4 Movies Starring Ryèko Hirosue

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Based on a Japanese folk legend that echoes the tale of Robin Hood, this ninja thriller follows the exploits of Goemon Ishikawa (Yèsuke Eguchi), who leaves his fighting clan after its chief is murdered and uses his skills as a thief to help the poor. But after learning the identity of his leader's killer - the traitorous Hideyoshi (Eiji Okuda) - Goemon sets out on a bloody path of vengeance, joined by his loyal friend, Saizo (Takao èsawa).

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Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

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A failed actor switches identities with a stranger at a bath house -- only to find himself filling the shoes of an elite assassin.

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Shimura Kingo fails his duty to protect the life of the Shogun's chief minister, and spends his life tracking down the assassins. However, all but one of the assassins die before Kingo can reach them. Still, Kingo presses on.