Goban Giri (Bushido)

Goban Giri (2024), directed by Kazuya Shiraishi and based on the classic rakugo story "Yanagida Kakunoshin," stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as a ronin falsely accused of a crime, driven from his home domain of Hikone and left to raise his daughter alone in a poor Edo tenement. Kakunoshin lives by an unbending code of honesty, most visibly in his passion for Go, a game he refuses to win by deception. When an old samurai acquaintance reveals the truth behind the false accusation that ruined him, Kakunoshin takes up his sword to settle the score once and for all. The film juxtaposes tense Go matches with the violence of the blade, weaving samurai honor and revenge into a single narrative praised internationally under the title "Bushido." It won the Black Dragon Award at the 2024 Udine Far East Film Festival and screened at the New York Asian Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.