A Samurai in Time 侍タイムスリッパー is a bona fide phenomenon in its native Japan.
Junichi Yasuda, whose real job is that of a rice farmer who runs a ramen restaurant, took on the vast majority of crew roles (producing, financing, script, directing, cinematography, lighting, editing, VFX, etc) to make a period film completely independently.
Despite having a tiny budget, just 10 crew members and opening on just 1 cinema screen, A Samurai in Time went on to be such a word-of-mouth success that it ended up playing in more than 400 cinemas, being nominated for 7 Academy Awards (winners announced March 14) and grossing more than the vast majority of Hollywood blockbusters released in Japan in 2024!
Synopsis: At the end of the Edo period in Kyoto,during a stormy night a samurai prepares to fight against aronin, when a flash of lighting hits and when he wakes up to find himself in a different time.He has been transported through time to the present day and the location where he was about to duel is now a film set for jidaigeki TV shows and movies. Still in his samurai clothes he is mistaken for an extra and immediately thrust into the world of jidaigeki productions.Due to his very‘authentic’ look and speech, he starts working on many productions and finds himself playing the role of a “kirareyaku”, a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film.
