Minoru Takase

Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo

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.

A Page of Madness

A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.

Priest of Darkness

A boy steals a knife from an old samurai, unaware of its value, setting off a strange chain of events.

Crossroads

After falling in love with a courtesan, Rikiya is blinded by ash during a fight in a brothel. Believing the blindness permanent and his opponent dead, Rikiya goes back home to his sister. Okiku, desperate to protect her brother who thinks himself a murderer, wants to sacrifice herself for him and become a prostitute to pay for Rikiya's treatment.

Travelling Actors

This film depicts a troupe of wandering kabuki players traveling through rural Japan.

Jirokichi the Rat

Jirokichi the Rat is wanted in Edo for robbing the mansions of the rich. While on the run, he falls for Osen, a girl who has been sold to a brothel by her criminal brother, Nikichi. When he goes to find Nikichi, Jirokichi immediately falls for Okino, a poor girl who is also under threat from Nikichi.

A Man's Flower Road of Triumph

The Greatest Man in the World

In the midst of the depression, two ronin rack their brains to come up with a dishonest scheme. Taking a man from the countryside, they fashion him into Ise Isenokami, the finest swordsman under the sun. Pretending to be his followers, they visit various sword fighting dojo. Out of fear upon hearing the name Isenokami, they pay him off and do not let him enter their training halls. The impostor eventually comes face to face with the real Isenokami after rescuing his daughter, Oyae, who is caught up in a minor incident.

Bangaku no issho

Yamanaka Sadao's fourth feature film. The Life of Bangaku

The Best Lord in Japan

At the residence of a feudal lord in a mountain province, a young lord, accompanied by his vassals and courtiers, listens to the rokyoku singer Toraizo at a leisurely pace. The title of the play is "Notes of Lord Mito's Travels. This play caused great turmoil in the feudal lord's house. The young lord was more impressed than anyone else by Lord Mito's benevolent management and actions, but he made the mistake of trying to follow in his footsteps...