is a 1959 Japanese film directed by

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 t ...

. The film is based on the legends ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and '' Nihon Shoki'' and the origins of ''

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

''. The film was the highest-grossing film of 1959 for Toho and the second highest grossing domestic production in Japan for the year. The film was shown in Japan in 1959 as ''Nippon Tanjo'' (''The Birth of Japan'') with a running time of 182 minutes, but it was released in the United States in December, 1960 as ''The Three Treasures'', edited down to only 112 minutes. It was also shown internationally under the title ''Age of the Gods''.

Plot

''The Three Treasures'' retells the story of the

Yamato Takeru , originally , was a Japanese semi-legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty, son of Emperor Keikō, who is traditionally counted as the 12th Emperor of Japan. His name written in kanji can vary, in the '' Nihon Shoki'' it is spelled 日本武尊 a ...

legend, and features a recounting of the great battle between

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory chara ...

and the legendary dragon Orochi.

Cast

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 Prince Yamato Takeru and

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in ''Drunken Angel'' (1948), ''Rashomon'' (1950), ''Ikiru'' (1952) an ...

as Elder

Kumaso The were a mythical people of ancient Japan mentioned in the '' Kojiki'', believed to have lived in the south of Kyūshū until at least the Nara period. The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya was killed by Yamato Takeru in 397. The name o ...

Kōji Tsuruta , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress. Career Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Tsuruta was raised in ...

as Younger Kumaso *

Nakamura Ganjirō II was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse. Filmography Film Television Honors * 1 ...

Emperor Keikō , also known as and , was the 12th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Keikō's all ...

Akira Takarada was a Japanese film actor best known for his roles in the ''Godzilla'' film series. Life and career Akira Takarada was born in Korea under Japanese rule, and lived for a time in Manchuria, China. His father worked as an engineer on the Sou ...

as Prince Wakatarashi *

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

as Princess Yamato * Ichiro Arishima as Gods of Yaoyorozu *

Yoko Tsukasa is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 17th Blue Ribbon Awards for '' Kinokawa''. She is professor at Tokyo University of Social Welfare and serves as the 2nd head of Nihon Taishōmura theme park. Life Yōko Shōji ...

as Princess Oto Tachibana *

Kyōko Kagawa is a Japanese actress. During her 70 years spanning career, she has worked with directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse, appearing in films such as ''Tokyo Story'', '' Sansho the Bailiff'', ''The Bad Sleep W ...

as Princess Miyazu *

Setsuko Hara Setsuko (written: or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, later of Japan *, actress *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese actress and model *Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (born 1942), Japane ...

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...

Production

Stuart Galbraith IV described the film as a religious epic in the style of director

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

that featured "virtually every star and bit player on the Toho lot".

Release

''The Three Treasures'' was distributed theatrically in Japan by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

on November 1, 1959. The film was Toho's most profitable film of the year and second highest grossing domestic film of 1959. The film was released in the United States by Toho International Company with English-language subtitles on December 20, 1960. This version of the film was cut to 112 minutes.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* * 1959 films 1950s Japanese-language films Japanese epic films Films set in the 2nd century Films directed by Hiroshi Inagaki History of Japan on film Films with screenplays by Ryuzo Kikushima Films based on Japanese myths and legends Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Films produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto Toho films Shinto in popular culture 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub