A period piece on an unprecedented scale
Based on the Akira Yoshimura book of the same title, Sakurada Gate Incident brings historical dramatic detail to the silver screen on an epic scale as it traces in details the events, the emotions and the ambitions leading up to and following the assassination of Tokugawa shogunate chief minister Naosuke Ii on March 24, 1860 by a group of 17 Mito and one Satsuma samurai, headed by Tetsunosuke Seki.

An all-star ensemble brings history to life!
A veritable who’s who of Japanese actors led by number one A-list actor for samurai fare, Takao Osawa (GOEMON, 2009; BALLAD 2009; JIN, TV series 2009 & 2011) in the lead role of Tetsunosuke Seki, and including Kinya Kitaoji, Kyoko Hasegawa, Seishiro Kato, Akira Emoto, Katsuhisa Namase, Masahiko Nishimura, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Masato Ibu

Multiple blockbuster hit director takes on the period piece
In his first samurai film, master veteran director Junya Sato whose name has become synonymous with such Japanese blockbuster hits as The Silk Road ('88) and Space Battleship Yamato ('10) evoking in great dramatic detail this seminal event in Japanese history including many of the unheralded members of the group of 18 assailants.

A Cinematic First! A Citizens' Group Makes an Epic Film
From conception to completion, Sakurada Gate Incident broke new ground in Japanese cinema as an Ibaraki Prefecture citizens' group project, something never before seen. 250 million dollars were spent on the film including the construction of a massive open set replica of the Edo Castle Sakurada Gate and environs, and filming throughout Ibaraki Prefecture. The film was made to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the incident.

An event that altered the course of Japanese history: TheAssassination of
Minister Naosuke Ii.
A century and a half ago in 1860, on a freakishly snowy day of March 3rd, 17 samurai from the Mito domain and one from Satsuma attacked the palanquin of Chief Shogun Minister, Naosuke Ii, beheading him right in front of Edo Castle, an event that has come to be known as the "Sakurada Gate Incident." Among the assassins, just 1 died in battle, but 4 committed hara-kiri afterwards, and 8 surrendered and were later executed. Mito samurai, Tetsunosuke Seki, who was called upon to lead the charge, fled to Kyoto where he hoped to join up with 3,000 other anti-Tokugawa rebels from the Satsuma Domain and march into Kyoto to protect the increasingly alienated Emperor from the shogunate. But the Satsuma rebels never showed up, leaving Seki and the remaining assassins on their own, to be pursued to their deaths by both the shogun's and their own Mito domain.