Watch Sansho the Bailiff

A potter leaves his family for a ghost in war-torn Japan; Mizoguchi at his most beautiful.

Kurosawa's epic of villagers and hired swords (1954).

Rashomon. four witnesses, four irreconcilable accounts of the same killing.

A bureaucrat with cancer decides to build one playground before he dies.

Macbeth relocated to feudal Japan, ending in a storm of arrows.

King Lear as a sixteenth-century warlord epic, in Kurosawa's fiercest colour.

Watch Spartacus, the 1960 epic historical drama directed by Stanley Kubrick (the film is often incorrectly attributed to David Lynch; it stars Kirk Douglas as the Thracian gladiator who leads a slave revolt against the Roman Republic). The film is famous for its massive battle scenes, the iconic 'I am Spartacus' sequence, and a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo (a blacklisted writer who received credit, helping break the Hollywood blacklist).

Visit Fukushima, a prefecture in Japan known for its resilience and diverse attractions. Explore the historic Tsuruga Castle (reconstructed samurai fortress with panoramic views), see the stunning Bandai-Azuma Skyline (scenic mountain road through volcanic landscapes), and experience the traditional Aizu region with its lacquerware crafts and samurai heritage sites like Aizu-Wakamatsu.