Wind of the Ryūkyū Islands

Idaten: Tokyo Olympics Story

2019

Traces Japan’s history with the Olympic games and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics for viewers before Tokyo hosts the event again in 2020. The first half tells the story of marathon runner Kanakuri Shiso, who became one of the first Japanese nationals to participate in the Olympics in Stockholm in 1912. The second half features Tabata Masaji, the coach who laid the foundations of Japanese swimming and helped bring the games to Tokyo for the first time in 1964.

Ryoma ga Yuku

1968

The chronicles of Sakamoto Ryoma, a pre-revolutionary who helped shape the face of modern Japan. In order to study swordsmanship, Ryoma heads for Edo where he meets many people who influence his thinking. He becomes close friends with men like Katsu Kaishu and Saigo Takamori and later establishes a naval training school in Kobe. Ryoma's controversial political views make him a target for shogunate assassins but his fervent belief in a classless society helps forge the Choshu-Satsuma alliance which ultimately brings about the Meiji Restoration.

Toge no Gunzo

1982

Kusa Moeru

1979

The story chronicles the life of Hōjō Masako during the Kamakura Period.

Kashin

1977

Centered around Masujiro Omura, who became a commander for the Choshu clan, and founded the modern Japanese millitary system.

Kunitori Monogatari

1973

Set in Japan several centuries back. It depicts the struggles of three historical warriors, Dosan Saito, Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi.

Shin Heike Monogatari

1972

Set at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era where clandestine liaisons among courtiers and the upper classes were common.

Mominoki wa Nokotta

1970

Depicting Date clan’s internal strife that occurred during a peaceful Edo period governed by the 4th Tokugawa shogun.