The Bushido Blade (1981)

Until relatively recently, the tiny but influential nation of Japan was an isolated land that brooked very little contact with the outside world. Now, of course, Japanese merchandise and corporate influence extend to every remote niche of the earth, and it is the rare man who does not have at least one product of the Rising Sun within arm’s reach at all times. This transformation from feudal backwater to economic powerhouse is the background for The Bushido Blade (1979). In the mid-1800s, Commodore Matthew Perry sets out to establish a peace among the reigning warlords and forge a trade agreement with the unified nation. In the process, evidently, a ceremonial sword was stolen, imperiling the future of all international stock markets and providing the basis for a rollicking action-adventure caper set in a faraway day on the other side of the globe.