is a 1968

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 ...

ese yakuza film directed by

Kōsaku Yamashita was a Japanese film director who specialized in directing Yakuza films. Yamashita was nicknamed ''Shōgun''. His son is director Tomohiko Yamashita. In 1952, He graduated from Kyoto University and joined Toei Film. He was working an office jo ...

. It stars

Junko Fuji , known professionally as , is a Japanese actress. She began acting in the 1960s under the name , becoming famous as the female lead in yakuza films opposite such stars as Kōji Tsuruta and Ken Takakura. She even starred in her own series as the s ...

. She landed the lead role for the first time in the film and The Valiant Red Peony was a big hit. The Valiant Red Peony is the first episode in the Valiant Red Peony aka Hibotan Bakuto film series. Oryū's father is a head of the Yano clan (yakuza boss), but is assassinated by someone. Oryū dissolves the Yano clan and she goes on a journey to find the person who killed her father.

Cast

as Oryū *

Tomisaburo Wakayama , born Masaru Okumura (奥村勝),Leous, G. (''c.'' 2003)Tomisaburo WakayamaRetrieved on May 23, 2010. was a Japanese actor best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling, 19th-century '' ronin'' warrior in the six ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' samura ...

as Torasaka Kumakichi * Kyosuke Machida as Fujimi no Fujimatsu *

Rinichi Yamamoto was a Japanese actor from Hokkaido. In 1953, he signed to the Toei Company and made his film debut in ''Gakusei Goninotoko''. He is most famous for playing villains and appeared more than 200 films. He also had many guest appearances as a villai ...

as Fugushin * Nijiko Kiyokawa as Otaka * Isamu Dobashi as Minagawa * Yuriko Mishima as Kimika * Masaru Shiga as Kame * Kōjirō Kawanami as Tajima * Masako Araki as Otatsu * Kunio Hikita as Takizawa * Yaeko Wakamizu as Kumasaka * Kyōnosuke Murai as Senzō Yano *

Minoru Ōki was a Japanese actor. His notable film appearances were ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' films, ''Stakeout'', and ''Not Forgotten''. Ōki started working as a shooting assistant at the Nikkatsu Tamagawa studio at the age of 16. In 1951, he made his film d ...

as Gōzō Kakui *

Shingo Yamashiro was a Japanese television and film actor. Biography Yamashiro, who was originally from Kyoto, Japan, was born , but used Shingo Yamashiro as his stage name. He made his film acting debut in 1957. Yamashiro starred in the television series '' H ...

as Kichitarō *

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 Genzō Iwatsu * Ken Takakura as Katagiri Naoji

Film series

* ''The Valiant Red Peony Pt.2'' directed by

Norifumi Suzuki , was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the ''Torakku Yarō'' series. Biography Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subse ...

(1968) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Flower Cards Match'' directed by

Tai Kato was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was best known for making yakuza films at the Toei Company in 1960s. Biography Born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Kato was the nephew of the film director Sadao Yamanaka. He entered the Toho studio in ...

(1969) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Pt.4'' directed by

Shigehiro Ozawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He directed more than thirty films and is best known for his film ''The Street Fighter''. He directed in over 110 films between 1954 and 1976. Selected filmography * ''Kunisada Chūji'' (1958) * ''T ...

(1969) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Pt.5'' directed by Kōsaku Yamashita (1969) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Gambles Her Life'' or ''The Valiant Red Peony Gamble Oryu’s Return'' directed by Tai Kato (1970) * ''The Valiant Red Peony: You are Dead'' directed by Tai Kato (1971) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Pt.8'' directed by Buichi Saitō (1972)

References

External links

The Valiant Red Peony at Toei
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiant Red Peony 1968 films 1960s Japanese-language films 1960s Japanese films Toei Company films Films about hanafuda Films set in the 19th century Yakuza films Films scored by Takeo Watanabe