The best Ken Matsudaira’s history movies

In the Edo period of Japan, a samurai’s life belonged to his lord. On the battlefield or in the home, a loyal samurai must always obey his lord’s commands. This is the tragic story of one such loyal samurai, whose love for his family forced him to make the ultimate choice of disobeying the wishes of his lord.

During the age of warring clans (Sengoku Jidai), many samurai lords sought to unite the country under their banners by becoming the supreme leader. One of the first to vie for power in this way was Saito Dosan, the 'Viper'. His son-in-law, Oda Nobunaga, did in fact unite the nation after subduing all of his enemies, yet falling at last to the treachery of one of his most trusted generals. This story is a pre-cursor to those later events as the brilliant military strategist Saito Dosan rises to power and notoriety as a great lord in his own right. Directed by Kudo Eiichi and with a tremendous supporting cast that includes Nakamura Toru as Oda Nobunaga and Chiba Shinichi as Akechi Mitsutsugu, battle scenes of awesome power and a unique view of Japanese history, this is a marvelous production highlighted by the action scenes done by the Japan Action Club (JAC).

This is a standalone movie, based on the long-running television series about Shogun Yoshimune. When the very foundation of the government is shaken by a counter-feiting scandal, Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune must take to the road as an itinerant ronin in order to find out who's behind the conspiracy. Meanwhile, a woman acting as an avenging angel begins assassin-ating the suspects in the case, causing Yoshimune to not only find his original quarry, but to help her get her revenge against those corrupt individuals that had murdered her family when she was only a child. Matsudaira Ken shines in his most famous role, the 'Roughneck' Shogun who travels the country seeking to stomp out evil and corruption.

With a mixture of drama, warlords, battles, love, tragedy all set with great music, this made for television movie has it all. Showing the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu as portrayed by Matsudaira Ken (Abarenbo Shogun) this stunning portrait of an exciting era shows how the influence of three women played a pivotal role in the formation of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Brilliant performances by Nakamura Atsuo (Cold Wind Monjiro) and Nakamura Tamao (widow of Katsu Shintaro) highlight this production as such notables as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotami Hideyoshi, Lady Sena, Princess Asahi, and Lady Yodo jump from the pages of history all leading up to the Battle of Sekigahara that would change Japan forever!

The tale of Taira Kiyomori who started as a young inexperienced warrior who led the Heike into the battle against the brutal pirates on Setouchi.