Movies by Kazuo Mori

The Radiant Prince

The Radiant Prince

Hikaru Genji, the haunted romantic hero of Lady Murasaki Shikibu’s “Genji Monogatari” (Tale of Genji) comes to life in this new tale of his further romantic adventures. Young Genji, the emperor’s illegitimate son cuts a swath through the women of the imperial court, while still mourning the spirit of his late mother who died while he was still a child. Driven to an obsession with the emperor’s new concubine, Lady Fujitsubo, whose resemblance to his late mother originally caught the eye of the emperor, young Genji embarks upon a reckless affa...

The Bored Samurai

The Bored Samurai

Saotome Mondonosuke is Hatamoto (a high-class warrior who is allowed to see the Shogun in person) who has a crescent-moon-shaped scar on his forehead with flashy clothes and a handsome face, and is proficient in all the military arts and called Bored Hatamoto. Mikijiro Hira acts as such a hero in history. Mondonosuke is secretly ordered to look into the suspicious movement in Nagoya castle by the Ometsuke, and he found out about the misconduct and sole it. This is a period movie about the hero!

Three Young Samurai

Three Young Samurai

During Japan's Warring States period three young Tokugawa vassals head their separate ways after Takeda Shingen's forces overran their castle. When they next meet they have all joined opposing sides.

Shinobi No Mono 6: The Last Iga Spy

Shinobi No Mono 6: The Last Iga Spy

[Period covered: 1637-1651] This is one of the most complicated plots of any of the Shinobi no Mono films! This film tells the story of Saizo’s son, Kirigakure Saisuke, who after seeing his father die at the Battle Of Shimabara, grows up to be an expert ninja. Before he dies, “Mist” Saizo tells his children Saisuke, and Yuri that they are not really brother and sister. She, in fact, is the daughter of the late lord Sanada Yukimura, and must be saved from the shogun’s forces. In the chess match of spy versus spy, can Saisuke defeat the shogu...

Shinobi no mono 7: Mist Saizo Strikes Back

Shinobi no mono 7: Mist Saizo Strikes Back

[Period covered: 1616] Kirigakure Saizo (Mist Saizo) returns for the final time as he sets out to assassinate Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to avenge the death of Lord Sanada Yukimura. But first he must contend with Ieyasu’s own ninja group led by the powerful Fuma Daijuro, who has a score to settle with the men of Iga that dates back 280 years to the war between the Genji and the Heike at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura. Tremendous fighting and great plot twists highlight this exceptional look into the lives of the mysterious ninja of Japan.

Samurai Vendetta

Samurai Vendetta

Two amiable samurai wind up on opposite sides of the vendetta between Lord Asano's retainers and the family of Lord Kira that led to the famous revenge of the 47 Ronin.

Vendetta of a Samurai

Vendetta of a Samurai

The famous showdown at Kagiya corner has been told many times, but never before with the realism and intensity of this version scripted by Kurosawa Akira and starring Mifune Toshiro as the famed swordsman who must face his best friend as they are forced to take opposite sides in a vendetta caused by the murder of a family member. Told mostly in flashback as the avengers await the arrival of their quarry, this film displays true heroism in the face of fear as most of the combatants, while of the samurai class are not skilled swordsmen. They c...

Deadly Swords in Search of Hidden Gold

Deadly Swords in Search of Hidden Gold

The secret map of the treasure of Kenzan was stolen out of the house of a former soldier in Awa. A fight over the treasure that the map shows happens among the Rozyu, a Ronin, a thief, and the Hyodo family. Is the treasure there? Who will get it? Masakazu Tamura plays the role of a ronin from Edo, Hayato Arakida, from the Mumyo Tenshin school dojo and a swordmaster working for Lord Awa. The film is based on the original work of Kyotaro Nishimura. A period show with a fierce fight on a raft going down a river and romance.

A Color Print of Edo

A Color Print of Edo

The Color Print of Edo is a 1939 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Kazuo Mori. It is a cheerful period drama, sprinkled with comical scenes and tells the story of a loyal and handsome Edo period servant who fights to help his older brother marry the woman he loves. The star of this film Utaemono Ichikawa gained enormous popularity for his portrayal of a cheerful and chivalrous man.

Mission: Iron Castle

Mission: Iron Castle

The Shinobi-no-Mono series was so successful that Daiei Studios dipped into the well one more time, making the best 60′s B&W ninja movie ever seen in the otherwise color-dominated year of 1970. Issei Mori directs Hiroki Matsukata as the reluctant leader of a small band of spies charged with kidnapping a noblewoman from a heavily ninja-proofed castle. The finality of the air slowly began to fill like smoke, and in all that had become dark the loyalty of the Ninja who dared to go shone like light as they entered a world shrouded in mystery...

The Old Temple Well

The Old Temple Well

Features a haunted well with yet another blind masseur's vengeful ghost.

The Curse of the Ghost

The Curse of the Ghost

About 1786 the doings of a demented lord results in many masterless samurai, including Iyemon (Kei Sato) who is used to luxury and cannot adjust to the hand-to-mouth conditions & piecework of umbrella making. Having hired ruffians to make him look like a superior swordsman, he arranges for himself the opportunity of a profitable marriage. He hires the half-blind masseur Takuetsu (Sawamura Sounosuke) to seduce or rape his wife (Kyoko Mikage), so that she can be divorced or killed for adultery. But the masseur takes pity & informs Oiwa of her ...

The King and His Vassal 2 - The Great Riot of Edo

The King and His Vassal 2 - The Great Riot of Edo

The fish market is to be moved to Shinagawa, and Tasuke Isshin (Jun Inoue) got in trouble. Hikosaemon Ookubo (Eijiro Tono) heard of it from Tasuke, and ask about it to Iemitsu (Ken Tanaka). However, on the contrary, Hikosaemon received penitence for a bribe that he doesn't know.

The King and His Vassal

The King and His Vassal

This is a story of "Takechiyo," the previous name of Iemitsu Tokunaga, the third Shogun (General). Takechiyo got sick of daily run-of-the-mill tasks, and it put him off being the Shogun, saying "there is no truth". Then, Hikozaemon Ookubo took him to Tasuke Isshin to bring him up into a full-fledged and admirable man.

The Saga of Tanegashima

The Saga of Tanegashima

Well before “Shogun” as warring clans were fighting for power throughout Japan, a Portuguese vessel ran aground off Tanegashima. Lord Tokitaka helped Captain Pinto repair his ship. The grateful captain offered the lord a gift--a matchlock musket—the first firearm ever seen in Japan. But like a great stone hurled into placid waters, this simple gift will start a revolution. Tokitaka tasks Kinbei, his greatest swordsmith, to copy this musket and build guns for Japan. While Kinbei struggles to forge Japan’s first musket, a great love blooms bet...

Lord Tadanao

Lord Tadanao

Lord Nobunaga's Early Days

Lord Nobunaga's Early Days

Yataro’s Travel Hat

Yataro’s Travel Hat

Sleepy Eyes of Death 13: The Full Moon Swordsman

Sleepy Eyes of Death 13: The Full Moon Swordsman

Inspector General Kanjuro Sano conspires with the future shogun twin brother. They replace Ieyoshi Tokugawa with his twin, but it becomes a problem when suspicion arises and Nemuri Kyoshiro gets involved.