53 Stages of the Road

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a samurai and family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the low pay he receives from his small-town clan. He is forced by his love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.

Runtime

2h 17m

Director

Yojiro Takita

Cast

Kiichi Nakai, Koichi Sato, Yui Natsukawa

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting H...

Runtime

2h 15m

Director

Masaki Kobayashi

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroyin...

Runtime

1h 36m

Director

Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast

Machiko Kyō, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.

Runtime

1h 31m

Director

Takashi Koizumi

Cast

Akira Terao, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Shirō Mifune

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he ...

Runtime

2h 7m

Director

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Cast

Junichi Okada, Rie Miyazawa, Arata Furuta