#jigaigeki

[chernobog13]

The first Mito Kōmon film from Toei, 1957's Lord Mito (aka Lord Mito 1).

Starring Ryunosuke Tsukigata as the retired vice shōgun who wanders the countryside righting wrongs, with Kinnosuke Nakamura and Chiyonosuke Azura as his faithful bodyguards/attendants Suke and Kaku. Mito Kōmon is a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, an historical figure who was the shōgun's uncle.

I know there were at least three films in the Toei series. Other studios produced their own Mito Komon films, including one from Daiei that co-starred Shintaro (Zatoichi) Katsu and Raizo (Sleepy Eyes of Death) Ichikawa as Suke and Kaku.

The character was so popular that it spawned a Japanese television series that ran continuously from 1969 to 2011, for a total of 1,227 episodes.

[chernobog13]

A chicken on his horsey.

[chernobog13]

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)

Tomisaburo Wakayama as Yoshiro, a one-armed swordsman who wants revenge for Zatoichi cutting his arm off in a duel.

Yoshiro, it is revealed, is Zatoichi's older brother, and the two fought over a woman they both loved. The woman left Zatoichi when she learned he had gone blind. She then took up with Yoshiro , but left him after he was maimed in the duel.

In reality, Wakayama-san was the older brother of Shintaro Katsu, the actor who played Zatoichi in 26 films (of which this one is the second) and 100 television episodes.

Wakayama-san, who had quite an extensive career in film and television himself, would return as another bad guy in the sixth Zatoichi film, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964).

[whereisko]

Absolutely love period action dramas and Throne of Blood was epic! @deptfordcinema 📽🍿🇯🇵⚔️ #noh #film #cinema #deptford #jigaigeki #macbeth #kurosawa (at Deptford Cinema)