A Spectacular Showdown
血斗水滸伝 怒濤の対決
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.
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Cast
Chizuru Kitagawa
Eiko Maruyama
Kusuo Abe
Denjirō Ōkōchi
Sentarō Fushimi
Kyoji Sugi
Koji Arima
Chiezo Kataoka
as Chuji Kunisada
Kinnosuke Nakamura
as Sunosaki no Masakichi
Michimaro Otabe
Kajō Onoe
Yoshio Yoshida
Kunio Kaga
Shunji Sakai
Ryūnosuke Tsukigata
Hiromi Hanazono
Yumiko Hasegawa
Kensaku Hara
Kenji Kusumoto
Kenji Susukida
Keiko Yukishiro
Harue Akagi
Ryutaro Otomo
Kōtarō Satomi
Satomi Oka
Kogiku Hanayagi
Shin Tokudaiji
Kodayu Ichikawa
Eijirō Kataoka
Shinobu Chihara
Ushio Akashi
Tetsunosuke Tsukigata
Hibari Misora
Isao Yamagata
Chiyonosuke Azuma
as Kiyotaki no Sakichi
Tomisaburō Wakayama
Eitarō Shindō
Keiko Okawa
Hashizo Okawa
as Nadare no Iwamatsu
Hiroshi Kato
Utaemon Ichikawa
as Sasagawa no Shigezo
Sōji Kiyokawa
Koinosuke Onoe
