The Films of Kenji Misumi

Best known as a director of the hugely popular Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman movies, Kenji Misumi had an outsize impact on samurai films. The illegitimate son of a businessman and a geisha, he was raised by his aunt and attended business school. A chance encounter led Misumi to Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest film studio, where he got his start. He went on to bring a thrilling new vitality to a familiar Japanese genre.  
 
In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander month, Doris Duke Theatre screens recently restored Misumi films—his Sword Trilogy, and selections from his Lone Wolf and Cub series, which was a big influence on Star Wars: The Mandalorian.