is a 1954 black-and-white Japanese film

Cinema of Japan

The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...

 directed by Toshikazu Kōno.

The film is based on the 1814-1842 novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden

Nanso Satomi Hakkenden

is a Japanese 106 volume epic novel by Kyokutei Bakin. Written over a period of nearly thirty years and published from 1814 to 1842, Bakin had gone blind before finishing the tale, and the final parts were dictated to his daughter-in-law Michi to be transcribed...

by Kyokutei Bakin

Kyokutei Bakin

was a late Japanese Edo period gesaku author best known for works such as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki.-Life:He was born as , he wrote under the pen name which is a pun as the kanji may also be read as Kuruwa de Makoto meaning a man who is truly devoted to the courtesans of...

.

Its sequels include:

• Sorcerer's Orb part 2 里見八犬伝　第二部　芳流閣の龍虎 (1954)
• Sorcerer's Orb part 3 里見八犬伝　第三部　怪猫乱舞 (1954)
• Sorcerer's Orb part 4 里見八犬伝　第四部　血盟八剣士 (1954)
• Sorcerer's Orb part 5 里見八犬伝　完結篇　暁の勝鬨 (1954)

Cast

• Azuma Chiyonosuke
• Yorozuya Kinnosuke
  Yorozuya Kinnosuke
  was a Japanese kabuki actor. Born , son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on his guild name Yorozuya as his surname in 1971.In addition to his kabuki activity, Kinnosuke had an extensive...
  
  
• Yuriko Tashiro
• Atsushi Watanabe
• Kanji Kosakae
• Masaya Sanjō
• and others

The fate of the Satomi Clan lies in the hands of 8 warriors of prophecy, each of
whom were born with a crystal orb. The monk, Daisuke, embarks on a journey to
find these warriors and reunite the 8 orbs they carry so that they may fulfill their
destiny. The original story was the signature work of Edo period author Takzawa
Bakin, called "Nanso Satomi Hakkenden". It was first published nearly 200 years
ago in 1815. "Nanso" in the title refers to an area that is today southern Chiba
Prefecture. Takizawa’s Tale combines stories of the Satomi Clan, an actual
family that controlled an area centered in southern Chiba from about 1450 until
the early Edo period, with elements from the Chinese story known as "Suikoden".
"Nanso Satomi Hakkenden" is a master-work that took Takizawa 106 volumes
and 28 years to complete