Assassination begins with the events of 1853 when "four black ships" anchored at Edo Bay, sparking civil unrest and the major political manoeuvring that saw the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At a time when assassination had become a disturbing political tool, Shinoda's film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, an ambitious, masterless samurai whose allegiances drift dangerously between the Shogunate and the Emperor.

Tetsuro Tamba
as Hachiro Kiyokawa

Eiji Okada
as Lord Matsudaira

Eitarō Ozawa
as Premier Itakura

Isao Kimura
as Tadasaburo Sasaki

Shima Iwashita
as Oren

Keiji Sada
as

Takeshi Kusaka
as

Sumio Takatsu
as Otojirô Kôno

Muga Takewaki
as Shingo Miyagawa

Tamotsu Hayakawa
as Shôzô Ishizaka