Featuring some of the finest swordsmen ever to grace the silver screen, this Toei classic tells the story of a battle between the evil sword style called ”Otonashi” (The Silent Form) and the proper way of swordsmanship as promoted by such historical stalwarts as Shimada Toranosuke, and the mysterious Honda Sakon, who face off against a group masquerading as the lord of Mito and his traveling bodyguards Suke-san and Kaku-san. The plot thickens as their leader unveils his secret plan to disrupt the stability of the nation. It is all in the name of swordsmanship, and as the title implies there are no stronger swordsmen!

Five swordsmen are murdered and hung from a tree and the chase is on to find the killers. Two magistrates pursue the leads to solve the crime and it leads to a potential conspiracy to kill the Shogun.

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.

昭和初年的某个秋天，青年学生水原（石濱朗 饰）游山玩水，调养身心。在伊豆汤岛的旅途中，他邂逅了一名梳着旧式发髻的舞女阿薰（美空ひばり 饰），她恬美清新的模样在水原的心中激起淡淡的涟漪。许是命运的安排，水原又在接下来的日子里多次和舞女及其伙伴相逢，加上他有意识地接近，学生最终和舞女及其伙伴们熟捻起来。在此后的日子里，他和这群江湖艺人一同旅行，品味一段清纯爱恋的甜美，以及残酷生活现实的无可奈何。旅途中会结束，一份情感该如何安置…… 本片根据日本作家川端康成的同名短篇小说改编，是该小说第2次被搬上银幕。

On the way back to his childhood home, a septuagenarian man recalls his childhood and adolescence, in particular his love for a young woman.