Mito Komon: Voyage To Ezo (1961).
Tokugawa Mitsukuni was a nephew of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of Japan's Tokugawa Shōgunate (1603-1868), and the daimyo of Mito Domain. After his death in 1701, Mitsukuni-sama's life was fictionalized into a kōdan (an oral story) entitled Mito Mitsukuni Man'yūki, that told of his extensive travels.
The kōdan was dramatized for the stage several times, then became a novel, Mito Komon, a television series in 1951, and numerous films from nearly every studio in Japan.
Mito Komon is a former vice-shōgun and retired daimyo. He is disguised as a commoner, a retired crepe merchant named Mitsuemon. He is accompanied by two young samurai: the mischievous Sasaki Sukesaburo (aka Duke-san), and the more serious Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kaku-san). The three wander Japan, righting wrongs along the way.
The scenarios are always the same: traveling incognito, the trio discover some nefarious plot or wrongdoings. They investigate, expose the evildoer(s), fight and defeat the bad guys, then Mitsuemon reveals his true identity and passes judgement. The three men then head off to find the next problem to solve.
Formulaic, but it works. So well, in fact, that a Mito Komon television series that debuted in 1969 ran for 42 (!!!!!!!!!!!) seasons! All while additional film versions were released to theaters!
Anyhoo, in this film directed by Kunio Watanabe, Daiei Film decided to go all out. The studio's three biggest stars were cast as the heroic trio: Shintaro (Zatoichi) Katsu as Kaku-san, Raizo (Nemuri Kyoshiro) Ichikawa as Suke-san - both cast against type, which I loved - and Kazuo Hasegawa as Mitsuemon.
The story involves the trio taking a trip to the island of Ezo, known now as Hokkaido. There they get involved in some troubles brewing on the island between the native Ainu people, the ruling Matsumae clan, Russian pirates/gunrunners, and all sorts of other shenanigans.
To top it off, Hasegawa-san does double duty as both Lord Ito and the Grand Chief of the Ainu, getting plenty of screen time in bargain.
All in all, quite an enjoyable romp! It left me wanting to see these three actors continuing their adventures across Japan. However, it appears that it's some unwritten tradition that the trio - at least in the films - always be played by different actors (at least that's what I've surmised from my limited research; please correct me if I'm wrong).
In the meantime I'll be hunting down more Mito Komon films. I just learned today that there's a mid-1960s one with the late, great Akira Takarada as Suke-san that I'm eager to watch.
