife into prostitution. Kobayashi offers him 50 ryo to reveal the location of Oishi. Hashimoto refuses and attacks with his sword but is overpowered. Kobayashi leaves the money and says that he already knows that Oishi is in Edo. When Kira goes to Uesugi mansion in Sakurada, Oishi tells the clan that the raid will take place the following night. Jujiro delivers the message to Hashimoto, who is now unable to fight and angrily draws his sword on his fellow clan member delivering the message. His wife stabs him in an attempt to stop him and he kills her as well, proclaiming that it is Oishi's fault for waiting too long, then he kills himself. Jujiro brings their infant daughter to Oishi. The Ako warriors descend on an inn where Kira is sleeping following a tea ceremony. Fuwa defeats Kobayashi after a long battle, then they search the house for those who are hiding. Kira is found and they blow a whistle to summon Oishi, who kills him. Asano's wife is told of their success and she is overcome with regret that 47 ronin have now sacrificed themselves for one man. Yanagisawa views their act as an attack on the infallibility of the shogunate and sentences them all to seppuku but the shogunate also abolishes the name Kira.

Cast

Ōishi Kuranosuke Oishi may refer to: * Ōishi (surname), a Japanese surname * Oishi (Philippine brand), a snack company from the Philippines * Oishi Group, a Thai food-and-drink company * Ōishi Station is a railway station on the Hanshin Electric Railway Main ...

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 Fuku ...

as Fuwa Kazuemon *

Tsunehiko Watase (July 28, 1944 – March 14, 2017) was a Japanese actor known for portraying Rintaro Kano in ''Keishicho Sosa Ikka 9 Gakari'' ("Homicide Team 9"). He won the award for best supporting actor at the 2nd Japan Academy Prize for '' The Incident'' an ...

as Kobayashi Heihachiro *

Masaomi Kondo Masaomi (written: 正臣 or 将臣) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese general {{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine given names ...

as Hashimoto Heizaemon *

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'', and '' ...

as Tsuchiya Michinao *

Kyōko Enami was a Japanese film and television actress. Career Enami was the daughter of the actress Kazuko Enami. She joined the Daiei Film studio in 1959 and made her screen debut in 1960 with ''Ashita kara otona da''. Her first starring role as Noboriry� ...

as Ukibashi *Mitsuteru Nakamura as Date Muratoyo *

Shinsuke Mikimoto was a Japanese actor. His credits include at least fifty films, as well as numerous television appearances, in a career that spanned several decades.His real name is Syuichi Suzuki.The Suzuki family on his father's side is a family that served a ...

as Tsuchiya Masanao *

Teruhiko Saigō was a Japanese singer and actor. As a singer, he was known as one of the three "''Gosanke''" (referring to ''gosanke'', the three great Tokugawa houses), along with Yukio Hashi and Kazuo Funaki. The stage name was based on the Meiji Restoration ...

as Asano Takumi no Kami *

Nobuo Kaneko was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yatsuko Tanami. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1950 and 1993. Career Kaneko was a versatile character actor, playing roles ranging from comedic buffoons to hardened yakuza bosses. He is es ...

as Kira Kōzukenosuke *

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 tw ...

as Denhachiro Tamon *

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, t ...

as Yozeiin *

Mariko Okada is a Japanese stage and film actress who starred in films of directors Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and others. She was married to film director Yoshishige Yoshida. Biography Okada was born the daughter of silent film actor ...

as Ōishi Riku *

Sanae Nakahara Sanae Nakahara (Japanese: 中原早苗; July 31, 1935 – May 15, 2012) was a Japanese actress from Tokyo. She starred in over 80 films and television shows, the most prominent being her role in the films Lady Snowblood (1973), Yagyu Clan Conspi ...

as Todano Tsubone *

Ken Nishida is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is noted for his roles in ''Return of Ultraman'',西田健
at JMDB (Retrieved on May ...

as Asano Daigaku *

Junkichi Orimoto was a Japanese actor. Orimoto often worked with Kinji Fukasaku and Sadao Nakajima. He started his acting career at the Shinkyō theatre company in 1949. His first film appearance was in the 1952 film ''Yamabiko Gakkō'' directed by Tadashi Imai. ...

as Izeki Tokubei *

Kyoko Enami was a Japanese film and television actress. Career Enami was the daughter of the actress Kazuko Enami. She joined the Daiei Film studio in 1959 and made her screen debut in 1960 with ''Ashita kara otona da''. Her first starring role as Noboriry� ...

as Ukihashi *Jun Fujimaki as Okajima *Runtarō Mine as Hayami Toemon *

Toru Minegishi is a Japanese video game composer known for his work on Nintendo games, most notably in ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Splatoon'' series. He was raised in a musical family and developed an interest in video games and their music from an early ag ...

as Horibe Yasubei *

Minori Terada is a Japanese voice actor and actor. Life and career Terada was born in Tokyo, as first son of Masaaki Terada, a famous painter. In 1961, Terada begun to be an actor. Terada is known as a villain, such as Alien Metron in ''Ultraman Max'', an ...

as Otaka Gengo *

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 * ''Story ...

as Uchikawa Magozaemon *Naruse Masashi as Okano Kingoemon *Yoshirō Aoki as Ueda Mondo * Tatsuo Endō as Yoshida Chuzaemon *

Mieko Harada is a Japanese actress from Tokyo. She has played various roles in many motion pictures, television shows and television dramas since her debut in 1974. Career Harada most notably portrayed Lady Kaede in Akira Kurosawa's 1985 film ''Ran'', and ...

as Hatsune Hatsu *

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as Hazama Jujirō *

Ryo Tamura Ryo may refer to: * Ryō, a gold currency unit in pre-Meiji Japan Shakkanhō system * Ryō (actress) (born 1973), Japanese model, actress, and singer * Ryō (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Ryo, Georgia Ryo is an unincorporated communit ...

as Uesugi Noritsuna *

Hiroshi Miyauchi is a Japanese actor and singer from Chiba Prefecture. Miyauchi graduated from Nihon University. In 1969, he signed with Toei Company and made his film debut with ''Nagasaki Blues''. He first attracted attention after landing a role in a televisio ...

as Kayano Sanppie * Seizo Fukumoto as Spy *

Takuya Fujioka was a Japanese actor. He is most famous for playing the role of Daikichi Okakura on the television drama series '' Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari''. Fujioka attended Kwansei Gakuin University but dropped out because of illness. His first starring r ...

as Ōno Kurobei *

Go Wakabayashi Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position l ...

as Araki *

Hideji Otaki Hideji (written: 秀治, 秀司 or ひで次) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese writer and playwright *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese actor {{given name Japane ...

Mikio Narita was a Japanese actor. He was most famous for playing villains. He often worked with Kinji Fukasaku. Narita graduated from Haiyuza Theatre Company acting school and joined Daiei Film. His career as a screen actor started in 1963. His film debut ...

as Katō Etchu *

Tetsurō Tamba was a Japanese actor with a career spanning five decades. He is best known in the West for his role in the 1967 James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice'' as Tiger Tanaka. Biography Tamba had a part-time job as an interpreter at Supreme Commande ...

as Yanagisawa

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Of Ako Castle, The 1978 films 1978 martial arts films 1970s Japanese-language films Films about the Forty-seven Ronin Films directed by Kinji Fukasaku Films set in castles Films set in the 1700s Films set in Edo Films set in Hyōgo Prefecture Films set in Kyoto Films set in the Edo period Jidaigeki films Samurai films Toei Company films 1970s Japanese films