271.	View Larger Image	Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 2 - The Tale of Zatoichi Continues Director: Kazuo Mori
		From Amazon.com The wild success of The Tale of Zatoichi demanded a sequel and star Shintaro Katsu was only too happy to reprise his role as the traveling masseur and blind swordsman. Star Katsu and director Kazuo Mori flesh out the enigmatic Ichi in this outing, creating a more haunted and less conniving character who prefers to keep his identity shrouded and his ... more Buy from Amazon

272.	View Larger Image	Double Suicide - Criterion Collection Director: Masahiro Shinoda
		From Description Many films have drawn from classic Japanese theatrical forms, but none with such shocking cinematic effect as director Masahiro Shinoda's Double Suicide. In this striking adaptation of a bunraku puppet play (featuring the music of famed composer Toru Takemitsu), a paper merchant sacrifices family, fortune, and ultimately life for his erotic obsession with a prostitute. Criterion is proud to present Double ... more Buy from Amazon

273.	View Larger Image	Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 3 - New Tale of Zatoichi Director: Tokuzo Tanaka
		From Amazon.com Masseur Ichi, the blind master swordsman who became a cultural phenomenon under the gentle touch of Shintaro Katsu, finds you can't go home again in the first color film of the long-running adventure series. Redemption waits just out of reach when his old master's sister offers herself to the humble hero, but his corrupt master (who has thrown his lot in ... more Buy from Amazon

274.	View Larger Image	Under the Flag of the Rising Sun Director: Kinji Fukasaku
		From Amazon.com Of the many fine films by Kinji Fukasaku to be released on DVD throughout 2004-05, Under the Flag of the Rising Sun is arguably the most unforgettable. As Japanese film scholar Tom Mes observes in an accompanying essay, it is also an important milestone in Fukasaku's prolific career, since it departs from the director's popular Yakuza films (most notably the epic ... more Buy from Amazon

275.	View Larger Image	Samurai III - Duel at Ganryu Island - Criterion Collection Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Mariko Okada Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
		From Amazon.com Toshirô Mifune is confidence supreme and humility incarnate as the mature samurai master Musashi Miyamoto in the final film of Inagaki's sprawling trilogy. Now a legendary swordsman whose latest quest is to save an isolated village from rampaging brigands (shades of Seven Samurai), he remains haunted by the memory of Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa). Meanwhile the ruthless and increasingly jealous Kojiro Sasaki ... more Buy from Amazon

276.	View Larger Image	Bounce Ko Gals Director: Masato Harada
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277.	View Larger Image	Twelve Kingdoms - Chapter 2 - Empress Director: Tsuneo Kobayashi
		From Description Youko’s legend continues as she journeys deep into the world of the Twelve Kingdoms. Will she be able to remain true to herself once she learns the terrible secret of her destiny? ... more Buy from Amazon

278.		The Dream of Garuda Director: Takahisa Zeze
		From Description Inspired by the folklore surrounding the mythical Hindu God, Garuda, regarded as evil but worshipped as the protector of Buddhism, this DVD film is set in Japan’s notorious "soaplands," where young women offer bathing and massage to men for cash as a way around the Japanese laws prohibiting prostitution. This film is filled with highly-charged, explicit sex scenes which are at ... more Buy from Amazon

279.	View Larger Image	Kurosawa Director: Adam Low
		From Amazon.com Originally broadcast on PBS, the superlative Kurosawa is likely to remain the definitive documentary on the life and work of Japanese film master Akira Kurosawa. The film follows the conventional documentary approach of a chronology of Kurosawa's career, with requisite film clips and interviews with many of Kurosawa's surviving collaborators and family members. Western admirers like James Coburn, Clint Eastwood, and ... more Buy from Amazon

280.	View Larger Image	Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance Director: Toshiya Fujita
		From Amazon.com In Love Song of Vengeance, Shurayuki-hime--a.k.a. Lady Snowblood, "Yuki" for short (played by Meiko Kaji)--continues her advertures in the female samurai saga that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. In Lady Snowblood, Yuki avenged her family by slaying the four criminals that killed her father, raped her mother, and predestined her to the life of a justice-seeking assassin. Love Song of Vengeance ... more Buy from Amazon