Film: The Tragedy of Bushido

Written and directed by newcomer Eitaro Morikawa for Shochiku’s Kyoto studio, The Tragedy of Bushido is the first jidaigekiperiod drama produced by the New Wave. After a clan lord dies, a young samurai in 17th century Japan is forced to follow him in death through ritual suicide in accordance with an archaic bushido custom. Drawing a connection between the oppressive values of absolute fealty within the samurai moral code and the bureaucratic political systems of postwar Japan that continued to place priority on obedience and obligation over individual freedoms, Morikawa gave birth to a new kind of post-Anpo jidaigeki.

1960, 74 min., DCP, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Eitaro Morikawa. With Miki Mori, Hizuru Takachiho, Junichiro Yamashita, Fumio Watanabe.

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