VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Director Masaki Kobayashi invested five years of preparation before shooting this anthological adaptation of four tales of the supernatural by Lafcadio Hearn. The first, "Black Hair," stars Rentaro Mikuni as a poverty-stricken samurai who leaves his kind wife (Michiyo Aratama) to marry the daughter (Misako Watanabe) of a wealthy official. After years of misery with this woman he returns to his first wife to find a bitter surprise. In the second, "The Woman of the Snow," a woodcutter (Tatsuya Nakadai) and his brother take shelter from a snowstorm in a deserted hut. However, trouble arises when a strange woman (Keiko Kishi) appears. The third, "Hoichi the Earless," features a blind temple musician (Katsuo Nakamura), who is known for his mastery of the ballad of the Heike clan. A samurai ghost bids him sing the ballad at the Heike tomb, and Buddhist priests protect him by painting his body with a depiction of the sacred text. In the last tale, "In a Cup of Tea," a samurai (Kanemon Nakamura) famed for courage, has a recurring vision of the face of another samurai in his tea. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Rentarô Mikuni](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272791_ba5bb5.jpg)
Rentarô Mikuni
Japan
Best movies:
Natsu no niwa - The Friends (1994)
Harakiri (1962)
Zatoichi at Large (1972)
![Tatsuya Nakadai](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272374_48e342.jpg)
Tatsuya Nakadai
Japan
Best movies:
Zatoichi at the Fire Festival (1970)
The Human Bullet (1968)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Kanemon Nakamura
Japan
Best movies:
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
Inn of Evil (1971)
Samurai Banners (1969)
![Takashi Shimura](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272248_eaa921.jpg)
Takashi Shimura
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Asu o tsukuru hitobito (1946)
![Reiko Mori](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/274/274857_d355d0.jpg)
Reiko Mori
Japan
Best movies:
Seven Samurai (1954)
I Live in Fear (1955)
Drunken Angel (1948)
![佐藤慶](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/157/886/157886928_70bf11.jpg)
佐藤慶
Japan
Best movies:
The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966)
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
![Haruko Sugimura](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272546_7d961e.jpg)
Haruko Sugimura
Japan
Best movies:
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Early Summer (1951)
Red Beard (1965)
菅井きん
Japan
Best movies:
The Human Bullet (1968)
High and Low (1963)
This Passing Life (1970)
Yūko Mochizuki
Japan
Best movies:
Ballad of Narayama (1958)
The End of Summer (1961)
Red Lion (1969)
![Michiyo Aratama](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/279/279590_52b65e.jpg)
Michiyo Aratama
Japan
Best movies:
![Seiji Miyaguchi](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/279/279848_3a706d.jpg)
Seiji Miyaguchi
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Early Summer (1951)
Seven Samurai (1954)
![Katsuo Nakamura](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/021/353/21353681_fce8b9.jpg)
Katsuo Nakamura
Japan
Best movies:
Demons (1971)
Be with You (2004)
Samurai Banners (1969)
Tetsurô Tamba
Japan
Best movies:
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
Harakiri (1962)
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
![岸惠子](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/741/158741820_63f84f.jpg)
岸惠子
Japan
Best movies:
Early Spring (1956)
The Twilight Samurai (2002)
Hunter in the dark (1979)
Kazuo Kitamura
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
High and Low (1963)
田中邦衛
Japan
Best movies:
Zatoichi at the Fire Festival (1970)
The Human Bullet (1968)
Sanjuro (1962)
![織本順吉](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/258/161258051_f51a49.gif)
織本順吉
Japan
Best movies:
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
The Fall of Ako Castle (1978)
Yoshirô Aoki
Japan
Best movies:
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
Harakiri (1962)
さとうきょういち
Japan
Best movies:
中村鴈治郎
Japan
Best movies:
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
The End of Summer (1961)
Kwaidan (1964)