{
 "id": "epsm1ncxt5",
 "slug": "new-tales-of-the-taira-clan",
 "title": "New Tales of the Taira Clan",
 "updated": "2026-11-01",
 "topic_path": [
  {
   "id": "culture",
   "label": "Arts and culture",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance",
   "label": "Screen and stage",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen",
   "label": "Film and television",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films",
   "label": "Films and standalone screen works",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works",
   "label": "Individual films by title and year",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical",
   "label": "War and historical films (individual works)",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics",
   "label": "Historical dramas and epics",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-m-to-z",
   "label": "Titles M to Z",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-m-to-z"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-m-to-z.alpha-m-to-sa",
   "label": "Titles M to Sa",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-m-to-z.alpha-m-to-sa"
  }
 ],
 "geo": [
  {
   "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical",
   "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: War and historical films (individual works)",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical",
   "path": [
    {
     "id": "geo.asia",
     "label": "Asia (other)",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946",
     "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture",
     "label": "Arts and culture",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance",
     "label": "Screen and stage",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen",
     "label": "Film and television",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films",
     "label": "Films and standalone screen works",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works",
     "label": "Individual films by title and year",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical",
     "label": "War and historical films (individual works)",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical"
    }
   ]
  }
 ],
 "excerpt": "New Tales of the Taira Clan (新・平家物語, Shin Heike Monogatari; also Taira Clan Saga) is Kenji Mizoguchi's 1955 Daiei Kyoto color film, first of a trilogy adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel, with Raizo Ichikawa as young Taira no Kiyomori.",
 "snippet": "New Tales of the Taira Clan (新・平家物語, Shin Heike Monogatari; also Taira Clan Saga) is Kenji Mizoguchi's 1955 Daiei Kyoto color film, first of a trilogy adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel, with Raizo Ichikawa as young Taira no Kiyomori.",
 "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-m-to-z.alpha-m-to-sa",
 "markdown": "# New Tales of the Taira Clan\n\n*New Tales of the Taira Clan* (新・平家物語, *Shin Heike Monogatari*, also released abroad as *Taira Clan Saga* or *[Tales of the Taira Clan](https://www.edgepedia.org/tales-of-the-taira-clan)*) is a 1955 Japanese color historical drama directed by [Kenji Mizoguchi](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenji-mizoguchi), produced by Daiei at its Kyoto studio, and adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's historical novel serialized in the magazine Weekly Asahi<sup>[1](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup>. It was the first installment of a planned three-film project and the second-to-last film of Mizoguchi's career<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup>.\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Japanese title | 新・平家物語 (*Shin Heike Monogatari*); English titles include *Taira Clan Saga* and *New Tales of the Taira Clan*<sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/)</sup> |\n| Release | September 21, 1955, distributed by Daiei<sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup> |\n| Director / producer | Kenji Mizoguchi; produced by Masaichi Nagata at Daiei Kyoto<sup>[1](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)</sup> |\n| Source | Eiji Yoshikawa's novel *Shin Heike Monogatari*, serialized in Weekly Asahi<sup>[1](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)</sup> |\n| Key crew | Screenplay Yoshikata Yoda, Masashige Narusawa, Hisaichi Tsuji; cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa; music Fumio Hayasaka; color supervision by painter Sanzo Wada<sup>[5](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/)</sup> |\n| Length / format | 107 minutes on the National Film Archive record (some sources list 108); 35 mm color, standard ratio<sup>[1](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup> |\n| Lead cast | Raizo Ichikawa as Taira no Kiyomori, with Yoshiko Kuga, Michiyo Kogure, Narutoshi Hayashi, Ichijiro Oya, Eitaro Shindo, Koreya Senda, and Eijiro Yanagi<sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and cast\n\nThe film is set in the late [Heian period](https://www.edgepedia.org/heian-period), a time when the aristocratic order was decaying and the warrior class was rising<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup>. It dramatizes the youth of the samurai leader [Taira no Kiyomori](https://www.edgepedia.org/taira-no-kiyomori): his father [Taira no Tadamori](https://www.edgepedia.org/taira-no-tadamori), victorious against pirates in the western seas and in settling a dispute between the court and the Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei, is nonetheless treated poorly by the court nobles, who are unsettled by the rising power of the warrior class<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5460.html)</sup>. Kiyomori visits Fujiwara no Tokinobu, who was suspended over Tadamori's reward, and falls in love with his daughter Tokiko<sup>[9](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5460.html)</sup>. A rumor reaches Kiyomori that his real father was the Retired Emperor Shirakawa, leaving him with conflicted feelings about Tadamori<sup>[9](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5460.html)</sup>. The plot culminates, in the synopsis given by Kinenote and eiga.com, in Kiyomori firing an arrow into the portable shrine carried by two thousand warrior monks of Mount Hiei gathered at Gion, after Tadamori has died amid the disturbances<sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup>. A review on eiga.com notes that in historical fact the arrow was shot by Kiyomori's forces in error rather than by Kiyomori himself, and that this episode in the film follows Yoshikawa's fiction<sup>[10](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/review/)</sup>.\n\nThe film is also a workplace debut story. Raizo Ichikawa, then a new Daiei star in his second film, played young Kiyomori, and the role is credited with helping launch his career; he became one of the studio's top stars until his early death in 1969<sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)</sup>. Around him, Mizoguchi drew vivid performances from a large ensemble cast that included Yoshiko Kuga as Tokiko, Michiyo Kogure as Yasuko, Ichijiro Oya as Tadamori, Eitaro Shindo, Koreya Senda, and Eijiro Yanagi<sup>[8](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)</sup>.\n\n## Production\n\nDaiei intended the adaptation of Yoshikawa's novel as a series and assigned the opening chapter to Mizoguchi, who had just returned from *Yokihi* ([Princess Yang Kwei Fei](https://www.edgepedia.org/princess-yang-kwei-fei)), a 1955 color co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)</sup>. The screenplay was written by Yoshikata Yoda, Masashige Narusawa, and Hisaichi Tsuji, the same team pattern used on Mizoguchi's *Yokihi*, with cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa and music by Fumio Hayasaka<sup>[5](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup>. For the color scheme Daiei brought in the painter Sanzo Wada as color supervisor<sup>[5](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/)</sup>. According to the ACMI collection notes, Mizoguchi asked an art teacher from forty years earlier to serve as the film's color consultant<sup>[7](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/115725--shin-heike-monogatari-tales-of-the-taira/)</sup>.\n\nThe film was Mizoguchi's second work in the color medium, after *Princess Yang Kwei Fei*<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup>; he made only two color films, both in 1955, the year before his death<sup>[7](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/115725--shin-heike-monogatari-tales-of-the-taira/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-japanese-colour-films)</sup>. It is also counted as the last of his jidaigeki (period films)<sup>[7](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/115725--shin-heike-monogatari-tales-of-the-taira/)</sup>. The festival program note by critic Tony Rayns records that Mizoguchi's one regret was that he could not shoot it in [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope)<sup>[8](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)</sup>.\n\n## Style and color\n\nMiyagawa and Mizoguchi used color symbolically. Miyagawa recalled that Mizoguchi \"always used colour as an element in the overall design,\" giving the example of a gate behind the angry Kiyomori that appeared in a \"ferocious red,\" because red was the color of anger and blue of sadness, as much as black<sup>[6](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)</sup>. When the film was screened in the United States, New York Times critic Eugene Arthur praised its \"lyrical pastel compositions\" and observed that the monks, warriors, and aristocrats were differentiated by the shades of their costumes as much as by their behavior<sup>[6](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)</sup>. Rayns's program note describes the film's control of color, design, and staging as matching Mizoguchi's familiar high standards, with the complicated historiography made sense of through the ensemble performances<sup>[8](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)</sup>.\n\nThe film's long-take camerawork was praised by figures of the [French New Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-new-wave), according to the Pia-sourced synopsis on Natalie<sup>[11](https://natalie.mu/eiga/film/115489)</sup>.\n\n## The trilogy and Mizoguchi's late career\n\nTwo sequels followed in 1956, directed by other Daiei filmmakers: *New Tales of the Taira Clan: The Three Women Around Yoshinaka* (part two, by Teinosuke Kinugasa) and *New Tales of the Taira Clan: Shizuka and Yoshitsune* (part three, by Koji Shima)<sup>[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[12](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/tiff-nfaj202610-11/)</sup>.\n\n*New Tales of the Taira Clan* was Mizoguchi's penultimate film; he died suddenly in August 1956<sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.nhk-ep.com/products/detail/h14604A1)</sup>.\n\n## Preservation and later showings\n\nA collaborative restoration, carried out digitally in 2004, was undertaken by the National Film Center (now the National Film Archive of Japan) together with the studio then known as Kadokawa Pictures<sup>[12](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/tiff-nfaj202610-11/)</sup>. The National Film Archive of Japan holds the show-print in its collection, a 35 mm color sound print running 107 minutes<sup>[1](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)</sup>. The restored version has been screened at archives and festivals, including the [Museum of Modern Art](https://www.edgepedia.org/museum-of-modern-art) in 2018, where a 4K digital restoration was shown, and the [Karlovy Vary](https://www.edgepedia.org/karlovy-vary) festival's 2017 Mizoguchi tribute<sup>[4](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)</sup>.\n\n## References\n\n1. [新、平家物語, National Film Archive of Japan film collection database](https://nfad.nfaj.go.jp/det.php?data_id=48252)\n2. [新・平家物語, KINENOTE film data](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24552)\n3. [新・平家物語 (1955), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/136915)\n4. [Shin Heike monogatari (Tales of the Taira Clan). 1955, MoMA](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4269)\n5. [新・平家物語: 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, eiga.com](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/)\n6. [Il Cinema Ritrovato 2015 catalog: New Tales of the Taira Clan note by Tony Rayns / festival text](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/CRcatalogo2015.compressed.pdf)\n7. [Shin heike Monogatari = Tales of the Taira, ACMI collection](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/115725--shin-heike-monogatari-tales-of-the-taira/)\n8. [New Tales of the Taira Clan, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (2017 tribute)](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/48/22138-new-tales-ofthetaira-clan)\n9. [新・平家物語, KADOKAWA Cinema Collection](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5460.html)\n10. [新・平家物語 reviews, eiga.com](https://eiga.com/movie/37307/review/)\n11. [新・平家物語, 映画ナタリー (Pia synopsis)](https://natalie.mu/eiga/film/115489)\n12. [新・平家物語 [Digital Restoration], TIFF/NFAJ Classics, National Film Archive of Japan](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/tiff-nfaj202610-11/)\n13. [溝口健二 大映作品集 Vol.2 1954–1956, NHK Enterprises](https://www.nhk-ep.com/products/detail/h14604A1)\n14. [10 great early Japanese colour films](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-early-japanese-colour-films)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › Historical dramas and epics › Titles M to Z › Titles M to Sa*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
 "same_as": [],
 "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan",
 "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan.md",
 "license": {
  "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0",
  "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license",
  "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.",
  "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0"
 },
 "credit": "\"New Tales of the Taira Clan\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[New Tales of the Taira Clan](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
 "credit_html": "\"<a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan\">New Tales of the Taira Clan</a>\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan\">https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tales-of-the-taira-clan</a>. <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\">Edgepedia Community License 1.0</a>.",
 "speakable": "New Tales of the Taira Clan is Kenji Mizoguchi's 1955 Daiei Kyoto color film, first of a trilogy adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel, with Raizo Ichikawa as young Taira no Kiyomori."
}