Good Soil
Encyclopedia
Good Soil is a short film (25 minutes) written and directed by Craig Shimahara and starring Shin Koyamada
from The Last Samurai
.
class, draws his strength from his faith, family, and fencing. However, he is caught up in the shogun
’s policy of religious persecution and must choose between his loved ones and his God.
Ships from Europe brought Christianity
to the shores of Japan in 1549. For decades the seeds of faith grew under the watchful gaze of the Shogun
. But the fear of foreign influence eventually gave rise to persecution. By 1624, Japanese Christians enjoyed only a few more years of peace.
Shin Koyamada
is a film actor, producer, philanthropist and martial artist.Koyamada co-starred as “Nobutada” opposite Tom Cruise in the Warner Bros. action epic film The Last Samurai , with a worldwide box office of $456 million. Koyamada also starred in the action original movie Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior...
from The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward, who had previously filmed the movie in 1990, starring...
.
Plot summary
Jinbei Masuda, a Japanese Christian of the samuraiSamurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class, draws his strength from his faith, family, and fencing. However, he is caught up in the shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
’s policy of religious persecution and must choose between his loved ones and his God.
Ships from Europe brought Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to the shores of Japan in 1549. For decades the seeds of faith grew under the watchful gaze of the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
. But the fear of foreign influence eventually gave rise to persecution. By 1624, Japanese Christians enjoyed only a few more years of peace.
Cast
- Shin KoyamadaShin Koyamadais a film actor, producer, philanthropist and martial artist.Koyamada co-starred as “Nobutada” opposite Tom Cruise in the Warner Bros. action epic film The Last Samurai , with a worldwide box office of $456 million. Koyamada also starred in the action original movie Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior...
- Jinbei Masuda 益田甚平 - Yoshi Ando - Michijiro
- Atsushi Hirata - Iwanaga
- Yutaka Takeuchi - Tsunoyasu
- Craig Reid - Catholic Priest
- Kazumi Zatkin - Otsu
- Maxwell Banchi - Shiro
- Christine Shimahara - Kinu
- Tex Nakamura - Daimyo
- Yuji Tone - Attendant
- Mitsuji Higashimoto - Guard #1
- Agata Toshiya - Guard #2