Backdrop fallback

Fujisawa Shuhei's Sparkling Sword: Puppeteer in the Shadows

Fujisawa Shuhei's Sparkling Sword: Puppeteer in the Shadows

Share

Fujisawa Shuhei's Sparkling Sword: Puppeteer in the Shadows

"FROM THE PEN OF MASTER STORYTELLER FUJISAWA Shuhei!"

1997

2h 14m

0.0(0 votes)

Drama

Action

Overview

Made-for-TV movie based on the novel “The Puppeteer in the Shadows” by master storyteller Fujisawa Shuhei, this tale of swordsmanship, heroism, and romance in the highest chambers of power in the Tokugawa shogunate. Caught up in deadly intrigue at Edo Castle after fulfilling a dying man wish. Now forced to rely on his mastery of swordsmanship. Tsurumi, who walked away from his samurai status to practice calligraphy is caught between opposing forces leading to fierce battles among samurai and ninja!

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

The people behind it

Cast & crew

8 featured cast members

Starring

Kiichi Nakai

Kiichi Nakai

Tetsuro Tamba

Tetsuro Tamba

Saki Takaoka

Saki Takaoka

Kōtarō Satomi

Kōtarō Satomi

Jiro Sakagami

Jiro Sakagami

Toshio Kurosawa

Toshio Kurosawa

Takahiro Tamura

Takahiro Tamura

Masahiko Tsugawa

Masahiko Tsugawa

Okisugu Tanuma

Creative team

Directed by: Toshio Masuda
Makoto Ohara

Similar Movies

The Invisible Swordsman

The Invisible Swordsman

A cowardly boy fencer becomes invisible and matchless through a magic potion.

Cutthroat Island

Cutthroat Island

Morgan Adams and her slave, William Shaw, are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. Unfortunately, the final portion is held by her murderous uncle, Dawg. Her crew is skeptical of her leadership abilities, so she must complete her quest before they mutiny against her. This is made yet more difficult by the efforts of the British crown to end her pirate raids.

300

300

A story very loosely based the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians.

Rashomon

Rashomon

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

Gold Constables

Gold Constables

A large quantity of gold is stolen from the government, so undercover martial arts constables do there detective work to find out the culprits and the whereabouts of the bullion. Awesome fight scenes, choreographed by Hwang Kwo Chu, with a lot of innovative weapon work.

Ninja Kids!!! Summer Mission Impossible

Ninja Kids!!! Summer Mission Impossible

At a time when nations are warring, a sword with mysterious power called "Heaven's Sword" is stolen. The sword is said to give its wielder the power to conquer the world. Various ninja all over Dokutake Castle and beyond also manuevering for this sword of immense power. Rantaro and his classmates are assigned to retrieve the stolen sword, their first real ninja mission.

Lowly Ronin 5: The Teenage Orphan Girl

Lowly Ronin 5: The Teenage Orphan Girl

When the 'Lowly Ronin' helps an orphaned teenage girl avoid being turned into a prostitute, she then claims he is her father and they start a farm as father and daughter until fate steps in and he must draw his sword.

Troy

Troy

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Curse of the Golden Flower

Curse of the Golden Flower

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

The Turtles and the Shredder battle once again, this time for the last cannister of the ooze that created the Turtles, which Shredder wants to create an army of new mutants. Meanwhile Splinter is coming... to a decision.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A quartet of humanoid turtles, trained by their mentor in Ninjutsu, must learn to work together to face the menace of Shredder and the Foot Clan.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

The four turtles travel back in time to the days of the legendary and deadly samurai in ancient Japan, where they train to perfect the art of becoming one. The turtles also assist a small village in an uprising.

Ghost Beaver Kick

Ghost Beaver Kick

One woodsman and his robotic friend must stop an evil organisation from destroying the world.

The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda

Anthony Hope's classic tale gets a decidedly 'un-classic' treatment at the hands of Peter Sellers. Following the story somewhat, friends of the new King Rudolph of Ruritania fear for his life, and switch him with a look-a-like London cabby. Throw in two(!) lovely blondes, treachery, and a battle for life and honour, and enjoy life at its zaniest.

The 13th Warrior

The 13th Warrior

A Muslim ambassador exiled from his homeland joins a group of Vikings, initially offended by their behavior but growing to respect them. As they travel together, they learn of a legendary evil closing in and must unite to confront this formidable force.

Bored Hatamoto: The Million-ryo Mystery

Bored Hatamoto: The Million-ryo Mystery

Bored Hatamoto film #16.

The Legend of Zorro

The Legend of Zorro

Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.

Alexander

Alexander

Alexander, the King of Macedonia, leads his legions against the giant Persian Empire. After defeating the Persians, he leads his army across the then known world, venturing farther than any westerner had ever gone, all the way to India.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

Recommended Movies

The Challenge

The Challenge

Rick, a down-and-out American boxer, is hired to transport a sword to Japan, unaware that the whole thing is a set up in a bitter blood-feud between two brothers, one who follows the traditional path of the samurai and the other a businessman. At the behest of the businessman, Rick undertakes samurai training from the other brother, but joins his cause. He also becomes romantically involved with the samurai's daughter.

47 Ronin

47 Ronin

Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

Beast

Beast

MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.

Blade of the 47 Ronin

Blade of the 47 Ronin

A new class of warriors emerges among the Samurai clans to keep a sought-after sword from falling into the wrong hands.

Never Back Down: No Surrender

Never Back Down: No Surrender

Picking up after the events of Never Back Down 2, former MMA champion Case Walker is on the comeback trail to become champion once again.

Shootfighter: Fight to the Death

Shootfighter: Fight to the Death

Nick and Ruben are hoodwinked into a "shootfighter" (no-holds-barred, to the death) martial arts match by the evil Mr. Lee, who has a grudge against world shootfighter champ(and teacher of Nick and Ruben) Shingo.

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Day of the Departed

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Day of the Departed

When Cole returns to Yang's haunted temple to seek revenge on a former Airjitzu Master, he accidentally uses a powerful Dark Magic blade that unleashes the spectral forms of Ninjago's greatest villains and traps himself in the temple. The Ninja must return the ghosts to the Departed Realm before it's too late.

Heavenly Sword

Heavenly Sword

The film's plot follows that of the game closely. Nariko, a member of an ancient tribe who have guarded an ancient magical sword for thousands of years, is charged with bringing the sword to its destined wielder, a deity reincarnated who will bring peace to the land. But on her quest, Nariko must wield the sword herself against the forces of King Bohan, who wishes to possess the weapon himself.

Revenge of the Ninja

Revenge of the Ninja

A peaceful ex-ninja's life shatters when his son's kidnapping forces him back into violence amid an American-Japanese criminal drug war.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge

After the vicious slaughter of his family by stone-cold mercenary Sub-Zero, Hanzo Hasashi is exiled to the torturous Netherrealm. There, in exchange for his servitude to the sinister Quan Chi, he’s given a chance to avenge his family – and is resurrected as Scorpion, a lost soul bent on revenge. Back on Earthrealm, Lord Raiden gathers a team of elite warriors – Shaolin monk Liu Kang, Special Forces officer Sonya Blade, and action star Johnny Cage – an unlikely band of heroes with one chance to save humanity. To do this, they must defeat Shang Tsung's horde of Outworld gladiators and reign over the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

When Shao Kahn's Outworld barbarians terrorize Earthrealm, Lord Raiden is determined to put an end to the carnage once and for all. This leaves one option: a final Mortal Kombat tournament for the future of Earthrealm – win it or lose everything. Raiden's elite fighters Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and a few new faces kick the action into overdrive as they go head-to-head with Outworld's most bloodthirsty warriors. But deep in the Netherrealm, an unspeakable scheme by the malevolent Shinnok unfolds, threatening to obliterate existence.

Afro Samurai: Resurrection

Afro Samurai: Resurrection

Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.

Born a Champion

Born a Champion

After a blood- soaked jujitsu match in Dubai, fighting legend Mickey Kelley falls to superstar Blaine. But years later, an online video proves that Blaine cheated, and the world demands a rematch. Can the aging underdog get back into shape in time to vanquish his foe, get revenge, and claim his prize?

Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven

After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.

Embattled

Embattled

The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

The vicious, power-mad Kano is determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Assisted by a trio of cold Black Dragon mercenaries, he embarks on a brutal assault from town to defenseless town. The choice is simple: kneel or be annihilated. Kenshi, a rebel warrior, calls on Kuai Liang, the only one powerful enough to challenge the malevolent Kano. But Kuai Liang has given up the ways of the warrior, and Kenshi is too undisciplined to defeat Kano himself. If Kuai Liang cannot break through the glacier of doubt that holds him back, Earthrealm will fall.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

In 1980s Hollywood, action star Johnny Cage is looking to become an A-list actor. But when his costar, Jennifer, goes missing from set, Johnny finds himself thrust into a world filled with shadows, danger, and deceit. As he embarks on a bloody journey, Johnny quickly discovers the City of Angels has more than a few devils in its midst. He faces off against a sinister secret society plotting a nefarious scheme, but the brutal fight against the bloodthirsty warriors of the Netherrealm is just beginning.

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations

When Ryu returns to pay homage to his deceased mentor, Gouken, he is tormented by disturbing memories of his master's killer (Gouki). In a quest to become a true martial arts master, he sets out to hone his street fighting skills and deliver himself from the haunting legacy of the dark hadou.