A Spectacular Showdown
- Released on
- Runtime
- 114 mins
One of the great stories from Japan’s rich history comes to life in this true tale of the bloody showdown between two rival yakuza gangs in the 1840’s. The battle between Boss Sukegoro of Iioka and Boss Shigezo of Sasagawa has been portrayed many times, most notably in the first Zatoichi film, where the blind man befriends the tubercular ronin Hirate Miki, before cutting him down in one of the great duels in cinema history. This all-star extravaganza pulls out all the stops, with appearances by virtually all of the great actors and actresses from Toei’s studio at the time. Ichikawa Utaemon’s portrayal of the kind-hearted, noble yakuza boss Shigezo of Sasagawa contrasts sharply with the devious Sukegoro of Iioka. Corrupt as he may have been, his men were all willing to give up their lives for him.
One of the great stories from Japan’s rich history comes to life in this true tale of the bloody showdown between two rival yakuza gangs in the 1840’s. The battle between Boss Sukegoro of Iioka and Boss Shigezo of Sasagawa has been portrayed many times, most notably in the first Zatoichi film, where the blind man befriends the tubercular ronin Hirate Miki, before cutting him down in one of the great duels in cinema history. This all-star extravaganza pulls out all the stops, with appearances by virtually all of the great actors and actresses from Toei’s studio at the time. Ichikawa Utaemon’s portrayal of the kind-hearted, noble yakuza boss Shigezo of Sasagawa contrasts sharply with the devious Sukegoro of Iioka. Corrupt as he may have been, his men were all willing to give up their lives for him.
Cast
- Utaemon Ichikawa
- Chiyonosuke Azuma
- Kinnosuke Nakamura
- Koinosuke Onoe
- Kotaro Satomi
- Tomisaburō Wakayama
- Sentarō Fushimi
- Keiko Yukishiro
- Satomi Oka
- Keiko Okawa
- Hiromi Hanazono
- Chizuru Kitagawa
- Hashizo Okawa
- Chiezō Kataoka
- Kazuo Ishii
- Tokinosuke Nakamura
- Masao Hori
- Iwao Daimaru
- Reiji Tsumura
- Akira Tatematsu
- Noboru Umezawa
- Kazutarō Kuni
- Michisaburō Segawa
- Michimaro Otabe
- Kajō Onoe
- Tetsunosuke Tsukigata
- Kyoji Sugi
- Shunji Sakai
- Eijirō Kataoka
- Hibari Misora
- Yumiko Hasegawa
- Eiko Maruyama
- Harue Akagi
- Harumi Matsukaze
- Yachiyo Kirishima
- Yoshiko Yashioji
- Tsukie Matsuura
- Shinobu Chihara
- Kogiku Hanayagi
- Kensaku Hara
- Kusuo Abe
- Sōji Kiyokawa
- Ushio Akashi
- Kinnosuke Takamatsu
- Koji Arima
- Kenji Kusumoto
- Yujiro Omi
- Masanori Takeda
- Hiroshi Kato
- Kōtarō Nirei
- Tokumaro Dan
- Kazuo Tokita
- Yoshio Yoshida
- Shin Tokudaiji
- Kunio Kaga
- Denjirō Ōkōchi
- Kenji Susukida
- Isao Yamagata
- Eitarō Shindō
- Ryūnosuke Tsukigata
- Ryutaro Otomo
- Kodayu Ichikawa
Director
- Yasushi Sasaki
Producers
Screenwriter
- Hajime Takaiwa
