Kunio Watanabe

Japan's timeless tale of honor and revenge, the Loyal 47 Ronin is the true story of group of samurai who became ronin (masterless samurai) after their Lord was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official, Kira Yoshinaka, who had insulted him... (AnimEigo.com)

During the reign of Shogun Hidetada, both Hirate Musashi and Okamoto Musashi strive to become the finest swordsman in the land by defeating the Yagyu clan's top instructors and then taking on Sasaki Kojiro! Three of Daiei's top sword stars combine to create this exciting alternative version of the Musashi legend. (imdb)

During the 1200's, legendary Buddhist monk Nichiren returns from his studies to lead Japan out of moral crisis and prepare to fight Mongol invaders by creating a new form of Buddhism. He runs afoul of the existing Buddhist sects and their government supporters and is persecuted. Can Nichiren persevere before the Mogol fleet reaches Japanese shores? (The Movie Database)

Daiei Film Company's three biggest stars shine in this exciting story about Vice-Shogun Mito Komon's journey to the land of the Ainu. As the shogun's uncle, Lord Mito traveled about the nation seeking to make sure that corruption and injustice did not go unpunished. Traveling together with his two faithful bodyguards Kaku and Suke, they board ship for a voyage to the far northern island of Ezo (modern day Hokkaido) where the indigenous people called "Ainu" live... (The Movie Database)

Two siblings lost their parents at a young age and grew up alone. The older brother becomes a prosecutor and the younger sister is about to marry. It seems the rest of their lives will be a fine one. There is a problem however. The brother is professionally pitted against the sister's fiancee. (imdb)

Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky describes the challenging training of young boys in the Yokaren, a program feeding new pilots into the Army and Navy. By the time of the filming, the pressure of the war had led the government to shorten the training and expand the age range of the recruits. Yokaren was highly selective, and thus an object of great fascination and desire for boys and young men. In this Navy–sponsored film, ... (letterboxd)

Tanuma Kandayuu is a high class samurai of the house of Nabeshima. He finds a lavish board of Go at Kinbei's store. He recommend Kinbei to offer it to his lord. Kinbei hesitates at first, since he knows the board has some weird history. It is believed that one game played on the board requires one death. (imdb)

A Japanese artist (Ikebe), who had won the favor of the Cambodian royal family when he rescued their daughter during World War II, returns and falls for the now-grown princess, though neither realizes the other's identity.

A 1942 Jidaigeki by the verteran jidaigeki filmmaker Kunio Watanabe about the legendary warrior Musashib? Benkei.

Director Watanabe Kunio The first talkie film by Tamagawa Studio Starring Sugi Kyoji as Hosoi Ichikawa Haruyo as Kinuko Hoshi Reiko as Mitsuko Matsumoto Shutaro as boy of liquor shop Uemura Setsuko as landlord widow Kitahara Natsue as hysteric wife Oosaki Kenji as her husband Matsudaira Akira as singer at next door Hanano Kuniko as maid Kawagoe Ippei and Bando Mieshi as old couple Kanbe Hikaru as thief

A Japanese army engineer (Hasegawa) on the mainland must put his personal feelings for a beautiful Chinese woman (Ri) aside if he is to succeed at building a highway through the “bandit”- (aka anti-Japanese militia-) infested hinterlands.

Song of the White Orchid was a co-production of Toho and Mantetsu, the railway that served the colonial region of Manchuria, and the first film in the Kazuo Hasegawa/Shirley Yamaguchi “Continental Trilogy.” Handsome Hasegawa runs up against an impertinent Yamaguchi; not surprisingly, in the course of the film the woman comes around and realizes the benevolent intentions of the Japanese. In Song of the White Orchid Yamaguchi leaves Hasegawa, who plays an expatriate working for the railway.

This is the only surviving "Mito Komon Manyu-ki" film. This release also known as Adrift Tour Memoir is an 80-minute compilation of the first and second parts (147 minutes), which were re-edited and screened at a time when presentable films were dried up immediately after the defeat of the war. (Cinema Japan Retrospective)