À la mort du second Shogun Tokugawa, les rivalités apparaissent pour sa succession. Le fils ainé du shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa est laid et bégaie et semble manquer de charisme pour assumer cette tâche. La mère de celui, aidée du chancelier Doi, semble lui préférer son frère cadet Tadanaga. Mais le maître d'armes du Shogun, Tajima Yagyu, ainsi que plusieurs courtisans soutiennent Iemitsu. Chacun des camps parvient à convaincre son protégé de lutter pour succéder au Shogun. Enfin, les courtisans de l'Empereur cherchent à restaurer l'autorité de ce dernier. Les deux frères finissent donc par s'opposer dans une guerre mêlant batailles, intrigues et trahisons.
At the start of the movie, the young and handsome Kanō Sōzaburō (Ryuhei Matsuda) is admitted to the Shinsengumi, an elite samurai group led by Kondō Isami (Yoichi Sai) that seeks to defend the Tokugawa shogunate against reformist forces. He is a very skilled swordsman, but it is his appearance that makes many of the others in the (strictly male) group, both students and superiors, attracted to him, creating tension within the group of people vying for Kanō's affections.
Link Stuart (Bronson) is a ruthless outlaw, and co-leader along with Gauche (Delon) of a gang of bandits. Link and Gauche lead their gang on a successful train robbery, and discover that one of its cars carries a Japanese ambassador, who is bringing a ceremonial katana (sword) as a gift for President Ulysses S. Grant. Gauche takes the sword, and kills one of the two samurai guards, while members of his gang attempt to murder Link by throwing dynamite into the train car he occupies, then leaving him for dead.
The plot centers on Inukai Heishirō (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), the son of a clan officer. One of his clan's most precious heirlooms, a sword given them by the Shogun, has been stolen by the samurai Kazamatsuri (Tomoyasu Hotei). Against his father's advice, Heishirō insists on retrieving the sword himself. His father sends two ninja after him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.
Kyoto, XIII siècle : quiconque tente de franchir le pont de Gojoe durant la nuit est systématiquement décapité par ce qui semble être des fantômes, jusqu'aux patrouilles dépêchées par les autorités, tout autant décimées. Ignorant les avertissements de son maître, Kenkei, un ancien guerrier légendaire aujourd'hui reconverti en un pacifiste moine, s'est juré d'apprivoiser les démons de Gojoe. Il découvrira vite que ces prétendus fantômes sont en fait les trois derniers survivants d'un clan aux pouvoirs immenses, qui réclament le trône familial... L'affrontement est inéluctable.
A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the local river floods. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the travelers trapped at the inn. A traveling ronin (masterless samurai), Ihei Misawa takes it upon himself to cheer everyone up by arranging a splendid feast. Unfortunately he has no money and in order to pay for the feast he visits the local dojos and challenges the masters there for payment, termed in the film as prize fighting. Later, after breaking up a duel between two young retainers of the local clan he receives an offer of employment as a sword master from the local lord, Shigeaki. He has a tense interaction with the lord and his retainers, revealing his prowess at their expense.
Set during the Sengoku-era in Japan, a young boy named Kotarou flees from mysterious pursuers with his dog, Tobimaru, and a monk, Shouan. Shouan tells the boy to seek help from Zekkai at the Mangaku temple in Akaike, handing him a gem in case he needs money. With that, Kotarou takes off as the temple he was staying at burns to the ground.
The film relates the adventures of a young Japanese samurai named Yohei who visited Spain in the 17th century, in a story loosely taking its inspiration from the travels of historic samurai Hasekura. Yohei survived in hiding to the present day due to magical powers ("After centuries of lethargy, he awakes in a World he does not know"), and accomplishes many adventures in modern Spain as a superhero.
Gennosuke is a rebel samurai on the run, having fled his clan after assassinating a counselor. The daughter of the counselor, Misa, and her fiance, Daizaburo, pursue Gennosuke along with other samurai from Gennosuke's clan despite Gennosuke's obvious superiority as a warrior. A series of flashbacks reveals that Gennosuke was manipulated into committing the treason by one of the clan's higher-ranking samurai, who led Gennosuke to believe that the counselor's death would result in modern reforms to the clan and in Gennosuke's promotion to a full-fledged retainer, instead of a lowly foot soldier. In fact, the ranking samurai simply wanted the counselor killed so that he could succeed to the position himself. He had used Gennosuke to do the "dirty work", and then abandoned Gennosuke to face the consequences of the crime.
Après l'injuste condamnation à se faire hara-kiri infligée à un jeune samouraï, quarante-sept de ses compagnons le vengent en se faisant à leur tour hara-kiri sur sa tombe.