The Hidden Blade (2004)
Takako Matsu
Hidetaka Yoshioka
Yukiyoshi Ozawa
Tomoko Tabata
Chieko Baisho
Kunie Tanaka
Toshiki Ayata
Hiroshi Kanbe
Sachiko Mitsumoto
Reiko Takashima
Satoko Yamamura
Nana Saito
Kazuhiko Kasai
Ryota Sato
Jun Maeda
Takai Mizuno
Yoshiko Shinohara
Nabenosuke Hijikata
Hiroshi Nabeshima
Koichi Kira
Takahiro Nakajima
Hiroyuki Takeda
Takayuki Fukuoka
Hirokazu Kozuma
Koji Ishiwata
Toru Iwasu
Yusuke Izumi
Yoko Nakatani
Fuka Makita
Yosuke Mera
Kozaburo Tanaka
Yuuki Natsusaka
Ryuji Komine
Madoka Uriu
Kohei Azuma
Tsukasa Sugawara
Tamami Kaneko
Shoko Hagino
Emi Nakano
Yasutaka Miyamae
Yoshiaki Sugisako
Makoto Akatsuka
Mantaro Koichi
Masayasu Kitayama
Yoji Matsuda
Taiki Matsuno
Koen Kondo
Koji Kagawa
Takashi Sasano
Min Tanaka
Nenji Kobayashi
Ken Ogata
The Hidden Blade is a Japanese movie directed by Yoji Yamada and based on the short stories “Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume” and “Yuki Akari” by Shuhei Fujisawa. It was released by Shochiku in Japan on October 30, 2004.
The film stars Masatoshi Nagase as a low-ranking samurai from a northern clan named Katagiri who takes in his former family servant Kie (Takako Matsu) after discovering she’s now without a husband and very ill.
Meanwhile, Katagiri’s friend Yaichiro (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) has escaped into the mountains after being charged with treason against the clan. Having studied at the same school, Katagiri understands Yaichiro’s tactics and is ordered to hunt his friend down. The subsequent battle will force Katagiri to question where his loyalties truly lie.
The Hidden Blade was the second film of what is unofficially known as Yamada’s Samurai Trilogy. It was preceded by The Twilight Samurai in 2002 and followed by Love and Honor in 2006.
