Late in the 1500s, an aging tea master teaches the way of tea to a headstrong Shogun. Through force of will and courageous fighting, Hideyoshi becomes Japan’s most powerful warlord, unifying the country.
Rikyu is Hiroshi Teshigahara's film about Sen no Rikyū, a 16th-century master of the Japanese tea ceremony. The film was adapted from the novel of Yaeko Nogami. The film was ranked the 7th best film of the year by Kinema Junpo in 1989. It was one of two major biographical drama films directed in 1989 about the life of Sen no Rikyū, the other was Death of a Tea Master by Kei Kumai. It was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards but was not accepted as a nominee.