The Saga of Tanegashima (1968)
Well before “Shogun” as warring clans were fighting for power throughout Japan, a Portuguese vessel ran aground off Tanegashima. Lord Tokitaka helped Captain Pinto repair his ship. The grateful captain offered the lord a gift--a matchlock musket—the first firearm ever seen in Japan. But like a great stone hurled into placid waters, this simple gift will start a revolution. Tokitaka tasks Kinbei, his greatest swordsmith, to copy this musket and build guns for Japan. While Kinbei struggles to forge Japan’s first musket, a great love blooms between Captain Pinto and Kinbei’s daughter Wakasa. But for Kinbei, to let Wakasa marry Pinto and go to Portugal is unthinkable. And as Kinbei creates Japan’s first matchlock factory, Lord Oda Nobunaga will seize upon firearms as the key to sweep all other clans before him, tearing a blood-soaked path of destruction through Japan.
- Released
- 1968-05-18
- Genres
- Drama
- Runtime
- 109 min
- Status
- Released
- Directed / written by
- Kazuo Mori, Kimiyuki Hasegawa
- TMDB rating
- 5.5/10 from 4 votes
Cast
- Rick Jason as Captain Pinto
- Ayako Wakao as Wakasa
- Eijirō Tōno as Kinbei Yaita
- Shiho Fujimura as Otane
- Jun Fujimaki as Nobunaga Oda
- Asao Koike as Matasaburo Tachibanaya
- Ichirō Nakatani as Sakuji
- Rokkō Toura as Wufeng
- Ryūtarō Gomi as Tokitada Oribenojô
- Taketoshi Naitō as Tokiaki Tanegashima
- Kōichi Mizuhara as Shigeomi
- Saburo Date as Tokunoshin Wakita
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