is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese samurai drama

Samurai cinema

While earlier samurai period pieces were more dramatic rather than action-based, samurai movies post World War II have become more action-based, with darker and more violent characters. Post-war samurai epics tended to portray psychologically or physically scarred warriors. Akira Kurosawa stylized...

 film released in 1969. It was directed by Hiroshi Inagaki

Hiroshi Inagaki

was a Japanese filmmaker most known for the Academy Award-winning Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, which he directed in 1954.-Career:Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1922...

 and is based on the life of the famous Sengoku-era battle strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke

Yamamoto Kansuke

was a Japanese samurai of the 16th century who was one of Takeda Shingen's most trusted Twenty-Four Generals. Also known by his formal name, Haruyuki . He was a brilliant strategist, and is particularly known for his plan which led to victory in the fourth battle of Kawanakajima against Uesugi...

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Plot

Yamamoto Kansuke

Yamamoto Kansuke

was a Japanese samurai of the 16th century who was one of Takeda Shingen's most trusted Twenty-Four Generals. Also known by his formal name, Haruyuki . He was a brilliant strategist, and is particularly known for his plan which led to victory in the fourth battle of Kawanakajima against Uesugi...

 (Toshirō Mifune

Toshiro Mifune

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...

) is a general of warlord Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

 (Yorozuya Kinnosuke

Yorozuya Kinnosuke

was a Japanese kabuki actor. Born , son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on his guild name Yorozuya as his surname in 1971.In addition to his kabuki activity, Kinnosuke had an extensive...

), whose titular red banners are his trademark. Yamamoto has a ruthless but effective approach to battle and politics, and advises Tadeka Shingen on almost everything he does, including the assassination of Suwa Yorishige

Suwa Yorishige

For the samurai by the same name who died in 1335, see Suwa Yorishige .' was a Japanese samurai....

 (Akihiko Hirata

Akihiko Hirata

was a Japanese film actor. While Hirata starred in many movies , he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr...

). Of Lord Suwa's household, Princess Yu (Yoshiko Sakuma) refuses to commit suicide, and the film comes to center on a love triangle between the lord, his general, and the princess.

The movie ends with the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, in which Yamamoto erroneously believes his battle tactics have failed and commits a pincer attack, but is killed in action before the battle is won.