Japan Synopsis
風林火山
Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big?
Other Titles From TOHO
Action + War in Japan
52 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Action and War genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Samurai Banners itself).
The 1968–1970 Japan Window
Among 65 Japan films we catalog from this window, Samurai Banners places #8 — near the top of its class.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1960s in Japan, 202 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Samurai Banners premiered alongside 25 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 25 other Japan films in 1969.
The 307th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
14 audience reviews — more than 23% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 10th percentile among Japan films.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,303 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (72nd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.6 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Action productions specifically: #570 of 1,714 (top 33%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | TOHO, Mifune Productions |
| Runtime | 2h 45m |
| Release Date | March 1, 1969 |
| IMDb | tt0064353 |