Film / Shogun's Samurai

A 1978 Japanese Historical Martial Arts Drama known as The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy in Japan. directed by Kinji Fukasaku that deals with the death of the second Tokugawa Shogun and the fight to take his place.

The movie stars Kinnosuke Yorozuya, Shinichi Chiba, Hiroki Matsukata, Teruhiko Saigo, Reiko Ohara, Yoshio Harada, Isuzu Yamada, and Toshiro Mifune. It was released on January 21, 1978.

Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa government, has died suddenly and unexpectedly, throwing the government and power players of Japan into chaos. Everyone knows Hidetada had favored his younger son Tadanaga, but due to having died without formally naming a successor, the rules would demand the eldest son, Iemitsu, become the next shogun.

Nevertheless most of the powerful lords and retainers in the shogun's court and his scheming mother favor Tadanaga, and suspecting foul play (correctly as it turns out, since Hidetada was poisoned by the few retainers at court who favor Iemitsu), they rally to try to put Tadanaga in power. Iemitsu turns out to have a powerful ace in the hole however, as his teacher Yagyu Munenori, the patriarch of the ambitious and influential Yagyu clan, backs Iemitsu completely, and is willing to utterly devote both the fighting abilities of himself and his clan (most notably his formidable son Jubei), and more importantly, Munenori's brilliant and often unethical schemes and strategies to Iemitsu's cause.

Additional factions soon come out of the woodwork, as everyone from scheming nobles in the Emperor's court hoping for the shogunate to fall and a return to Imperial dominance, disaffected samurai out of a job in the early days of the Tokugawa reign, various ninja clans, an old rival of Munenori's, and still others get swept into the conflict.

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Tropes for the film:

• Action Girl:
  • Yagyu Akane, a daughter of Munenori and Jubei's younger sister, is a capable fighter who charges into battle and assassinations as eagerly as any of the male warriors. In the second attempt to assassinate Lord Doi, she manages to catch and kill him when he attempts to flee the ambush, although at the cost of her own life.
  • Mon, a female ninja of the Negoro who is newly initiated, catches the eye of Munenori, who puts her in Iemitsu's harem to act as a secret bodyguard. She manages to help foil an assassination attempt.
• Agent Peacock: The nobility, especially Lord Ayamaro, purposefully dress, speak, paint their faces, and act in a way that the samurai, including Jubei and other members of the Yagyu family, deride as weak and unmanly. They're also ruthless plotters looking to snatch power back from the samurai even if it incites a massive civil war, and Ayamaro is a deadly swordsman who kills one of Yagyu's sons and has Akane on the ropes during the first assassination attempt on Lord Doi.
• Alliterative Name: Tokugawa Tadanaga, the former shogun's second son who seems destined to become the next shogun.
• Alliterative Title: The international title, Shogun's Samurai.
• Cavalry Refusal: After the False Flag Operation that implicates Tadanaga in the death of the Emperor's envoy, he locks himself in his fortress and initially withstands a siege from Iemitsu's forces, intending to fight, hoping to hold out until the daimyo allied to him rally to help him. However his uncle Yohshinao, the Lord of Owari, arrives to try to talk Tadanaga into surrendering, and reveals that virtually all of the daimyo who had proclaimed loyalty to Tadanaga have now backed off and aren't coming, not even the powerful and influential Lord Date, who earlier in the film had arranged for his daughter to marry Tadanaga. Realizing that the only thing continuing to fight will do is get his followers killed, Tadanaga surrenders.
• The Chessmaster: Munenori is a skilled plotter who is largely responsible for Iemitsu's successes, often plotting several steps in advance of events. His one great flaw is that he's a man with little emotion and empathy, and as such does not really anticipate emotional responses to the drastic measures which he takes. This comes back to bite him at the end of the film.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Jubei wins several fights in brutal and overwhelming fashion.
  • When he duels Lord Ayamaro, who previously killed one of his brothers and forced his Action Girl sister Akane to retreat from battle to avoid being killed as well, Jubei approaches Ayamaro and takes off his hat, which has a blade hidden in the brim. He throws it at Ayamaro, who bats it aside, but is briefly blinded by light being reflected off the hidden blade. Ayamaro slashes wildly at Jubei, who calmly breaks Ayamaro's sword and then cuts down a helpless Ayamaro.
  • When Jubei reveals to Munenori that he has killed Iemitsu, Jubei cuts off Munenori's hand as Munenori is drawing his blade.
• The Dragon: Yagyu Munenori for Iemitsu, while Lord Doi is the most prominent of the lords and advisors supporting Tadanaga until the Yagyu succeed in ambushing and assassinating Doi about halfway through the film.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Yagyu Munenori is the most powerful backer of Tokugawa Iemitsu, is a great swordsman while Iemitsu never fights (although Iemitsu furiously attempts to get in on the fighting when an assassin tries to kill him), and is responsible for most of Iemitsu's success.
• False Flag Operation: The fate of the Tokugawa brothers is decided when Munenori incites a group of ronin into attacking the procession which Iemitsu and an Imperial envoy are part of as they travel to Kyoto. The ronin believe they've received Tadanaga's blessing to do so and are given supply of guns, but the officials and leaders giving them the guns and telling them where to attack are agents of Munenori and the Negoro. Furthermore Iemitsu isn't even in the procession they attack, the Imperial envoy is killed by the ronin (which will turn the Emperor and the lords against Tadanaga), and the ronin fooled into trying to ambush Iemitsu are slaughtered in turn. This makes it look like Tadanaga attempted to directly assassinate his brother and succeeded only in killing an Imperial envoy, causing an enormous shock throughout the country and drastically weakening Tadanaga's position. It grants Iemitsu a clear path to formally ascend to being shogun and Tadanaga is forced to commit seppuku shortly afterward.
• Fictionalized Death Account:
  • The movie begins with Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, dying 8 years before his historical death of a sudden illness (actually he is poisoned by retainers loyal to his oldest son, who they feared would be passed over to be the next shogun), creating a brief but bitter succession crisis between the oldest son Iemitsu and Tadanaga, a younger and more talented brother who had been favored by his parents.
  • As in real life, Tadanaga dies by committing seppuku, but it happens earlier than in real life due to the earlier death of his father and the Succession Crisis between himself and Iemitsu.
  • Genshinsai, Munenori's personal rival, is based on a real person, but dies in the film almost 20 years before his historical counterpart.
  • The film ends with Jubei killing Iemitsu just as he takes up the title of shogun, in revenge for the schemes of Iemitsu and his father resulting in many of his friends dying. The film closes with narration saying that this is, of course, impossible, as historically Iemitsu was shogun for almost twenty years and the Tokugawa shogunate continued for over two hundred years after the events depicted... unless the history we know is a lie...
• Fighting for a Homeland: The Negoro lost their homeland decades before the events of the film, and fight entirely on the hope that they will get it back once again. As they are friendly with Jubei (who lived and trained among them), they side with the Yagyu and Iemitsu on the promise of that their old lands and territory will be return to them. Unfortunately for them, near the end of the film their role in tricking the ronin into attacking the procession of Iemitsu and the Imperial envoy threatens to expose and undo all of Munenori's plans, so he attempts to have them wiped out to cover his tracks.
• Foreshadowing: Sanza can tell from just a short interaction with Munenori that the Yagyu patriarch, as brilliant as he might be, has no clue about the extremes people will go to due to love and emotion. This is what undoes all his plans, not anticipating how his son Jubei will react to the slaughter of his friends the Negoro, who are slaughtered on a whim to cover up Munenori's schemes.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The film starts off as this; while Tadanaga is probably the more sympathetic of the brothers, there are sympathetic characters on both sides of the conflict, and Iemitsu does have some humanizing moments. It turns more towards Black-and-Gray Morality at the end, as Iemitsu becomes consumed by ambition, and Munenori ruthlessly slaughters even valuable and loyal allies to secure Iemitsu's place as shogun.
• Honor Thy Parent: Iemitsu briefly flies into a rage at the retainers loyal to him who poisoned his father, but is quickly talked out of punishing them and takes advantage of their scheme, violating the traditional values of filial piety in all sorts of ways. Near the end of the film he prays to his father, admitting that he did not avenge his father's death as the morality of the time says that he should, and that he doesn't regret doing so, wondering if his father's spirit has anything to say to him for that. Cue a furious Jubei, who has a major bone to pick with his father and Iemitsu due to the way they threw away the lives of his ninja friends, showing up to speak to Iemitsu just after he asked that question. In the following scene, Jubei presents Iemitsu's severed head to his father. Apparently that was the karmic answer from Iemitsu's father.
• Hot-Blooded: Iemitsu can be a hot head and quick to anger, although gradually Munenori's influence starts turning him into more of a plotter.
• Kingmaker Scenario: Two figures who either mostly sit out the conflict or have others acting on their behalf are potential king makers, The Emperor and Tokugawa Yoshinao.
  • The Emperor is an offscreen figure who is mostly a figurehead... mostly. Despite being relatively powerless in practical and military matters, he is still revered and everyone still has to at least claim that everything they do is for his benefit. As such, even though neither brother was named the heir by the old shogun, the Emperor could choose one or the other and put an end to the whole thing. However, the Imperial Court attempts pitting the two brothers against each other, hoping to weaken them both and the samurai dominance enough to potentially regain greater power. When Imperial plotting is foiled and Tadanaga disgraced, the Emperor does eventually endorse Iemitsu offscreen.
  • Tokugawa Yoshinao is an uncle of the two brothers, and as the Lord of Owari, one of the more powerful daimyo around. While he mostly stays out of the conflict between his nephews, he does talk Tadanaga into surrendering during The Siege, and later threatens to come down on Yagyu and Iemitsu if the story that they were behind the attack on Iemitsu's procession is proven, leading Munenori to order the slaughter of the Negoro in order to prevent the story from being corroborated. He ultimately does relatively little, but he has the power to do so, and even Iemitsu and Munenori tread carefully around him. (This is likely why Toshiro Mifune was cast for a relatively minor role, just to bring a presence which suggests that he cannot be crossed with impunity.)
• Leave No Witnesses:
  • After defeating the ronin who attempted to kill Iemitsu, the troops are ordered to make sure they're all dead. At the very least they miss Sanza, and possibly other wounded survivors.
  • Munenori orders the deaths of the Negoro to try to cover up the connection between him and them and the part they played in his schemes. Once again, while it's a brutal massacre, they don't get everyone, and when Jubei learns who is responsible he is so infuriated that he turns against his father and Iemitsu.
• Love Triangle: One features in a side plot. Tadanaga and Okuni, a commoner and dancer, have a relationship, but due to the need for Altar Diplomacy and the difference in station, Tadanaga cannot marry her. Meanwhile, the samurai turned flute player in Okuni's dance troupe, Sanza, also loves her, but intends to patiently wait until Okuni's heart has moved on from Tadanaga. As time passes however, Sanza despairs of this happening and takes up arms as a samurai once again, joining the ronin who attack Iemitsu's procession. When Sanza and Okuni are unable to expose the truth about Munenori's False Flag Operation and Tadanaga is ordered to commit seppuku, Okuni kills herself after Tadanaga is dead (despite Tadanaga having begged her not to do so), with help from a heartbroken Sanza.
• Pet the Dog: Iemitsu has a few moments that show that even if he's not as charismatic and likable as Tadanaga, he's not all bad.
  • When the assassination attempt on him is foiled largely because Mon sees it coming at the last moment and takes interposes herself between Iemitsu and the assassin (getting wounded in the process), Iemitsu is deeply concerned for her well-being and orders both his servants and Munenori to do everything possible to tend to her and make sure she pulls through.
  • After Akane's death, Iemitsu goes to see Munenori and attempts to comfort and apologizes to his teacher, who has now lost 2 children in the struggle. Munenori puts on a stoic outward appearance, but it's clear from both his intense gaze and the fact that it's the only time in the film that he speaks harshly with Iemitsu that the losses have taken a toll on him.
• Playing Both Sides: The nobles of the Imperial court pretty much openly admit even to Iemitsu and Tadanaga that they're playing both sides rather having the Emperor intervene and recognize one of them as shogun, as he could at any point and end the struggle. But the deaths of Lord Ayamaro and the envoy killed in the false flag operation puts an end to that. The Imperial Court realizes that any hope of casting down the samurai system has passed and Tadanaga has lost too much support to possibly be Shogun, so the Emperor ends the conflict for good by siding with Iemitsu.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The entire plot is kick started by the death of the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, who died without formally naming which of his sons would be become shogun after him.
• Red Right Hand: Iemitsu has a large, dark birthmark which covers much of his face and a stutter, and people judge him for these traits.
• The Siege: For a time, Iemitsu besieges Tadanaga, who initially intends to fight, hoping to delay until his allies arrive. Until his uncle gives him the bad news that they aren't coming, as Munenori's scheme has tarnished Tadanaga's name to the point where none of his allies will come to his aid.
• Single-Stroke Battle: The battle between Munenori and his rival Genshinsai begins and ends with a very stylized Diagonal Cut.
• Succession Crisis: The plot is set entirely around one of these. The Shogun seems increasingly likely to make his younger son Shogun when some court insiders who prefer the elder son poison him, resulting in a situation where several powerful lords (and a scheming, Manipulative Bitch mother) favor the more handsome and charismatic younger son, while the rules and a few court insiders like the Yagyu clan favor the elder son. Interestingly, the director was more known for making Yakuza films, but claimed that there was little difference in the end, summarizing it as "The old boss dies, and the question is about who will become the new boss".
• Twist Ending: If you know much about history of the period, you know Iemitsu will become the third Tokugawa shogun. Unless a wild twist at the end has Iemitsu killed and implies that the history you know is a lie or a cover up to pretend that the Tokugawa line wasn't broken for the sake of stability.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: It is true that both Tokugawa Hidetada (the old shogun whose death kickstarts the film), and his wife did favor his younger son Tadanaga, that Hidetada did not formally name Iemitsu his heir until the very last minute before retiring from the position of shogun, and that Iemitsu eventually ordered his brother Tadanaga to commit seppuku. Virtually everything else is fantasy, more or less an Alternate History based on the idea of "What if Iemitsu's faction had panicked and covertly killed Hidetada before he changed his mind and named Iemitsu his heir?"
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Negoro, a clan that took part in multiple schemes on the orders of the Yagyu, including the critical deception of making the ronin believe they would be rewarded by Tadanaga for attacking Iemitsu, become a loose end and could reveal the schemes Munenori undertook on Iemitsu's behalf. So he attempts to have them all wiped out.

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