I thought it was like 16th century, but then they were using guns, so it has to be closer to 1800s I guess? What kind of guns were they anyway? Looked like they were firing off laser beams or something.
http://most-underrated-movies.blogspot.com/
According to wikipedia, the guns were called Arquebus and they were introduced to Japan in 1543. I believe it's mentioned in the dvd commentary that Ran was set in the late 16th century.
shareIt was in the late 16th century, in roughly the same time frame as KAGEMUSHA, during the time of the unification of Japan by Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu, who were all characters in KAGEMUSHA (they were the winning side - Nabunaga more or less unified the country, after he died Hideyoshi continued things, while Ieyasu established the Tokugawa period that)
Kurosawa set several of his films in this period of perpetual civil war, like SEVEN SAMURAI, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, THRONE OF BLOOD, KAGEMUSHA, and RAN. YOJIMBO and SANJURO were set in the period immediately after the United States forced it to open to the rest of the world. RED BEARD and SANJIRO SUGATA were also set in the late 19th century.
The period of RAN is also known as the period of perpetual civil war. Nobunaga's greatest achievement was that he brought about a period of peace.