When a civil war threatens to break out, two geishas flee from their village with aristocrats. During the long journey, the socially inferior women prove to be morally superior to their betters.

Based on Soseki Natsume’s 1908 novel of the same title, Poppy is an ornately complicated story of desire and ambition. Fujio is beautiful, talented, well-heeled, and engaged to Munechika, a rising young diplomat. She has promised him a gold watch, a family heirloom, as an emblem of their engagement. But she falls in love with Ono, a student employed to tutor her in English, who is attracted by her beauty and wealth. Ono is himself bound by an engagement to Sayoko, the daughter of his mentor, Professor Inoue. The self-centered Fujio is ready to forsake everything for Ono, but he is prevailed upon to go ahead with his marriage to Sayoko. Fujio then offers the watch to Munechika who, perceiving Fujio’s true feelings, hurls the watch into the sea.

All that remains of the first Samurai Town Story is the concluding battle.

Raiden is a 1928 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Shozo Makino and Sadatsugu Matsuda. It is a posthumous work by Makino and is the last film starring his son, Masahiro Makino, in his first role in a comedy film.

A representative film directed by Masahiro Makino, son of Shozo Makino ("the father of Japanese film"). This film lent status to ensemble casts that did not rely on famous stars. The unique setting of the samurai town, exquisite camera work and fast-paced sword fighting scenes all have an original appeal that audiences can related to even today.