Japan Synopsis
柳生一族の陰謀
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Shogun's Samurai. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Toei Company
Action + Drama in Japan
444 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Action and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Shogun's Samurai itself).
The 1977–1979 Japan Window
Shogun's Samurai holds position #19 of 52 Japan films in the 1977–1979 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1970s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1970s in Japan, 197 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Shogun's Samurai premiered alongside 19 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 19 other Japan films in 1978.
The 486th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
31 audience reviews — more than 51% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (51th percentile) outruns trending popularity (25th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,989 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (57th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Among Japan Action productions specifically: #820 of 1,714 (top 48%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Toei Company |
| Runtime | 2h 10m |
| Release Date | January 21, 1978 |
| IMDb | tt0078513 |