Chinese and Taiwanese history Japanese history Samurai cinema and Jidai-geki films Jidai-geki 時代劇 is a
genre of
film,
television, and
theatre in
Japan. Literally "period dramas", they are most often set during the
Edo period of
Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—
Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late
Heian period—and the early
Meiji era is also a popular setting.
Jidaigeki show the lives of the
samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants of their time.
Jidaigeki films are sometimes referred to as
chambara movies, a word meaning "sword fight", though chambara is more accurately a subgenre of
jidaigeki, which equates to
historical period drama. In Japan, the term , also commonly spelled "
chambara", meaning "sword fighting" movies, denotes the genre called samurai cinema in English, and is roughly equivalent to western
cowboy and
swashbuckler films.
Jidaigeki may refer to a story set in a historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay.
Jidaigeki rely on an established set of
dramatic conventions including the use of makeup, language, catchphrases, and plotlines.
Gendai-geki films Gendai-geki (
現劇) is a
genre of
film and
television or
theater play in
Japan. Unlike the
jidai-geki genre of period dramas, whose stories are set in the
Edo period,
gendaigeki stories are contemporary dramas set in the modern world.
Korean and South Korean history ==Southeast Asia==